MATTHEW 25:1-13
AT THE LUNCH TABLE one Sunday afternoon, I asked my oldest daughter (whom shall remain nameless) what she thought of the Exhortation. She said, "It was medium boring.” By that she meant half of it was interesting and half of it was boring. Well, I am glad to announce that this chapter is fully non-boring chapter. I say that with confidence because (a) our text is a story, (b) it is a very short story, (c) it is a very short story told by Jesus, an expert storyteller, and (d) it is a very short story told by Jesus about five silly girls and five smart ones.
But before we get to the five silly girls and the five smart ones, we start with a powerful king (this is a kingdom parable about the Son of Man) who is about to get married. This coming king Jesus calls “the bridegroom.” We would simply call him the groom. But in Jesus’ story no future wife is mentioned. The focus falls on the bridegroom and those who will help serve at his wedding, called “virgins.” We would call them bridesmaids, young women (girls) who are not yet married.
Now “the bridegroom” could represent God, as it would be if we were reading the Old Testament (e.g., Isaiah 54:4-6). In the New Testament, however, the bridegroom represents Jesus (cp. 9:14, 15).
This is a story about Jesus, the bridegroom, and the day or night or early, early morning of his wedding—a wedding at which some get in to celebrate with him and others don’t. It’s the happy story of live smart girls and the sad story of five silly girls.
The Bridegroom
As we study this parable, we will look at the three characters, learning a lesson from each. We begin with the bridegroom. By looking at the actions of the bridegroom in the story, Jesus tells about himself and his Ecclesia, and we learn the first of our three lessons. The first lesson is this: the bridegroom, with his unusually long delay and unexpected time of arrival, teaches us that predicting when Jesus will return is pointless.
You might say, “Wasn’t that the point of the previous tract?” Yes, it was. But since Jesus took the time to go over it again, I will as well. It obviously is a point he thinks we might easily forget.
Let me explain the details, and then I’ll drill home that familiar point even deeper. Let’s read verses 1-6:
Then the kingdom of heaven will be [at the future return and judgment] like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”
From what we know of first-century Jewish marriage customs, the groom would leave his house and journey to his bride’s house. Usually the wedding ceremony was conducted there, sometimes (often?) at night. After the wedding, everyone in the wedding party would return to the groom’s home for a “marriage feast” (v. 10).
Concerning the details of this story, Jesus is simply sharing a scenario that would have been familiar to his original audience. The details, however, that stand out to all generations and cultures are (a) the unusually long delay and (b) the unexpected time of arrival. No one helping the wedding ceremony or celebration, like these ten girls were asked to do, would go to sleep unless the groom’s delay was abnormally long, and since they all fell asleep they obviously didn’t think (now that it was near midnight) that he would come at that late hour. The wedding would surely wait for the next evening. Who would get married past midnight?
Those two different details reveal the lesson that I just stated—the bridegroom, with his unusually long delay and unexpected time of arrival, teaches us that predicting when Jesus will return is pointless. The preceding parables press this same point of pointlessness from different perspectives. Together they teach that Christ will return later than expected, sooner than expected, and at an unexpected time. “I think that covers all logical possibilities,” Craig Blomberg summarizes, “and ought to put a stop to Christian guesswork about the timing of the end once and for all.”
But it doesn’t, does it? Although Christian history is littered with strange speculations and false predictions, and although Jesus Christ twice made it absolutely clear that only God knows the timing of the second coming—24:36 (“But concerning that day and hour no one knows... but the Father only”) and Acts 1:7 (“It is not for you to know times and seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority”)—it is still quite popular in this present age for Christians to claim end-times clarity on the day, time, and place.
But such “holy” horoscopes are unholy. The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon once wrote this simple but too-often forgettable truth: the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.
As fallen human beings we have an innate craving for the forbidden fruit that comes from “the tree of knowledge” (Genesis 2:9). “Whenever the Bible addresses the future of human history, and speaks somewhat cryptically of when and how it will unfold,” we instinctively want to take a bite, to “unlock the mystery, decipher the symbols, and work out exactly what will happen and when.” But here in our text (once again) we are exhorted to abandon such appetites, for such information has been purposely withheld from us. We have been given neither the authority nor the ability to decipher the timing of Christ’s coming. That is what the bridegroom, with his unusually long delay and unexpected time of arrival, teaches.
The Wise Virgins
Next we come to the five wise virgins. Let’s discover who they are, what they did, and what they can teach us.
The wise virgins symbolize true Believers—the prepared and persevering saints. We are not to take their virginity literally, thus commending virginity to the truly holy or truly saved, as was sometimes done with this text in late antiquity. Believers aren’t all virgins any more than they are all slaves or sheep.
That is who they are. Here is what they did. First, they “took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom” (v. 1). This was obviously an act of obedience. They had a part to play in the wedding (likely providing light for the bridal party procession), and they were ready to play that part when the groom arrived. Their lamps (think “torches” or “wind lanterns”) were in hand, oiled up if you will, and ready to go. Of course, all ten girls were equal in this task. They all obeyed, and they all were ready. The difference between the two groups comes out in verses 3, 4. The difference is preparedness and lack of preparedness; more specifically, it is preparedness and lack of preparedness for the unexpected. We are told that “the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps” (v. 4), while the foolish “took their lamps,” but they “took no [extra] oil with them” (v. 3).
The difference is the extra oil, not merely oil. All ten have oil. Thus, the original oil that runs out can’t represent, as some argue, saving faith, or good works, unless we believe that true Believers can lose their salvation, which doesn’t fit well with the bridegroom’s final words—“I do not know you” (v. 12); that is, “I never knew you,” not “I once knew you but now no longer know you.”
I think the oil is oil, and it simply symbolizes preparedness (cp. Luke 12:35, where “stay dressed for action” [i.e., be prepared] parallels “keep your lamps burning” [i.e., be prepared]). I know that takes the spiritual beauty out of it. I know an allegory about the extra oil representing Bible study. Sorry to be such a downer.
In fact, I think the oil is secondary to the oil-keeper. The focus falls not on the oil but on the person who has oil reserves. So, while I’m sympathetic to those who see the oil as “good works” (that reading fits Matthew, no doubt— especially the burning lamp being good works in 5:15, 16 and the emphasis of works in the rest of chapter 25) or short-term enthusiasm (like the seed sown upon the rocky soil in the Parable of the Soils, 13:20, 21) or even “anything you please” (the “open” interpretation—fill in whatever might be missing in your life), in the end I say that the oil is oil and the prepared person, not the lamp and oil within, is the emphasis.
To illustrate Jesus’ oil illustration, think of two drivers with a pickup truck each. One driver has a filled gas can in the back of his pickup; the other driver does not. When the first driver runs out of gas on a deserted desert road, he can simply grab that can, fill up the tank, and keep going—because he is prepared to run out. The other driver, on the other hand, is stuck in a dangerous and potentially deadly situation.
The five wise virgins are like the driver with the extra can of gasoline. How’s that for bridging the cultural gap—five Middle Eastern girls driving a Ford pickup through an Arizona desert? How’s that for not being boring?
Regarding these five smart girls, we have discovered who they are and what they did. Finally, we come to the main lesson they teach. The lesson is this: the wise virgins teach us that preparedness for the parousia is rewarded with paradise. Okay, I couldn’t resist the alliteration, however slightly off the last word is. The other p-words (preparedness and parousia) work perfectly. These five smart or sensible girls are prepared for the parousia—the coming of the bridegroom, and due to such preparedness, they are granted entrance into paradise, or here “the marriage feast.” Their “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5) is rewarded with the messianic banquet in the kingdom of heaven: “those who were ready went in with him [the groom] to the marriage feast” (v. 10).
If you find it difficult or dull to imagine the Kingdom as a perpetual choir rehearsal, imagine it instead as a wedding reception with fine fillets and aged wine, good music and festive dancing. Those who have been “washed in the blood of atonement, clothed in Christ’s righteousness” will eat and drink and sing and dance with the bridegroom—with him who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). The blessing or reward (I’m not afraid to use that word when preaching from Matthew’s Gospel) is the wedding banquet with the bridegroom. It’s not only quite the feast, but it’s quite the feast with Jesus.
A number of colorful descriptions of the Kingdom and the grave in the New Testament make “vividly clear the glory and awfulness” of salvation and judgment, but perhaps the most powerful image of the Kingdom is “to be ‘with the Lord for ever,' as Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (cp. Phil. 1:23),” and the most powerful image of the grave is, “to quote Paul again, to be punished ‘with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10).”
Those wise young women were prepared in the present because they longed for the future feast with him—the bridegroom, the powerful but lowly and loving King of the kingdom of heaven!
The Foolish Virgins
The third and last lesson that we learn from the silly girls is this: the foolish virgins teach us that too little preparation and too much presumption will result in rejection.
To get to these themes of “too little preparation” and “too much presumption,” we turn our attention to the two answers given to the fools from the two other characters. Do you see the word “answered” at the beginning of verse 9 and then verse 12? How the wise and how the groom answered those fools shows their folly.
We start with verse 9:
As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” (vv. 5—9)
At first reading you might be bothered at the apparent selfishness of the wise. Why didn’t they share? True Believers are to love others. True Believers are to sacrifice. True Believers are to share with those in need. True. But they are also to be responsible for or obedient to the work the bridegroom has called them to do. Their ethical dilemma is not such a dilemma if we realize (a) obedience to the groom is their first priority, and (b) if they gave away their oil they would, as they said, all run out before their task of lighting the way was completed, and thus everyone would be in the dark and in danger. The wedding would be a disaster without their torchlight procession.
We might also add (this is a fitting place to do this) that this is a parable, and just as the one little piggy didn’t really eat roast beef and the other one had none, not every detail in every parable is realistic, and not every detail in every parable teaches a moral. Here, however, I do think there is a moral from a potential real-life scene, and the moral is that too little preparation will result in rejection.
The first rejection comes from the true Believers. The second comes from Christ himself, and this second rejection is far more serious. Look now at Jesus’ answer in verses 10-12. So off the fools go...
And while they were going to buy [oil], the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins [the foolish] came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he answered, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
Now again, at first reading, just as you might have been bothered by the wise girls’ apparent selfishness, here you might be bothered at the groom’s apparent harshness. Why is the door shut? Why does the groom say to those he asked to be in his wedding that he doesn't even know them? And what did those silly girls do that was so sinful? Verses 10, 11 provide the picture of hurried activity. Those five fools aren’t lazy fools (cp. 25:26).
They are told by the wise to go buy more oil, and off they go. They got the oil lit up the lamps, and then hurried to the party. Sure, they were late, but they could have called it a day. They could have walked home and gone to bed. But they didn’t. They went to the wedding, and they wanted to go in to the party. And then, at the shut door, they called out, “Lord, lord, open to us” (v. 11). Didn’t they acknowledge Jesus as Lord (and yes, the double “Lord, Lord” is intended to remind of us of the end of the Sermon on the Mount and those lawless miracle-workers who don’t get in [7:21])? And didn’t Jesus teach his disciples to ask and they shall receive, and to knock and the door shall be opened (7:7)? So why then does this door stay shut? Why does their prayer go unanswered? Or I should say, why is it answered with an emphatic rejection—with Jesus’ “I have no idea who you are”?
As Tennyson notes, these silly girls are not prepared, and yet they presume that if they go and get prepared minutes after the minutes they needed to be prepared, they “can enter still.” And they presume that if they “do repent... the bridegroom will relent.” They presume upon his kindness—“Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?”
You see, these five very silly girls are irresponsibly secure. They think other Believers will surely help them get what is necessary to get in. “If and when the time comes, let’s borrow from the prepared” is their attitude. Sure, we need Ecclesial fellowship and more mature believers around us in order to persevere, but here Jesus places individual responsibility before us. As one scholar puts it, “Now, suddenly, everything is terrifyingly individual.” Don’t count on other Believers’ preparedness or righteousness. You’re on your own before the judgment throne.
These five very silly girls also think that if they can’t get in on the backs of the saints, gentle Jesus will surely let them in. They might place the blame on him: “It’s his fault, not mine. He came when I wasn’t ready. He’d better let me in.” Or they assume that the Jesus on Judgment Day is the Jesus of Christmas Day—little, harmless, non-threatening. Oh no. On that Day too late is too bad. Jesus will roar like a lion, not lie down like a lamb. The door will stay closed.
Listen, there is blessed assurance—prepared disciples can fall asleep each night without undue worry about Christ’s judgment post-midnight. But there is also “blessed Assurance,” when someone thinks that simply getting an invitation to the wedding and being asked to participate in it assures entrance to it. Haven't we already learned, in the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price (13:44—46), that it is “not enough just to ‘‘find’ the treasure... one must also ‘sell all’ to purchase the treasure if one wants to have it”? This is not justification by works, but neither is it justification by dramatic conversion. The salvation equation is not faith plus works equals justification or teary-eyed profession of faith plus no works equals justification. Rather, the equation is faith plus nothing equals justification plus works, obedience, love, and eschatological readiness.
“Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.” Yes. True. Absolutely. But the cross of Christ is not a dead tree. It’s a fruit tree. And for those who cling light to it, they become one with it, producing the fruits of the Christian life.
Ah, the sin of presumption! Do you presume upon the kindness of King Jesus? That’s the somber question this sad ending throws in our faces. There is a time for everything under the sun—a time for mercy and a time for judgment, a time for late repentance (the thief on the cross) and a time for too late repentance (the five silly girls).
The celebrated Matthew scholars Davies and Allison summarize this point nearly perfectly when they write of the five fools, “They do not have enough time at this point because earlier they had too much time.” Only Jesus summarizes the point better: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (v. 13). Jesus says, “Let’s reduce the whole story to one simple warning: ‘Have your Christian life so in order that when you are surprised [by my return] you will be ready,’”
This final point is most pointed! Jesus takes the points on the surprise of his return, the necessary preparation for it, and the danger of presumption and melds all those points into one big point, which points right to us—the readers: You all watch, for you all don’t know when I'm returning.
Kneel among the Cotton
I began this chapter with a somewhat funny conversation I had with my oldest daughter. I’ll end with a very serious but sweet song from an African-American slave. In the history of the world I don’t know if there was a more prepared people. One slave sings:
There's a king and a captain high,
And he's coming by and by,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
You can hear his legions charging in the regions of the sky,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
There's a man they thrust aside,
Who was tortured till he died,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
He was hated and rejected,
He was scorned and crucified,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
When he comes! When he comes!
He'll be crowned by saints and angels when he comes.
They'll be shouting out Hosanna! to the man that men denied,
And I'll kneel among my cotton when he comes.
Too little preparation and too much presumption will result in rejection. But preparedness—working the cotton fields, waiting in the cotton fields—for the coming of Christ will result in freedom, joy, eternal life with Jesus Christ, a life in which you and the Bridegroom will live happily ever after. Amen.
(R. Kent Hughes. and Douglas Sean O'Donnell., 2013; edited Carl Hinton., 2020)