Matthew 25:1-13: “Jesus Tells His Disciples The Parable Of The
Ten Virgins”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our previous study, we finally finished up chapter
24 of Matthew
1.1.1.
We completed looking at the ‘General Signs’ which have
been increasing since Christ’s Resurrection as well as the ‘Dramatic Signs’ which
will increase exponentially during the 7 year Tribulation of the book of
Revelation
1.1.2.
We saw that Jesus said that no one would know the day
nor the hour in which He would return, for only the Father knew this
1.1.3.
We saw that Jesus began at the later part of chapter
24 to begin to teach His disciples that a person who is a Christian needs to
always be walking with Christ in obedience, always ready in heart and looking
for Jesus’ return
1.2.
In this next section of the gospel of Matthew, we see
that Jesus began to teach His disciples two parables which teach that we as
God’s people need to live our life in such a way that we are always ready for
the Lord’s return
1.2.1.
In this study, we will look at the first parable,
which is the ‘Parable of Ten Virgins’
1.2.1.1.We are reminded
that the church is considered in scripture to be ‘the bride of Christ’, for
that term depicts the nature of the intimate relationship that a believer has
with the Lord
1.2.1.2.In this
parable we will see that five virgin maidservants were prudent and that five
were foolish
1.2.1.2.1.Five will
enter the Marriage Supper of the bridegroom, and the bridegroom will tell the
other five virgins that they are excluded from the ‘wedding feast’ , and, He
does not know them
1.2.1.2.2.We will see
that what made the difference between being a foolish virgin and a prudent one
was that the prudent ones brought along extra oil with them in case the
bridegroom delayed his coming
2.
VS 25:1-2 -
“25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who
took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 “And five of them were
foolish, and five were prudent.”” -
Jesus begins to tell His disciples a parable by saying that the ‘kingdom
of heaven will be comparable to Ten Virgins’
2.1.
To understand this parable, it is helpful to understand how a Jewish
wedding in Jesus’ day was carried out
2.1.1.
First of all, the bridge and groom became ‘engaged’ to each other, and
since these marriages were arranged, at this point the bride and groom had very
little involvement with each other.
2.1.2.
Secondly, they went through a formal ‘betrothal’ ceremony where they
exchanged vows with each other in front of family and friends. At this point the couple were considered to
be married, and their marriage could only be broken by a formal divorce,
however they did not yet live under the same roof with each other, nor have
marital relations with each other. They
did spend a lot of time with each other during this period however.
2.1.2.1.It was during this period of
their marriage that Mary and Joseph were in when Mary conceived Jesus through
the Holy Spirit (not as a result of sexual relations).
2.1.2.2.This period of the marriage
could last up to one year.
2.1.3.
Third, the final part of the marriage ceremony was the ‘wedding feast’,
and this feast commenced after the groom and his groomsmen paraded down the
streets of the city to the bridge’s house where she and her bridesmaids were
waiting, then the whole party would parade through the streets of the city
proclaiming that the ‘wedding feast’ would now commence. The party would walk until they reached the
facility where the ‘wedding feast’ would be held.
2.1.3.1.The groom and his party
often would begin their procession to the bride’s house after the sun had gone
down, and thus they would come carrying torches (or perhaps lamps as they did
here).
2.1.3.2.The ‘wedding feast’ would be
a big community celebration attended by family and friends, and these
festivities could sometimes last as long as an entire week.
2.1.3.3.At the end of this
celebration a close friend of the groom’s would place the bride’s hand in the
groom’s and the man and wife would go off to live then under their own roof as
man and wife, and the marriage would be consummated at this time.
2.2.
Here in this parable, Jesus intends that we understand that He is the
groom in the parable, and that we the church are His bride, however as
individuals we are considered to be part of the ‘bridal party’. The real point of the parable then is to
teach the truth that a person who comes to salvation through Christ must always
be in a state of readiness for His Lord’s return.
2.2.1.
In this parable, we see that some people who initially profess to have
come to salvation through Christ will end up not making it to the ‘wedding
feast’ of the Lamb, and therefore not inherit salvation, for we see that five
of the virgins from this wedding party were prudent, however five were foolish.
3.
VS 20:3-4 - “3
“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but
the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”” - Jesus tells His disciples what differentiated
the prudent from the foolish virgins of the wedding party: the prudent brought oil in flasks along with
their lamps
3.1.
It is interesting to note that all of the virgins of this wedding party
brought lamps, and they had some oil in them initially, however since the groom
had delayed his coming the small amount of oil in the lamps had been used
up. Now, only the wise virgins who had
brought an extra amount just in case the groom might delay could refill their
lamps when he came and proceed with the wedding party.
3.2.
In the scriptures oil is often found to be symbolic of the Holy Spirit,
and we can see that every virgin of the wedding party had just a small natural
supply of the oil in their lamps, however if the virgins hadn’t gone to lengths
to make sure that they had a reserve supply for the trip, then when the groom
came they wouldn’t be ready to proceed with him. This then symbolizes the fact that a
Christian must regularly take steps to insure that he better himself spiritually
through godly disciplines of spending quiet times with the Lord, reading His
Word, praying, fellowshipping with the saints, etc.
3.2.1.
Over the 28 years I have walked with Christ, I have known a number of
people who once walked with the Lord however eventually fell away from their
faith, and most of these people were ones who had never really been able to be
disciplined in spending that quality time with the Lord on a daily basis. The ones who fell away were usually very
undisciplined Christians who eventually were simply lured away from their faith
through worldly temptations, and one day they just wandered away from Christ
and their church home.
3.2.2.
Also, did you know that you yourself are responsible for whether or not
you are filled with the Holy Spirit? In Eph.
5:18, Paul exhorted the church to ‘be filled with the Holy Spirit’, and we know
that God does not command us to do something that He does not give us the power
to do. Therefore, we Christians are
responsible to first of all desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then
also to pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit, and also to trust God by faith
to be filling us with the Holy Spirit.
3.2.2.1.To be ‘filled with the Holy
Spirit’ means to be controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and therefore
we must yield our lives to God in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
3.2.2.2.To be ‘filled with the Holy
Spirit’ is to walk by faith in the promises of God also, therefore we need to
be in God’s Word and be trusting His Word to be doing what He promised it will
do in our lives.
4.
VS 25:5 - “5 “Now
while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.””
- Jesus tells His disciples that ‘all’
of the bridesmaids got drowsy and began to sleep
4.1.
Even the best of Christians sometimes fall asleep in their vigilance in
following the Lord, for Jesus teaches here that ‘all’ began to get drowsy as
they were waiting for the Lord to return, however we should all be exhorted to
be careful not to fall asleep.
4.1.1.
In 1 Thess. 5:5-6, Paul wrote about how we should be careful to be alert as Christians and
not to fall asleep, “5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day.
We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do,
but let us be alert and sober.”
4.1.2.
Commenting upon the importance of being watchful in our Christian walk
from
Rev. 16:15, “Blessed
is he that watcheth”, Spurgeon once wrote about how that we must be careful not to
find ourselves falling asleep in our following Jesus and serving Him, “I fear me that the Christian church is far
more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those
rougher times. We must be awake now, for we traverse the enchanted ground, and
are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing, unless our faith in Jesus be
a reality, and our love to Jesus a vehement flame. Many in these days of easy
profession are likely to prove tares, and not wheat; hypocrites with fair masks
on their faces, but not the true-born children of the living God. Christian, do
not think that these are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or
with holy ardour; you need these things more than ever, and may God the eternal
Spirit display his omnipotence in you, that you may be able to say, in all
these softer things, as well as in the rougher, “We are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.””
4.1.3.
In 1 Peter 5:8, the apostle Peter wrote about how we need to be alert because Satan is
looking for an opportunity to devour a Christian, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
4.2.
In 2 Peter 3:3-9, Peter wrote about how that in the last days people would stumble
because the Lord had taken so long to return and they would mock the notion of
Christ ever returning, “3 Know this first of all, that in the last days
mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and
saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell
asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For
when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the
heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6
through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7
But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept
for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not let this one fact escape your
notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some
count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but
for all to come to repentance.”
4.2.1.
Peter tells us in these verses that Christ had not returned because of
the patience of God in wanting people to come to repentence, and in giving them
time to repent.
4.3.
In Hebrews 10:36-39, the author (probably Paul) wrote about how we as Christians need
endurance in our faith so that we will not give up following Christ and
therefore forfeit receiving the reward, “36 For you have need of endurance,
so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was
promised. 37 For yet in a very little
while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one shall live by
faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul
has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are
not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the
preserving of the soul.”
5.
VS 25:6-9 - “6
“But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to
meet him.’ 7 “Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 “And the
foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going
out.’ 9 “But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us
and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’”
- Jesus tells His disciples that the
bridegroom finally came at midnight, and the prudent virgins of the wedding
party trimmed the flame on their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom,
however the lamps of the foolish virgins had gone out and they were without oil
5.1.
The little bit of oil that had been in the lamps of the foolish virgins
had been burned up as they dozed off to sleep while waiting for the bridegroom
to return, however the prudent virgins had extra supply for their lamps and
thus they had already refilled their lamps and just needed to trim their wicks
to be at just the right height, and then they would be ready to proceed with
the bridegroom and his groomsmen to the wedding feast.
5.2.
The foolish virgins attempted to get oil from the prudent virgins,
however each of the prudent virgins had only enough oil for themselves
therefore to share any of their oil would mean that their lamps would also burn
out and they would be forced to leave the procession also.
5.2.1.
The asking of oil from the prudent virgins also perhaps symbolizes that
men and women must go to Christ for salvation, the church cannot save anyone
nor can any of it’s members, though they might wish that they could. A person has to go directly to Christ for
salvation.
5.3.
The prudent virgins send the foolish ones to the oil traders to try to
buy or barter for some oil, however the problem there is that after they bought
the oil it was too late to enter the procession for they had missed it, and the
doors to the wedding feast were now shut.
5.3.1.
There will be a day when it is too late to come to salvation, for the
door will be shut. Therefore, a person
is wise if they come to salvation now, for none of us knows the day nor the
hour of the Lord’s return, and none of us knows when we may die either, and,
the day a person dies without Christ it will also be too late for him to come
to Christ for salvation. Thus the
scripture exhorts all that, “Today is the day of salvation.”
5.4.
Jesus said here that the bridegroom would arrive with a shout, and we
know from 1 Thess. 4:16-17 that when the Lord comes to rapture the church He will come with a
shout, “16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ
shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall
always be with the Lord.”
5.5.
The scriptures teach us that there will be a ‘Marriage Supper of the
Lamb’ which all believers in Christ will partake of. We see this taught in Rev. 19:7-10, “7 “Let
us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb
has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 And it was given to her to
clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints. 9 And he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those
who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me,
“These are true words of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he
*said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren
who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.””
5.5.1.
Even though the ‘Marriage Supper of the Lamb’ is written about in Rev.
19:7-10, where the Great White Throne of Judgment is mentioned, it is most
likely that this event will occur just after the rapture of the church, and
just after the ‘Bema Seat Judgment’ of Christians, which is a judgment of
rewards.
6.
VS 25:10-12 -
“10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom
came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the
door was shut. 11 “And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord,
open up for us.’ 12 “But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not
know you.’”” - Jesus tells His
disciples that the foolish virgins later came and asked to be let into the
Wedding Feast, however they were refused for the ‘door was shut’
6.1.
The point of these verses is that there will be a day when it is too late
for a person to try and repent so that he might be let into God’s kingdom, for
one day the door will be shut.
6.2.
God is long-suffering and patient, however even His patience eventually
runs out with men, and then He is forced to judge those who refuse to turn to
Him in repentence.
6.2.1.
In John 3:16-17, we see that Jesus taught His disciples that it was not God’s desire to
judge the world but to save it, and thus He sent His Son into the world to take
the penalty of sin so that men might be saved, “16 “For God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge
the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.””
6.2.2.
If people insist upon choosing to reject Christ then they have determined
not to have eternal life, however it was their choice since God provided for
and desired that they come to salvation.
6.3.
We see in Matt. 7:21-23 that there will be people within the church who
believe that God has worked through their lives in a mighty way even to the
effecting of miracles, however He will tell them on that day that He never knew
them, “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your
name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many
miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from
Me, you who practice lawlessness.’””
6.4.
People need to take the opportunity to come to salvation when they have
the chance because they never know when they may die unexpectedly or Christ may
return and rapture the church, and then they will not go with the church to
heaven, but instead have to endure the 7 year Tribulation and if they decide to
give their life to Christ during that time they will most likely be martyred
for their faith.
7.
VS 25:13 - “13
“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.””
- Jesus tells His disciples that they
are to be ‘on the alert’ since they will never know the day nor the hour when
He will return
7.1.
Jesus tells His disciples in this verse what His whole point in tell the
parable is, that God’s people need to be always ‘on the alert’, being diligent
to keep their heart pure and their zeal fanned white hot for Christ. This alone will insure that they will be
ready when Christ returns for the church.
7.1.1.
This parable applies to every Christian living at every point in time,
those of us living now before the rapture of the church by Christ, as well as
those who come to faith during the 7 year Tribulation and who are potentially
experiencing tremendous persecution and suffering.
7.1.2.
All need to be living each day as if the Lord were to return that day,
for if they are not doing that then the Lord will come at a day when they least
expect it and it will be too late for them to repent and get their hearts right
with Christ.