Too Little Preparation & Too Much Presumption
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· 7 viewsWe sometimes make the mistake of thinking just because we received an invitation to the wedding it assures our entrance in.
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We sometimes make the mistake of thinking just because we received an invitation to the wedding it assures our entrance in. Too little preparation will result in rejection.
As we look at today’s scripture we will see that there is three characters in this parable. We find the bridegroom and ten virgin(girls ), five of them where wise and five was foolish. Today we will be looking at the actions of each of them.
The Bridegroom
The Bridegroom
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
What do understand about first century Jewish wedding? when a man and woman became be-trolled the man would return to his father’s land and build house for him and his bride, then the groom would leave his house and journey to his brides’s house, there the wedding ceremony was often conducted that night. After the wedding ceremony , the wedding party would return to the groom’s home for the wedding fest.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
So, as we look here at v.1-6...
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
We see two details that just stand out:
The unusually long delay
The unexpected time of arrival
The ten girl had a an important task and that is to be ready when the bridegroom returns, but because he took longer then expected scripture say they became drowsy and slept.
have God called you to serve the Lord and because you have heard since you were a kid that he is on his way you have became drowsy and fallen a sleep.
the bridegroom, with his unusually long delay and unexpected time of arrival, teaches us that predicting when Jesus will return is pointless.
Christian history is littered with strange speculations and false predictions, and although Jesus Christ twice made it absolutely clear that only God knows the timing of the second coming—
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
and
7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.
it is still quite popular in this present age for Christians to claim end-times clarity on the day, time, and place.
The Wise Virgins
The Wise Virgins
Who are these five wise Virgins? what did they do?
The wise virgins symbolize true Christians—the prepared and persevering saints.
We are not to take their virginity literally, thus commending virginity to the truly holy or truly saved, as was sometimes done with this text in late antiquity. Christians aren’t all virgins any more than they are all slaves or sheep.
That is who they are. Here is what they did. First, they “took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom” (v. 1). This was obviously an act of obedience.
All ten girls obeyed, and were ready.
The difference between the two groups comes out in verses 3, 4.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
The difference is preparedness and lack of preparedness; more specifically, it is preparedness and lack of preparedness for the unexpected.
1. Too Little Preparation
1. Too Little Preparation
The first rejection comes from the true Christians.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9 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.’
At first reading you might be bothered at the apparent selfishness of the wise.
Why didn’t they share?
True Christians are to love others.
True Christians are to sacrifice.
True Christians are to share with those in need.
True.
But they are also to be responsible for or obedient to the work the bridegroom has called them to do. Their ethical dilemma is not such a dilemma if we realize:
(a) obedience to the groom is their first priority, and
(b) if they gave away their oil they would, as they said, all run out before their task of lighting the way was completed, and thus everyone would be in the dark and in danger.
The wedding would be a disaster without their torchlight procession.
2. Too Much Presumption
2. Too Much Presumption
The first rejection comes from the true Christians. The second comes from Christ himself, and this second rejection is far more serious.
10 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.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Now again, at first reading, just as you might have been bothered by the wise girls’ apparent selfishness, here you might be bothered at the groom’s apparent harshness.
Why is the door shut?
Why does the groom say to those he asked to be in his wedding, that he doesn’t even know them?
what did those silly girls do that was so sinful?
Verses 10, 11 provide the picture of hurried activity. Those five fools aren’t lazy fools
10 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.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
They are told by the wise to go buy more oil, and off they go. They got the oil, lit up the lamps, and then hurried to the party. Sure, they were late, but they could have called it a day. They could have walked home and gone to bed. But they didn’t. They went to the wedding, and they wanted to go in to the party.
And then, at the shut door, So, they called out, “Lord, lord, open to us” (v. 11).
Didn’t they acknowledge Jesus as Lord (and yes, the double “Lord, Lord” is intended to remind of us of the end of the Sermon on the Mount and those lawless miracle-workers who don’t get in [7:21])?
21 “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.
And didn’t Jesus teach his disciples to ask and they shall receive, and to knock and the door shall be opened (7:7)?
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
So why then does this door stay shut? Why does their prayer go unanswered? Or I should say, why is it answered with an emphatic rejection—with Jesus’ “I have no idea who you are”?
Alfred Lloyd Tennyson captured so well in his poem on this parable, entitled:
“Late, Late, So Late!”
Late, late so late! and dark the night and chill!
Late, late so late! but we can enter still.
“Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.”
No light had we; for that we do repent;
And learning this, the bridegroom will relent.
“Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.”
No light: so late! and dark and chill the night!
O let us in, that we may find the light!
“Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.”
Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?
O let us in, tho’ late, to kiss his feet!
“No, no; too late! ye cannot enter now.”
As Tennyson notes, these girls are not prepared, and yet they presume that if they go and get prepared at the last minute they will have time, and they “can enter still.” And they presume that if they “do repent … the bridegroom will relent.” They presume upon his kindness—“Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?”
You see, these five girls are irresponsibly secure. They think other Christians will surely help them get what is necessary to get in. “If and when the time comes, let’s borrow from the prepared” is their attitude.
Sure, we need church fellowship and more mature believers around us in order to persevere, but here Jesus places individual responsibility before us. Don’t count on other Christians’ preparedness or righteousness. You’re on your own before the judgment throne.
These five girls also think that if they can’t get in on the backs of the saints, gentle Jesus will surely let them in. They might place the blame on him: “It’s his fault, not mine. He came when I wasn’t ready. He’d better let me in.”
Or they assume that the Jesus on Judgment Day is the Jesus of Christmas Day—little, harmless, non-threatening. Oh no. On that Day too late is too bad. Jesus will roar like a lion, not lie down like a lamb. The door will stay closed.
Listen, there is blessed assurance for prepared disciples, they can fall asleep each night without undue worry about Christ’s judgment post-midnight.
But there is also “Unblessed Assurance,” when someone thinks that simply getting an invitation to the wedding and being asked to participate in it assures entrance to it.
in the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price (13:44–46), that it is “not enough just to ‘find’ the treasure … one must also ‘sell all’ to purchase the treasure if one wants to have it”?
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,
46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.