When Jesus tells a parable, pay attention! For if you don’t, you’ll miss the meaning in the details of everyday-life events that Jesus uses.
So, in today’s parable from Matthew 25, who represents whom and what represents what? Well, let’s start with the easiest person to identify: The Bridegroom. He’s Jesus. That’s obvious if you were to read the chapter before today’s parable, Matthew 24. There, Jesus talks about His return on the Last Day after He goes to Heaven to be with the Father.
And it’s that context in Matthew that also lets us know what the wedding is in the parable. That’s the coming end of the age. For the Scriptures also call the new heavens and the new earth the unending wedding feast of the Lamb of God (Revelation 19:7-10).
And the 10 virgins, who are they? The five wise and five foolish are the saved and the damned. For later in Matthew 25, after the Parable of the 10 Virgins, Jesus says that, at His coming on the Last Day, He will separate the saved from the damned. He will do that as a shepherd separates sheep and goats, with the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
And so as these 10 bridesmaids await the Groom’s arrival, they sit around, chat, and while away the hours. But finally, they all fall asleep. Oh, they were waiting for the Bridegroom, but the heavy waves of sleep finally overcame them. Sleep had spared no one. For they were all weak and of the sinful flesh, just like every human being ever born, except Jesus.
But what does it mean that all 10 virgins fell asleep? Jesus uses falling asleep two different ways. First, we are to be alert and not let the flame of our faith flicker and go out. We are to be vigilant, waiting for Jesus’ return, which could happen at any moment. We are to be awake, ready for Jesus while we live and walk this earth. That’s what first comes to mind.
But it’s more than that, for all the virgins–not just the foolish ones–fell asleep. So, something different is going on in the parable when Jesus describes all the virgins falling asleep since the wise virgins fell asleep, as well.
If you weren’t asleep during last Sunday’s sermon, you heard that falling asleep was an expression referring to someone dying. That’s how 1 Thessalonians used that expression. And that’s also how Jesus used that expression. In today’s parable, all the virgins slept, whether they were the wise or the foolish, the saved or the damned. All entered the sleep of death because all were born of this fallen flesh.
But then a cry awakens them! “He comes! He comes!” the loud voice cries. “Daughters of Zion, come forth. The Bridegroom comes, bringing the wedding feast. Wake up! Rouse yourselves because the Bridegroom has invited you!”
And then the Groom appears! The Lord Jesus returns to resurrect the living and the dead. He awakens the wise and the foolish. He raises the saved and the damned. As he once awakened Jairus’ daughter, and the widow of Nain’s son, and His friend Lazarus, so also does Jesus raise all the dead. And it’s not just for an earthly span of life as He did with Lazarus, but for all eternity in a new and perfect body made to last for all eternity.
So, the virgins are the people of the earth, both the saved and the damned. The Bridegroom is Jesus. The sleep of the virgins is death. The return of the Bridegroom is when Jesus returns with the Resurrection and judgment. And the wedding feast is the eternally blessed life with God.
Ah, but not everything in the parable is so easily answered. What’s with the oil? We can’t pass that detail over, for it’s important. After all, that’s what separates the wise from the foolish, the saved from the damned.
Well, let’s look at the parable another way. Why did the wise virgins bring the oil, but the foolish virgins didn’t? When the Bridegroom left the virgins, He said to them, “In a little while you will see me no longer; and then after a little while, you will see me [John 16:16]. So you must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect [Matthew 24:44].”
And so the wise virgins prayed and confessed, “Amen, Come Lord Jesus.” They prayed what we prayed and sang in the Te Deum: “We know that You will come as our judge that final Day.” And so they brought extra oil. After all, the Bridegroom promised that He could return at any moment, even when they least expected it. So, they brought enough oil to last them through the night.
The oil shows the wise virgins believed the Groom and what He had said. And when you believe and trust what Jesus says that means you have faith. The oil is faith.
The foolish virgins are foolish because they have no oil. They have no faith because they don’t believe the Bridegroom’s promise. “So you must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.” But the foolish virgins reply, “He’s gone, and He’s not coming back. Why bother with the extra jug of oil when we won’t use it anyway? We’ll go to sleep, and that’ll be that. We won’t need to wake up during the night, so there’ll be no need for extra oil for our lamps.” And so they brought no oil because they didn’t believe the Bridegroom.
But on that Day when the Groom returns, it will be too late to get the oil they need. So, when the Bridegroom comes and leads the wise virgins to His wedding feast, the foolish will stand outside and cry, “Lord, Lord, let us in!” But not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord” will enter the wedding feast, but only those who do the will of the Father by believing and trusting in His Son and His promise.
On that Day, it is too late to believe, too late to get oil. The wise tell the foolish, “Go and buy some oil.” They say it as a way of rebuking the five foolish ones. For when Jesus told the parable, there were no Seven Elevens or 24-hour mini-marts. So, there was no buying oil at midnight. On the Last Day, everyone will know that Jesus has returned, His promises are true, and that He is God in the flesh.
You cannot get faith on that Day because, on that Day, there will be no more need of faith–for faith will be replaced by sight! We will see what we’ve always believed to be true: what Jesus had always promised.
So, for those who now reject His word, who refuse to believe He speaks the truth, then it will be too late. Then, they will see what they’ve always denied as true. So, you, beloved saint of God, take in the Word of the Lord, for His word is truth and His promises are sure.
And this is His promise: Although your sins are as scarlet, they will become as white as snow. Oh, it’s true: You are just as susceptible to the sleep of death as the foolish virgins. Oh, it’s true: Like the foolish virgins, you, too, have earned the grave as the wage of your sin. You, too, have betrayed others, told lies, been cruel, doubted, and wavered. Yet, despite all that being true, the Bridegroom will bring you salvation.
Why is that? It’s because the Bridegroom has paid for the wedding feast out of His own pocket–and it cost Him everything He had. He poured out His life on the cross to give you His eternal life in exchange for your eternal death. He dies His death, so your death could be but a sleep from which He will awaken you for an eternity when He returns.
Meanwhile, you live by faith and not by sight. It is true; you cannot see the Bridegroom now. But don’t think for a moment that Jesus, your Lord, has abandoned you. Don’t let your eyes make you foolish. For that’s the problem with the foolish virgins. Since they can’t see the Bridegroom, they assume that He has left them forever.
But Christians see with their ears, not their eyes. We know that Jesus hasn’t left us, but just removed His visibility from us. Jesus still cares for our every need. Jesus still calls us from death to life. Only now, instead of walking up to a boat or a tax-collector’s booth and saying, “Simon Peter, Matthew, follow me,” Jesus now comes to you at the font of baptism and calls you by name saying, “Follow me. You are mine.”
And on that Good Friday 2,000 years ago, when Jesus changed all of human history, He lifted His body and blood to be broken and shed for the forgiveness of sins for all to see. Now, you receive that same body and blood, which continues to plead to the Father for your forgiveness in the bread and wine of His Supper.
The eyes of faith are the ears of believers. Again, the eyes of faith are the ears of the believers. And so when Jesus says, “This is my body … this is my blood,” the ears of the wise believe it. They say, “Amen, Lord Jesus. Your Word is sure and true. You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. You are here in the flesh.”
And so, even now, the feasting begins. Even now, the Bridegroom is with us, in His flesh and blood, as a prelude of the eternal wedding feast to come. Although you can’t see Him now, you still receive Him. Now, there only remains a little sleep, and then comes the call to awaken on the Day of Resurrection. Then, your eyes will see what your ears already have. Faith will give way to sight as the Lord’s fulfills all His promises.
And so we pray, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.
