At midnight there was a cry, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”  Matthew 25:6 ESV¹

Read Matthew 25:1-13

A wise teacher introduces new subjects by reviewing what his/her students have previously learned. He/she increases the likelihood that learners will grasp new concepts by building upon what they already know. Jesus is the Good Teacher (see Luke 18:18). As Jesus instructed His audience, He often taught novel truths by connecting them with what was familiar. Several times, Jesus communicated the intricates of the Gospel by relating it to the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony.

Both the Old and New Testaments of The Bible include wedding imagery to explain the love relationship between God and His people. The Bible has been compared to a love letter and a marriage covenant detailing the intimacy individual believers can have with God. When we look at the Bible in this light, there is great value in modern, particularly non-Jewish Believers, familiarizing themselves with Jewish marriage practices. The ancient Jewish wedding progressed through several steps which, interestingly, parallel the aspects of Jesus’ relationship with His Bride, the Church.

The Ancient Jewish Wedding Ceremony and the Gospel

The Selection of the Bride

In ancient Israel, choosing a bride wasn’t done by the groom but by his father. In Genesis 24, this practice is described in detail when Rebekah was chosen for Isaac. Abraham sent his most trusted servant to select a bride from his countrymen for his son. Many people believe this servant was the one mentioned in Genesis 15:2 whose name was Eliezer. The name Eliezer means God my Helper. Like many ancient Israeli brides, Rebekah did not see Isaac before she agreed to marry him; she learned about him from the servant and fell in love with him because of what the servant told her about him. Similarly, the Bride of Christ has never actually seen her Heavenly Husband, Christ, but He is revealed to her by the Helper, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is completely committed to those the Father has chosen for Him.

“‘All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it up on the last day’” (John 6:37-39).

 Peter encouraged Believers with these words:

“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

The Bride Price

Though it may seem inhuman by modern cultural standards, in ancient Israel, brides were purchased. Something of value, like money, labor, or goods was given to the father of the bride to compensate for his loss of a worker and to show the value the young man and his family placed on the young woman. Jacob worked for Rachel’s father, Laban, for seven years as a bride price for her. “Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her” (Genesis 29:20). Though brides were purchased and belonged to their husbands, it doesn’t mean there were no loving feelings in these relationships. Unlike what was going on in the pagan cultures around them, the God-ordained Israeli bride price idea gave women value and introduced sanctity and permanence into the marriage relationship.

Likewise, Christ-followers have been …

“ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [our] forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19a).

As a Believer,

“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God … You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

You have been purchased by Christ Jesus because of the will of the Father but you are also greatly loved by Jesus.

“The life [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself for [us]” (Galatians 2:20b).

“We have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world … So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us … We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:14, 16-17a, & 19).

The Betrothal

Marriage in ancient Israel consisted of two parts. The first was called betrothal and is similar to our engagement but with a much greater commitment. Betrothal involved a covenant. A contract was given to the bride’s father which included the bride price and other promises that the young man intended to make to the bride and her family. Once entered into, this covenant meant that a couple was legally married and considered husband and wife although the marriage had not been physically consummated. The betrothal covenant required absolute purity in each of the young people bound to it.

The only way to get out of a betrothal was to get a divorce. The seriousness of the betrothal covenant was shown in Mary and Joseph’s situation.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:18-19).

The Bible is our marriage contract full of the promises our Bridegroom has made to us.

“For [our] Maker is [our] Husband, the LORD of Hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel is [our] Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called” (Isaiah 54:5).

Our Heavenly Husband promises,

 “‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’” (Isaiah 41:10).

 “‘Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God … is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you’” (1 Chronicles 28:20).

His unbreakable covenant with us is this:

“‘Behold, … this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people … For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33 & 34b).

The Bride’s Consent

Although brides in ancient Israel were selected for their husbands, they had some freedom in how they responded to a potential match. After Abraham’s servant presented Bethuel with the possibility of marriage between his daughter, Rebekah, and Abraham’s son, Isaac, Rebekah was asked, “‘Will you go with this man?’ She said, ‘I will go’” (Genesis 24:58).

We too must choose to accept Christ’s proposal.

“‘Whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God … Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.’” (John 3:15b-18 & 36).

“‘To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God’” (John 1:12).

“And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

The Cup of the Covenant

In ancient Israel, if the terms of the betrothal covenant were accepted, a cup of wine was shared to seal the deal. This shared cup symbolized the life that the man and woman would soon share.

A shared cup of wine was emphasized by Jesus during The Last Supper.

“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing, it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’  And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28).

When we take Communion, we are symbolically joining Jesus in a shared life. Essentially, we are remembering that Jesus gave His Body and His Blood for us and we are declaring that we will give our body and our blood for Him. Remember, Jesus told His Followers,

“‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me’” (Mark 8:34).

The Apostle Paul put it this way,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Gifts for the Bride

Not unlike today, when young men usually give their fiancées engagement rings, betrothal included gifts for the bride. In the case of Rebekah, “the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments” (Genesis 24:53). These gifts were intended to help the young woman remember her husband-to-be while they were apart. The spotlight was not on the gift itself but on the one who gave it. Similarly, the Holy Spirit, given to us by our Heavenly Husband, Jesus, doesn’t draw attention to Himself but Christ.

The night before Jesus was crucified, at The Last Supper, Jesus also told His disciples,

“‘Now I am going to Him who sent Me; … I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you … When the Spirit of Truth comes, … He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.’” (John 16:5a, 6b-7, 13a, & 14).

Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He reminded His Followers again of the Gift He would send.

“He said to them, ‘These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, … behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with Power from on High’” (Luke 24:44a & 49).

A matter of days later, …

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from Heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4a).

Christ’s amazing gift of the Holy Spirit …

“has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them [we] may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

The Mikvah

Israeli brides even today go through a sacred observance called mikvah. The mikvah is a pool of water used for spiritual purification. Young betrothed Jewish women immerse themselves in this water in a ceremony intended to prepare them for their wedding days. As women go through this formality, they are reminded of their coming change of status; they will soon no longer be under the authority of their fathers, instead, they will be under the jurisdiction of their husbands.

For a Christian, baptism has the same significance. There is no special power in the actual waters of mikvah or baptism, the actions of both of these immersions in water signify a transfer from one dominion to another. Baptism is a public declaration that a Believer is no longer identifying with self, sin, and Satan but now belongs to Christ and is submitting to His authority.

Baptism is a physical representation of a spiritual reality:

“[One is putting] off [one’s] old self which belongs to [one’s] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and [being] renewed in the spirit of [one’s mind], and [putting] on [one’s] new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

For Christ-followers, baptism pictures that …

“We have been united with [Christ] in a death like His, [and] we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives he lives to God. So, [we] consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6-11).

“[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

The Departure of the Bridegroom

After the betrothal was arranged and the marriage covenant was accepted by all parties involved, the young man left his fiancée and returned to his father’s home. There the soon-to-be husband began building an extra room onto his father’s house. This room would become the home for him and his bride. Here their marriage would be consummated. During this time, the soon-to-be bride was also busy; she was preparing herself to leave her childhood home and become part of her husband’s family.

At The Last Supper, Jesus encouraged His disciples with,

“‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s House are many rooms … I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also’” (John 14:1-3).

The wedding imagery probably would not have been lost on His disciples. Earlier, Jesus had referred to Himself as the Bridegroom and mentioned His going away.

“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast’” (Matthew 9:14-15).

Long-distance relationships are hard. An individual who is part of a couple physically separated has difficulty fully enjoying him/herself while missing the other. Similarly, Jesus said His disciples would fast when He was taken away from them. Prayer and fasting are intricately linked. Like couples in long-distance relationships who communicate as often as they can by phone, letters, video chats, and the like, prayer is the way the Bride of Christ can communicate with her Dearly Loved One.

Though a couple may be deeply in love, a prolonged separation can cause one’s heart to wander. Jesus warned His Followers,

“[While we are separated,] ‘watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that Day [I return] come upon you suddenly like a trap … But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all [the distractions] that are going to take place’” (Luke 21:34 &36).

The Consecrated Bride

A Jewish bride-to-be was intended to be set apart, fully consecrated, completely pure, and reserved for her future husband. It was likely quite a shock for Joseph, as he was busily preparing the perfect wedding chamber for his beloved, Mary, and dreaming of fully enjoying the purity of his first sexual encounter with her there, to realize that Mary was pregnant before they came together.

As Christ’s Bride, we did not come to Him pure, but He has made us pure and He expects us to stay that way. To be consecrated means to be made holy. As His Bride, the Church must match Christ. Since …

“He who called you is holy; you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

“For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8).

“Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25b-27).

The Holy Spirit, who sought out the Bride for Christ, prepares her for His coming by helping her become more like Him.

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other … the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:16-17, 22-23a).

The Return of the Bridegroom

In ancient Israel, there were no set wedding dates. The actual date of the wedding all depended upon when the room that the young man was building was finally finished. But the soon-to-be husband didn’t get to decide when his love nest was finished. His father was the one who determined when everything was complete. Therefore, a bride-to-be would have little idea when her beloved would return to take her to the place he had prepared for her.

When discussing His return with His disciples, Jesus explained,

“‘But concerning that Day and Hour no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only’” (Matthew 24:36, see also Mark 13:32).

When a groom came for his bride, there would be no mistake as to what was happening then. It was common for young men to fetch their brides at night. Since a wedding was the most joyous event in ancient Israel, a groom making his way to retrieve his bride was a big deal. As the groom and his friends made their way through the streets in a lighted precession, they would be joined with others singing and shouting. Likely, shofars, musical instruments made out of ram’s horns, would shatter the silence of the previously quiet night. All this commotion would awaken the soon-to-be bride and her family. Her attendants would quickly help her dress in her wedding garments and put on her jewelry. When the groom made it to the home of his bride, he would find her already waiting and usually placed in a bridal litter in which she would be carried, accompanied by her family and friends all singing and dancing and playing music. The whole group would joyously follow the groom back to his home and the awaiting wedding chamber.

In speaking of His return, Jesus explained,

“‘For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man … They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds’” (Matthew 24:27, 30b-31a).

Similarly, the Apostle Paul, to encourage the church in Thessalonica, instructed,

“The Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord’” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Christ’s Bride will be adorned in Christ’s righteousness.

“[She] will greatly rejoice in the LORD; [her] soul shall exult in [her] God, for He has clothed [her] with the garments of salvation; He has covered [her] with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10a).

“[This is] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:22-26).

The Huppah

Huppah is the Hebrew word for the home-taking of the bride. The word literally means canopy or covering and is in reference to the room the groom built onto his father’s house for the bride. The second part of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony began when the wife-to-be made it to the home her husband-to-be had prepared for her. The groom arrived before his bride so that he could welcome her and show her the special room he had constructed. Together they would greet all the guests who had gathered and proceed to share their second cup of wine with one another. They then entered the finished wedding chamber where they spent the week alone together. During that time, the marriage was consummated. As strange as it may seem in our culture, the best man, the friend of the bridegroom, waited outside the door of the room and listened for the groom to let him know that the act has been accomplished. He informed the guests and relatives and all rejoiced.

Christ is the huppah, the covering, for His Bride.

“He will cover [her] with His pinions, and under His wings [she] will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler” (Psalm 91:4).

“How blessed is [she] whose transgression is forgiven. Whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1)!

On the last night He spent with them before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples,

“‘I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also’” (John 14:2b-3).

During the sharing of wine at The Last Supper, Jesus continued,

“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).

John the Baptist called himself the friend of the Bridegroom.

“‘You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29-30).

John longed to hear Jesus exclaim what He did from the cross,

“It is finished” (see John 19:30).

The Marriage Supper

When the bride and groom emerged from the wedding chamber after seven days of intimate time together, they were joined by their families, friends, and wedding guests for a week-long marriage feast. The feast included much food and wine and was accompanied by joyous music and dancing.

Weddings were the most anticipated social events in ancient Israel. Jesus’ first miracle was at a Jewish wedding celebration. By turning water into wine, He solved the problem of lack of beverages at an otherwise jubilant event and saved the hosts from embarrassment from the community. (See John 2:1-11).

The Bible speaks of someday in the future when there will be a marriage supper for Christ and His Bride.

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God’” (Revelation 19:6-9).

Jesus’ Use of Wedding Imagery in the Gospels

To help His listeners understand the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus sometimes built His illustrations upon the Jewish wedding practices. Since the Kingdom of Heaven is primarily a relationship more than it is a realm with a Person before it is a place, focusing on a committed romantic relationship was not out of place.

One parable in which Jesus used wedding imagery can be found in Luke 15:8-10, The Parable of the Lost Coin.² In this parable Jesus told a story about a betrothed woman who had lost one of the coins her beloved had given her, her panic-stricken search for it, and her subsequent rejoicing upon finding it. Another parable, a Kingdom of Heaven parable, in which Jesus pictured Himself as the Bridegroom, and those who believed in Him as guests at His marriage supper, can be found in Matthew 22:1-14, the Parable of the Wedding Feast.³

A third parable, also a Kingdom of Heaven parable in which Christ’s wedding is the subject, can be found in Matthew 25:1-13:

“‘The Kingdom of Heaven will be 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.” 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.” And while they were going to buy, 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 came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” But he answered, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour’” (Matthew 25:1-13).

The scene of this parable complemented the huppah, or home-taking, portion of the Jewish wedding ceremony. All of the Kingdom of Heaven parables focus on some aspect of the Believer’s relationship with Christ. Jesus made a point of connecting this parable with the first joyous public part of the wedding ceremony—the part of the processes that immediately preceded the most intimate interaction between the bride and groom. So, what was Jesus trying to teach His followers two-thousand years ago? What does He hope we will extract from this parable today?

First of all, the virgins signify purity and the waiting illustrates a singularity in focus. Obviously, as Christians, as discussed above, we should be continually growing more and more like Christ in holiness. And our lives should revolve around Christ and His purposes in this world.

In a Jewish wedding, the virgins who were waiting for the return of the bridegroom would have been the same attendants who helped get the bride ready for her husband. That knowledge, coupled with the fact that, in the Scriptures, oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit, gives us an interesting insight.

In the Old Testament, a blend of physical oil was used to anoint the priests and utensils used in the temple to make them holy and consecrated (see Exodus 30:26-31). This physical anointing to be set apart as holy onto the Lord, became, in the New Testament, a spiritual anointing with the Holy Spirit consecrated, sanctified, holy unto the Lord for the Lord’s purposes.

Jesus spoke about His anointing with the Holy Spirit.

“‘“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”’” (Luke 4:18-19).

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).

A similar anointing is available for all who believe in Jesus as Savior; they are anointed by the Holy Spirit to be set apart for the Lord and are empowered to do and be everything God has planned for them.

Like a gift given to a Jewish bride-to-be by her beloved, the Gift of the Holy Spirit must be treasured. It should never be neglected.

The Scriptures tell us to …

“not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:3).

We are instructed to …

“not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Elsewhere we are strictly warned,

“‘whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’” (Mark 3:29).

Finally, the Bible teaches us to…

“be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

The verb be filled in Ephesians 5:18 is in the present tense and is literally be being filled. That means this process must be constant and continuous.

All of the virgins in this parable had oil, the Holy Spirit, but only five of them had extra. This extra is a picture of constantly being filled. The wise were prepared for the long hall. They had oil for a continued filling of their lamps. The foolish five had the initial oil filling but neglected to obtain more. The foolish either believed the filling of the Holy Spirit was a one-and-done process. Or perhaps, they didn’t actually have the oil, the Holy Spirit, meaning they weren’t actually saved they only appeared to be.

The fact that the bridegroom was delayed emphasizes the unknown timing of Jesus’ return. The focus on all of the virgins, regardless of how well they were prepared, falling asleep is significant. The drowsiness of the virgins speaks to the human tendency to get distracted from diligently pursuing our faith.

The midnight cry that the bridegroom had come was missed by no one, but only half of those waiting were actually prepared for his return. Though all the virgins trimmed their lamps, the act was futile on the part of those who were not prepared, because they had no additional oil. The virgins with extra oil could not share with their less prepared friends just like one person cannot share his/her salvation or Holy Spirit anointing with another. Everyone who is saved receives his/her own filling of the Holy Spirit. And all who consistently walk in communion with Christ and continue to be filled by His Spirit will have an abundance of what they need. But those who merely go through the motions of Christianity or neglect their relationship with Christ and the access to the continued filling of the Holy Spirit will not have what they need to be ready when Christ returns.

Sadly, no matter how much scrambling those who find themselves unprepared for His return will go through to get ready when Jesus does come, they will hear, “I never knew you.” This is the same sentiment as some Jesus mentioned earlier.

“‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. On that Day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness”’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Those to whom Jesus was referring here will not be prepared for the Day He returns because all the amazing works they think they have been doing for Christ are merely an expression of their own strength.⁴ Those who will be ready for Christ’s return are those who do everything, small or great, in Christ’s power. Only those who are in Christ and filled with His Spirit does He know personally.

Jesus’ response “‘“Truly, I say to you, I do not know you”’” (Matthew 24:12) may seem harsh, but consider all He is saying by connecting His return to this part of the Jewish wedding ceremony. Bear this in mind: would not an unfaithful fiancée hear something similar from her fiancé if she neglected to remember him?

“I chose you. I paid for you with My own Blood. I have been completely faithful to the covenant I entered into with you—the one you agreed to and, at first, joyfully accepted. Have you left your First Love?”

“I gave you the Gift of the Holy Spirit which is everything you needed. Why didn’t you keep using what I so graciously gave you? Why didn’t you remember Me every time you realized the Gift?”

“You have gone through the sacred waters of baptism and pledged your allegiance to Me. Have you now soiled yourself again with sin?”

“I was gone for a while, but I would never leave or forsake you. I left to prepare the perfect place for you, a place for you to spend eternity with Me, a place where we could share unimaginable intimacy forever. Have you forgotten Me and My promise? Do you now despise Me so much that you have run to other lovers instead of remaining pure for Me? Have I slipped so completely from your heart and mind that you have found yourself in bed with my enemy, Satan?”

“Do you think so little of Me and what I have done for and prepared for you that you would not every day long for and prepare yourself for My return?”

The day Jesus spoke the words of this parable, those in His audience who were committed to following Him would likely have been able to connect this parable to their wedding traditions and infer the seriousness of Jesus’ warnings. Today, we are less likely to pick up on all of that. But the warning to “‘Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour’” (Matthew 25:13) is even more applicable to us as the time of Jesus’ return undoubtedly draws nearer.

I challenge you to soak up all the Good Teacher is trying to share with you through this parable. I exhort you to prepare yourself for His return by asking yourself this question: Do I desire to seek God, long to spend time with Jesus, and relish in the provision of the Holy Spirit? If you can’t answer that question in the affirmative, I ask you another question: What makes you think you will want to spend eternity with God if you have no desire to spend time with Him now? Don’t expect Jesus to welcome you into Heaven if you aren’t willing to welcome Him into every aspect of your life now. Don’t expect Him to remember you if you keep forgetting about Him. But be encouraged—there is still time to strengthen your relationship with Christ and get prepared for His return. Don’t neglect this window of opportunity to remember your Beloved and get the extra Oil you need for your lamp.

 

¹ Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.

² To check out my commentary on this parable, click here: https://blueturtletrails.com/reunited/

³ To check out my commentary on this parable, click here: https://blueturtletrails.com/an-invitation-to-a-royal-wedding/

⁴ To check out my commentary on these Scriptures, click here: https://blueturtletrails.com/final-warnings-from-the-sermon-on-the-mount/

Check out my related articles concerning Christ’s Return, click on these links: https://blueturtletrails.com/preparing-for-the-future/, https://blueturtletrails.com/a-day-of-reckoning/and https://blueturtletrails.com/use-it-or-lose-it/