The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

The wedding had been in the works for a year. The Bride had been planning this day since she was a little girl. It was going to be quite the affair: lots of flowers, a very expensive wedding dress, five bridesmaids, five groomsmen, ring bearer, and the reception was at the country club, lots and lots of details…. A big storm had delayed the arrival of a number of people and forced the cancellation of the rehearsal. The wedding itself was scheduled for four, at three o’clock it was apparent that some things just weren’t coming together as planned. The airline had lost the maid of honor’s luggage including her maid of honor dress. One bridesmaid no longer had a dress because her daughter spilled her large red Slurpie down the front of it. On the groom’s side, one groomsmen left his tux at home; for another the measurements were all wrong- you can’t put a 48 waist in a 28 inch pair of pants and one groomsmen was delayed getting back from a last minute bass fishing trip to Lake Powell. Despite their best of intentions ten attendants had been reduced to five, and the bridegroom arrived to take his bride.

Jesus uses the picture of a wedding procession to share an important lesson- many who had been ready have set aside their readiness and will be left out on the day that He comes for us.

Jesus said The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. To understand the opening words of this parable we need to understand wedding customs of the day. To be engaged in Jesus day was as good as being married. During the engagement the groom would build a place for the couple to live often adding on to his family’s home. Then, one night a grand procession would be planned. The groom with his friends, his attendants, would leave his house and journey to the bride’s house to get her and bring her to her new home.

The Bride would wait at her house and her bridesmaids, virgins, as Jesus calls them would wait on the road to greet them. As the groom and his friends approached the house the bridesmaids would see the procession approaching. They would light their lamps and join in escorting the bride from her home to her husband’s home where there would be a grand, wedding celebration.

Jesus is the bridegroom, his attendants are the host of heaven and he is coming to take his bride, the church, home to heaven. The bridesmaids or virgins are all of us. When I first read this parable, I focused in on the ten bridesmaids or virgins. Five were found ready and five were not.

As a Pastor, I looked around and I could easily see why five were not found ready. Self-righteously I said, “One was not ready because he made God of his or her reasoning- it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as your sincere; another didn’t believe in a god or any god at all; a third was counting on his good works to merit his entrance into heaven; the fourth had switched gods and was now following after the Buddha, and the fifth, I met Friday he just remade God into a user friendly version that fit his lifestyle and beliefs.

It is easy to look at all of them, the people out there, and look down my nose at the likes of them, but the more I studied this parable the more I came to realize that unlike the five I just described all ten in Jesus’ parable were at one time believers. All knew the bridegroom was coming; plans had been made for them but some deviated from the plan.

There are ten attendants or virgins; ten symbolizes completeness – all are gathered in one place. The coming of Jesus symbolizes the ends of times. But Jesus calls five of those waiting “wise” and “foolish.” What makes one group wise and one group foolish? This is an important question. I think all of us want to get to our last day or The Last Day and have Jesus declare us wise not foolish. How can we be kept wise?

St. Paul’s letter to Timothy sheds some light on how some in a group of wise believers could become foolish. Paul writes that, there were some men who had come among the believers and they were teaching false doctrine. (1 Tim 1.3) These false doctrines and half-truths had led many into foolishness. We live in a time when people have foolishly twisted God’s Word to justify all manner of sin. Churches have gone along with this, no longer calling sin a sin. They no longer speak against couples living together outside marriage, promiscuity, abortion used as birth control, and homosexually. They fail to speak decisively against unforgiveness, sinful pride, and greed. Consequently, some have wandered away from the Word God and turned to meaningless talk. ( 1 Tim 1.6) Many who were once wise had become foolish.

God’s Word is given to keep us safe, ready, and wise but a sinful world is always seeking to draw us into all manner of foolishness. Help us, Father, to watch carefully what we believe and to live out those beliefs.

That the believers living in Philippi would remain wise, St. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- meditate upon such things. Foolishly, how often do we fill out thoughts with things that common and anything but excellent? All to often I fear….Would it not be wise that we spend a full measure of time meditating and deeply pondering God’s Word. The Psalmist writes: I meditate on your precepts and consider Your ways (119.15); Let me understand Your teachings…then I will meditate on Your wonders (27); I have more insight than my teachers for I meditate on Your statues (99); (Lead me) that I may meditate on Your promises. (147-148) Father, lead us to take a portion of the time we spend on our ourselves, time currently given to TV, romance novels, and searching the internet to deeply contemplate and treasure Your promises found in baptism, the Lords’ Supper, and Your Words of absolution. By the working of the Holy Spirit lead us to meditate on Your Word, to spend a part of each day with You, and forgive us when foolishly we don’t.

That the believers in Corinth would be wise St. Paul writes, when I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We live in a time when many have been foolishly lulled asleep by the empty cross. It is so sanitized that we forget what took place there and why. We need to see in our minds’ eye Christ dying for our sins and the sins of the whole world. For just a moment we need to ponder what a drop of His blood buys us- forgiveness. We daily need to remember what it cost- it cost the Father the agonizing death of the Son. Our forgiveness was bought at a high price, but a price willingly paid.

Father, keep us wise by keeping the cross ever before us that we do not become foolish, thinking forgiveness is no big deal, that grace is cheap. Keep us very mindful of how much you willingly paid to buy us back from sin and death.

The ten attendants were waiting for the bridegroom. Five were foolish, they were at one time believers but they had wandered away from that belief. Five were declared wise. Both groups thought they were ready but obviously five were not. What spelled the difference? Both groups had been made ready in Christ, but five had wandered from that readiness. That had set aside the oil of readiness, left it behind, taken up another oil which was really no oil at all. When needed, it was not there, and they were left out as the procession proceeded to the banquet.

The wise attendants had, also, been made ready in Christ whether by baptism or the hearing of His Word. The Holy Spirit through the regular hearing of God’s Word, fellowship with other believers, and partaking of the sacraments had maintained their readiness. By these the Holy Spirit keeps us in a state of readiness; our jars are kept full even when it seems that the Bridegroom is a long time in coming.

Do not be deceived He is coming. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise (to return) as some understand slowness. He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

All around us are people who have foolishly have set aside their oil that is faith in Jesus Christ. They are trying to replace it with works or sincere intentions. Others have turned back from waiting from for the Christ and have been called into the darkness by false teachers. Sadder yet, some children have never heard for their parents have become distracted. They like all of us need to hear of the One who is coming and how we can be made ready and kept ready. They need to hear of Jesus. That one day He will call them and us “wise” and take us home with Him.

Amen