"The Missing Bride At The Wedding”

In Jesus Holy Name November 12, 2023

Text: Matthew 25:10b,13

“The Missing Bride at the Wedding”

This is a great parable about the danger of being unprepared. I know there have been weddings that I officiated, but the “bride” was 30 or 45 minutes late, so everyone just waited. Grooms have fainted but I’ve never had a bride cancel. Is this story really about a “missing bride” or one that is late? First, there is another story that needs to be told.

There is tremendous unrest in our world today. Streets are crowded with thousands of protestors waving flags. A Congress woman has been censored because of her words. Jewish students have been assaulted on college campus. If you are carrying a Jewish flag your life could be in serious danger. It seems that much of the news wants to bury the horror of the last 30 days of war and the events of October 7th in Israel.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the supreme Allied Commander during WWII liberated the concentration camps. He had to visit a few just to see and understand the devastation of humanity to humanity. He writes:

“The same day [April 12, 1945] I saw my first horror camp. It was near the town of Gotha. I have never felt able to describe my emotional reactions when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency. Up to that time I had known about it only generally or through secondary sources. I am certain, however that I have never at any other time experienced an equal sense of shock.

“I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify first-hand about these things. The belief or assumption that `the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda can not stand.

He went on to say: “At every one of these concentration camps I want you to find every photographer possible, then bring every citizen of the nearby towns to see the horror…..the evidence should be immediately placed before the American and British public in a fashion that would leave no room for cynical doubt.”

General Eisenhower knew instinctively that you had to document the atrocity, because if you didn’t’….. people would say…let’s move on. He realized that some things are so hellish, there is no getting past them. You must remember them. Some things are so straight out of the “gates of hell” that you can not get past them. Like September 11th . Like October 7th . Some things you just can not get past nor forget. (Thoughts from Leonard Sweet Youtube LenTalk 187)

Christians can not get past this one reality. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus is telling us that His Father is making preparations for a wedding banquet. We all know this story. We have the bridegroom, we have the guests, but did you ever ask the question: “Where is the “bride”? This is a story about the “kingdom” of heaven. The bridesmaids are present and waiting. Their lamps will provide light for the bridal procession.

The great Wedding banquet is being prepared for Himself and His bride, the Church. The warning is simple and straight forward. “Don’t be late for the Wedding Banquet. If you are late, the door will be closed!!!.

In the 1st century, in the Jewish culture, and still in some cultures today the marriages are arranged by the family. Two fathers get together and make arrangements for their kids. Once the arrangements were made the father of the groom would build on to his house an extension where the newlyweds would live. The groom would usually continue to work in the same trade of his father.

In every family compound there was a “bridal chamber”. This was a place that was prepared for the bride and groom. It was decorated with flowers. When this room was not used as a bridal chamber it was probably a guest room or maybe a storage room inside the family compound. There were always visitors and so a “guest room” was needed. Remember when Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem there was “no room in the guest room”. (Katalema)

We have a bridal procession, and we have ten bridesmaids who went out to meet the bridegroom. Remember this is a story about the “kingdom”. Jesus is the kingdom. It is not a story about lamps. It is not a story about a wedding. It is not a story about oil. It is a story about the bridegroom who is Jesus.

The five foolish bridesmaids are more worried about the oil than the bridegroom. The problem is not that lamps going out, but when the bridegroom comes you must be able to get through the “door”. Five bridesmaids were distracted about other things in life and missed the wedding of the bridegroom to the “bride”. The “bride” is not missing. The “bride” is the church.