A Parable of the Kingdom of Heaven
The Gospel According to Matthew, chapter 25 verses 1-13.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’
“Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
“The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.’
“When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’
“He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’
“Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.”
Don’t let the cultural differences detract from the lesson; these virgins represent ten betrothed brides who live with the expectation of the Groom’s arrival. Though first century Christian culture taught marriage between one man and one woman, this scenario in the ancient near-east was not incredibly uncommon and provided an appropriate analogy. The Bride of Christ is identified as all faithful Christians throughout history. The first-century apostles are just as much the Bride as we are today and until the day they died they were watching the skies for Jesus’ return. Here is the value of the parable; everyone live and dies, but Christians have a hope that transcends both life and death.
The marriage and betrothal analogies that Jesus and Paul regularly employed were cultural references to a Jewish marriage contract. The groom’s responsibility to leave to prepare a place resulted in an exciting time of anticipation for the bride and her bridesmaids. At any moment the shout of the best man could rise over the camp as was tradition, “the groom has come” echoes through the night and another member of the groom’s entourage blows a ram’s horn trumpet and the bride is carried to her new home for the first time. Jesus says “In my Father’s house are many places, if not I would not have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you I will come back and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.” To paraphrase; “Hey girl, my dad is riyatch…I’m telling you, ree-yitch! You don’t even know! I’m gonna go home and build you your dream house on my street…you just wait…I’m gonna come back and get you when it’s done and we’ll be together forever.”
Then Jesus went home. Now we wait.
No doubt Jesus’ disciples did not expect to experience natural death. In reality the only reason that the vast majority of his disciples didn’t die natural deaths was because they were martyred, not because they faithfully waited. It is apparent today that Jesus understood that those virgins in the parable who were espoused and betrothed would be camping out for a very long time. It has been nearly two millennia so far!
So how much oil do we need for our lamp to continue to be faithful? The answer is simple; all of it. All of our faith must be in Jesus himself. If our faith is in Jesus himself rather than his return, his blessings, his calling in our lives, or his actions in the world around us, we will have stored up the oil of pure faith that Jesus gives as a spiritual gift. If Jesus gives it to us then we have an infinite supply. The oil brought by the faithful virgins represents the tenacity to faithfully persist until death or Christ returns. We must receive this eternal flow of oil for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children.
It seems like I hear about a different Christian every month, who was saved during the Jesus movement of the 1970s, running out of oil. The message the movement was one of rapture (the disappearance of the Church from the earth) and judgement on the world and many found Jesus because of that message. Movies like A Thief in the Night (1973) affirmed both an excitement and a fear that had come to be associated with the rapture and second coming of Christ. Of course God knows how to reach people in every age and culture and perhaps this was the most effective message for that generation but today there is a palpable disappointment among this group of Christians, now in their 60s and 70s. It breaks my heart to see mentors and leaders who have been so firm in their faith falling away and turning back to the sin and hopelessness they came out of in the era of Woodstock, LSD, and the sexual revolution.
I will affirm today that God used this message faithfully with this generation because they will still be around when Jesus returns. It takes someone very jaded and disgruntled to NOT acknowledge the significance of world events today in relationship to the apocalyptic and prophetic scriptures. The further development and understanding of eschatology (theology of the end times or last things), great revivals in the east, middle-east, and on the African continent, and the sense of urgency that seems to burden the contemporary Church are all barometers indicative of the imminence of the second coming. However, I intend to store up enough “oil” to ensure my grandchildren don’t run out if Christ wants the Church to grow even more before his return. Passing on this faithfulness to our children is essential to the future of the Church, as is passing on a knowledge of the imminence of Christ’s return and that sense of urgency that caused so many baby-boomers to come to Jesus.
All faithful Christians find themselves in the Camp of the Bride today. Our lamps are burning and we tend to each other and receive encouragement from the Holy Spirit as we await the shout of the arch angel and the blowing of a trumpet to announce the reunion. This camp is temporary, we don’t want a permanent structure without the physical presence of the Groom.
We don’t want to be the unwise virgins who only brought enough faith to be rescued and not enough to persevere.
Titus Chapter 2 says “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Persevere in your faith, striving to attain Christ-likeness and renouncing what the scriptures identify as sin. Continue to be a light, let your oil lamp burn brightly, don’t give up. The tension between waiting and working is a part of God’s design. It is the product of love and relationship and Christians need to embrace it and guard ourselves from becoming jaded, rejecting the imminent return of Jesus, and giving up the struggle with sin.
Check out the Camp of the Bride Church, Wednesday nights at 7pm in South Side on Lamar, suite 215.
For additional discussion on the rapture, check out this post: The No-Trib Rapture.
Camp of the Bride 