Scripture Daily

Context No. 1399 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 25:1-13: in context

1“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Jesus tells of ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise and took extra oil in flasks; five were foolish and took none. The bridegroom was delayed, and they all fell asleep. At midnight the cry came: the bridegroom is here, come out to meet him. The foolish found their lamps going out and begged the wise for oil, but the wise said there was not enough for both; go and buy your own. While the foolish were away buying, the bridegroom came, the ready ones went in to the feast, and the door was shut. When the others returned, knocking, the answer came: I do not know you. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The heart of the parable is the oil that could not be borrowed. When the crisis came at midnight, the foolish discovered that the one thing they needed could not be obtained at the last moment from someone else; the wise could not share their oil, and there was no time to go and buy. Whatever the oil represents, a real readiness, a heart truly prepared, a genuine relationship with God, it is not something that can be borrowed from another person or acquired in the final rush when the bridegroom is already at the door. Some things must be gathered in advance, quietly, over time, and cannot be produced on demand. The foolish were not wicked; they simply assumed there would be time, or that they could rely on others, and they were not ready when readiness could no longer be improvised. It is a sobering picture, because so much of the spiritual life is like the oil: the deep reserves of faith and character that carry us through a crisis are laid down slowly, beforehand, in the ordinary days, and cannot be conjured up in the emergency. We cannot borrow another's relationship with God at the last minute, or cram a lifetime of preparation into the final hour. The wise gathered oil while there was time. The call to watch is a call to be gathering now what cannot be borrowed later.

Am I gathering now, in the ordinary days, the oil that cannot be borrowed or bought at the last minute, the real readiness of a heart prepared, or am I assuming there will be time, or that I can rely on others, when the bridegroom comes?

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