The Parable of the Ten Maidens

“Then” (25:1). “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” The word then ties the story to the coming of the Son of Man that Jesus had just described on the Mount of Olives. The whole parable is about being ready for His return. The maidens. The ten virgins are young unmarried women. They were most likely friends of the bride's family who went out to welcome the bridegroom. Weddings in that day were probably long, joyful feasts, and the bridegroom's arrival began the celebration. Phronimos and moros (25:2). “Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” Wise is phronimos (say: FRON-ih-mos): sensible, someone who sees what is coming and acts on it. Jesus used the same word for the man who heard His words and did them: “I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). Foolish is moros (say: moh-ROS): careless about what matters most. Oil in their vessels (25:3-4). The foolish “took no oil with them,” but the wise “took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The lamps were the same. What was different could not be seen until the wait grew long. A picture. Many Christians see the bridegroom as Jesus, the wedding as His return, and the oil as the Holy Spirit, who lives in every believer. Jesus Himself gives the point of the story in 25:13: be ready. Real wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). In the Bible, a fool is not someone with a low test score. A fool is someone who does not take God seriously. For you. Growing up around a church, a Bible and people who love Jesus is a gift. But the question of the parable is personal: do you know the Bridegroom yourself, or only the people who are waiting for Him?

Chronizo (25:5). “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” Delayed is chronizo (say: khroh-NID-zoh), to take a long time. Jesus had used the same word moments earlier, for the evil servant who “says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming’” (24:48). Both stories ask the same question: what will you do while the Lord seems to delay? Asleep, but ready. All ten slept. Jesus did not blame the wise for sleeping. Their readiness did not depend on staying awake every minute. They had made ready before they ever fell asleep. Not slow. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). From our side, the Bridegroom seems delayed. From God's side, every year of waiting is mercy, more time for people to come to Him. Midnight (25:6). “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” The cry came in the middle of the night, when no one was looking for it. An invitation. The cry is good news, not a threat. The maidens had come out for this very moment. Go out to meet him means hurry out and welcome him. Trimmed (25:7). “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” For a moment, all ten looked alike again, each one busy with a lamp. Only the oil would show the difference. For you. A long wait can make a heart careless. Jesus told this story so that His people would stay ready, glad and expectant, however long the night seems.

Going out (25:8). “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” The foolish maidens' lamps had burned for a while. They had brought nothing more to keep them burning. The answer (25:9). “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” The wise were not being cruel. They were afraid there might not be enough for everyone. Readiness cannot be divided up and handed out at the last minute. Personal. Paul wrote that each of us will give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). No one can stand before God on the strength of someone else's faith. Passed on, then owned. Paul remembered “the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5). A family's faith is a gift that points a child to Jesus. It becomes the child's own when he or she trusts Him. Without money. In the story, the oil had to be bought. God's invitation is different: “Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). What you need cannot be borrowed from others, and it cannot be earned. It is received from Jesus as a gift. Fair to the foolish. Jesus does not call the foolish maidens wicked. They came out, they carried lamps, and they wanted to go in. Their problem was that they were not ready when the moment came. For you. Do not lean on someone else's faith. Thank God for everyone who has pointed you to Jesus, and then ask Jesus to make you His own.

Those who were ready (25:10). “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.” The ready ones went in with him. Being ready meant being prepared before he came, not making plans after he arrived. Lord, Lord (25:11). “Lord, Lord, open to us!” The foolish maidens used a respectful title. But calling him lord at the door could not take the place of being ready. Known (25:12). “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” The bridegroom's words are about relationship. Readiness is not a list of things done. It is belonging to Him. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” (John 10:14). Gregoreo (25:13). “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Watch is gregoreo (say: gray-GOR-eh-oh), to stay awake and alert. All ten maidens slept, so watching cannot mean never closing your eyes. It means living ready, so that whenever He comes, you are His. Watching that works. Just before this parable, Jesus spoke of the faithful and wise servant whom his master, when he comes, finds so doing (24:46). Watching is ready faith that keeps doing what the Master asked. The open door. The shut door ends the story, but it is not where Jesus leaves His hearers. Today He says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). For you. Jesus told this story out of love, so that no one who hears it would be left outside. Come to Him now, and watch for Him with joy.