1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Let’s not forget our typology (Israel and the church), OK?
Jesus is continuing his conversation with his disciples about the end times…and the importance of being prepared. In this parable we have virgins, oil, lamps, fire and a bridegroom.
- Virgins represent humankind
- Lamps represent the church
- Oil represents the Holy Spirit
- Bridegroom represents Jesus Christ
So this logical reduction follows:
1. The invitation of Christ is open to all humankind
2. Some of humankind responds and joins the confessing church (lamps)
3. Some in the confessing church join the Body of Christ (Oil) by faith.
Remember when the disciples asked if the weeds should be pulled up (Mt 13)? Jesus said “no” because it’s not an exact science. Some wheat could be pulled out as well. Only at the coming of Christ will the church finally be able to distinguish who has the Holy Spirit (oil) and who doesn’t.
But then we’ll know… “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet”. The Body of Christ (those with oil) will be ready and waiting with their lamps lit. The foolish virgins are at least smart enough to run out and get some oil but by the time they returned “the door was shut”.
Two teaching points jump out at me…
1. Those of us in the church should never assume the person sitting next to us in the pew has been born again.
2. Our most important message for the church is the need to be born again.
We all know this could look pretty ugly if we began deputizing “oil inspectors”. A better way would be to stay focused on the message and let the Holy Spirit do the investigating.
Live boldly out there today…
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