Matthew 25:1

MATT. 25

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS; THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS; SCENES FROM THE FINAL JUDGMENT; THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise ... Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

This is plainly a parable of the second coming and of the judgment, thus emphasizing the presence of that theme in Matthew 24.

ANALOGIES IN THE PARABLE

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The kingdom of heaven = the church

The bridegroom = Christ

The midnight arrival = the second advent

The virgins = church members

The wise virgins = the prepared

The foolish virgins = the unprepared

The lamps = (a) faith or (b) works

The oil = (a) works or (b) the Spirit

The sleep of the virgins = the sleep of death

Tarrying of the bridegroom = delay of the second coming

The midnight cry = the call to judgment

Refusal to give oil = merit not transferrable

Exclusion of the foolish = rejection of unprepared

The shut door = impossibility of the last minuteMONO>LINES>

This parable pertains to members of the body of Christ; and, although an oriental wedding is made the vehicle for the conveyance of a vital truth relative to church members and their kingdom duties, it will be observed that the bride in this instance is not mentioned, and does not represent the church in this parable. It is the bridesmaids who appear in this analogy as Christians, and their going forth to meet the bridegroom represents the going forth of Christians to meet the Lord eternally.

The number ten (10) and their equal division as to wise and foolish appear to be inert factors in the parable. The same is true for part of the conversation between the wise and foolish. Thus, the suggestion of the wise that the foolish go and buy for themselves does not imply any opportunity for preparation after the summons for judgment.

The parable is practical, the tragic story of the ready and the unready. It applies to all present-day Christians. The kingdom of heaven is the church, aptly set forth in the analogy as a company of precious bridesmaids. The great shock, therefore, is to realize that some, even of these, shall be summarily excluded from association with the bridegroom. The parable is designed to shock men into realization that a host of good, clean, moral, respectable members of the church will be lost. Through sheer negligence, many of the redeemed shall fail to enter in. The foolish virgins are the Lord's own example of saved persons who at last failed to make the port of everlasting life. This warns against idleness and neglect, but it should not discourage. Those foolish virgins did not provide oil, but they could have done so. What was required of them was nothing extraordinary or especially difficult, but it did require concern and attention which they failed to give.

And five were foolish ... A favorite term in Scripture for the unsaved is precisely this, "foolish." It is the "fool" who says in his heart there is no God (Psalms 14:1). The man who built on sand is described not as vicious but as "foolish" (Matthew 7:26). The rich man who mistook his body for his soul was denominated by the Lord, "thou fool!" (Luke 12:20). Those unfortunate bridesmaids of this parable were in no sense reprobate or immoral, but "foolish." One sees their counterpart on every hand in those persons with exquisite tastes, cultural excellence, and social acceptability; but they have no oil in their lamps. They are spiritually bankrupt.

They all slumbered and slept ... The sleep in this parable must be identified with the sleep of death, because: (1) it ended only when the midnight cry heralded the second advent, symbolized by the coming of the bridegroom, and (2) because both the unready and the ready entered it. Death must come alike to all, the ready and the unready, except, of course, for those relatively few who shall remain alive at the coming of the Lord.

While the bridegroom tarried ... This referred to the long delay prior to the second coming of Christ. It has been vigorously alleged that the early Christians thought the coming of the Lord would surely take place within their life span, and certainly some of them did believe that; but the teachings of Christ afford abundant proof that Jesus taught otherwise. Again and again, Jesus left witness that a very long period would elapse before his return (Matthew 24:48; Matthew 25:19). Observations of Richard C. Trench in this context are helpful. He said:

We may number this among the many hints given by our Lord that the time of his return might possibly be delayed very far beyond the expectation of some of his disciples. It was a hint and no more. Had more been given, had he plainly said that he would not come for many centuries, then the first ages of the church would have been placed at a manifest disadvantage, being deprived of that powerful motive to holiness and diligence supplied to each generation of the faithful by the possibility of his return in their time. It is not that he desires each succeeding generation to believe that in their day he will certainly return; for he cannot desire our faith and our practice to be founded on a misapprehension ... But it is a necessary element of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, that it should be possible at any time, that no generation should consider it improbable in theirs.[1]

The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps ... In the list of analogies above, two interpretations for the oil and the lamps were noted. Again, from Trench:

Here again we meet with a controversy between the Romanists and the early Reformers ... The Reformers asserted that what these virgins lacked was the living principle of faith ... The Romanist reversed the whole; for him, what they had was faith, but faith which, not having works, was "dead, being alone" (James 2:17).[2]

Rather than choosing sides in an old controversy, we take the view that there is no relative evaluation of lamps vs. oil, or oil vs. lamps, intended in this parable. BOTH OIL AND LAMPS were vital and necessary. There is not the slightest suggestion that if the foolish virgins had brought plenty of oil and NO LAMPS, they would have been admitted. Therefore, to take a position with reference to the superiority of either oil or lamps would be only to obscure the fact that both were required. For this reason, it makes no difference whether the lamps are viewed as faith without works, or works without the Spirit of God, or whether the oil is made to be the Holy Spirit without which a person is "none of his" (Romans 8:9), or that living faith without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The overwhelming message of the parable turns on preparation or the lack of it. The oil happened to be the necessity which the foolish virgins failed to supply; but their failure would have been no less fatal to their purpose if they had failed to supply lamps.

We have already noted that the conversation between the wise and foolish at the moment of the bridegroom's appearance forms a somewhat inert portion of the parable, inserted not to teach the possibility of last-minute preparation, but to emphasize the utter impossibility of it. Ralph Waldo Emerson's criticism of the wise virgins for not sharing their oil with the foolish sprang from a profound blindness to spiritual reality. Alfred Plummer noted that:

It is impossible for one person to impart to another the spiritual power which comes from frequent communion with God's spirit. That can come only from man's own experience of such communion, an experience which requires much time. "Give us of your oil" is a request which no religious person can grant. The refusal of the wise virgins to give of their oil indicates, not want of will, but want of power.[3]

The Romish doctrine of the works of supererogation to the effect that the good deeds done by saints in excess of the requirements of divine law provide a bank of merit or stored-up credit, available, upon terms prescribed by the church, to help supply the lack of sinful souls - this doctrine is dealt a fatal blow by this parable of Jesus. One can be sure that there are no banks of stored-up merit to which the unprepared may have recourse at the last moment. Heaven will be a prepared place for a prepared people; and failure to prepare will mean failure to enter.

And the door was shut ... This is a warning to the good, the morally upright, the respectable, and the cultured church member, a warning thundered from the gates of heaven, "There must be oil in your lamp." Do not be deceived by the cliche of Satan to the effect that "works cannot save." Preparation can save, and works are invariably involved in preparation. One shudders to think of some who may be trusting to be saved by "faith alone," as outlined in many of the current creeds, or expecting the stored-up merit of some ancient "saint" to save them. Equally futile are the hopes of those who may rely upon the goodness of their parents, the merits of their families, or the works of their religious group to save them. Is there enough oil in your lamp? Arouse, ye sleepers, and provide oil for your lamps before life's little day is spent. Oil you must have, not merely enough to light, but enough to burn and last. An apostle said, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). The unwise virgins simply did not do it, and millions today are in the same condition. They are members of the company called to meet the Bridegroom; they even have lamps, and a little oil, but not enough. Not enough! What awful words are those! This parable is a trumpet call and war cry for men to bestir themselves. "Go and buy for yourselves!" This is the only proper advice; but do it now. The foolish virgins waited, waited until the sun declined, and twilight came, and darkness fell, until their eyes were closed in the sleep of death; and in that wretched state of unpreparedness, the midnight cry overtook them. Then it was too late; may it not be so for us!

Watch, therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour ... This was Jesus' own conclusion from the parable; it should also be ours. The meaning of "watch" is not restricted to staying awake but includes thoroughness of preparation, an alertness that takes account of unseen contingencies, and a conscious readiness AT ALL TIMES to respond to the divine summons. The wise virgins slept with the foolish ones, as indeed all shall sleep in death; thus, "to watch" enjoins the proper employment of all those golden hours that precede the inevitable onset of that night in which no man can work.

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

The following analogies will readily be seen in this parable:

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The man going into another country = Christ the Lord

The other country = heaven where Christ is

The servants = Christ's disciples

Distribution of talents = endowment of gifts

The return of the man = the second advent

The accounting required = the judgment

Profit reported = improvement of gifts

The buried talent = sloth and an evil heart

The joy of the Lord = felicity in heaven

The outer darkness = punishment of wicked

Faithful servants = faithful Christians

The unfaithful servant = unfaithful ChristiansMONO>LINES>

[1] Richard C. Trench, Notes on the Parables (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1953), p. 256.

[2] Ibid., p. 252.

[3] Alfred Plummer, Commentary on Matthew (London: Elliot Stock, 1909), p. 344.