Jesus continues to teach His Followers of the NECESSITY of CONTINUAL READINESS.
Mat 25:1 "Then will the Kingdom of the Heavens be found to be like ten bridesmaids who took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
Mat 25:3 For the foolish, when they took their torches, did not provide themselves with oil;
Mat 25:4 but the wise, besides their torches, took oil in their flasks.
Mat 25:5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, so that meanwhile they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
Mat 25:6 But at midnight there is a loud cry, "'The bridegroom! Go out and meet him!'
Mat 25:7 "Then all those bridesmaids roused themselves and trimmed their torches.
Mat 25:8 "'Give us some of your oil,' said the foolish ones to the wise, 'for our torches are going out.'
Mat 25:9 "'But perhaps,' replied the wise, 'there will not be enough for all of us. Go to the shops rather, and buy some for yourselves.'
Mat 25:10 "So they went to buy. But meanwhile the bridegroom came; those bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 "Afterwards the other bridesmaids came and cried, "'Sir, Sir, open the door to us.'
Mat 25:12 "'In solemn truth I tell you,' he replied, 'I do not know you.'
Mat 25:13 "Keep awake therefore; for you know neither the day nor the hour. WNT
Introduction.
Jesus has been Emphasizing Watchfulness because He saw this as so Important. Some parts of this story are allegorical but this is really a Parable. An earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The Marriage customs in Jesus' Day were very different from today even though we are at a loss to understand some of the details.
Mat 25:1 "Then will the Kingdom of the Heavens be found to be like ten bridesmaids who took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Notes
the Kingdom of the Heavens be found to be like ten bridesmaids…
Mr. Weymouth sees the virgins, as bridesmaids. It is an illustration of what Christ has been talking about in Chapter 24 Being alert and ready for Christ's Return.
Jesus says the Kingdom of heaven will be like ten girls, (virgins) as married women were not attendants at a wedding at that time. When the Bridegroom came they would have formed part of the procession.
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| Middle Eastern Wedding procession |
who took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom.
They took lamps (torches), and went out to meet the Bridegroom
The “lamps” used on such occasions were rather “torches” or “flambeaux.” They were made by winding rags around pieces of iron or earthenware, sometimes hollowed so as to contain oil, and fastened to handles of wood. These torches were dipped in oil, and gave a large light. Marriage “ceremonies” in the East were conducted with great pomp and solemnity. The ceremony of marriage was performed commonly in the open air, on the banks of a stream. Both the bridegroom and bride were attended by friends. Barnes Notes
The whole imagery of the parable is drawn from Eastern marriage customs. The betrothal, which took place some time before the marriage, was a kind of solemn marriage contract, but preliminary to its final consummation. When the time for the celebration of the marriage came, the bridegroom came to the house of the bride and brought her by night to his own house. The virgin bridesmaids awaited his coming and attended the bride to the marriage feast. The People’s New Testament
Mat 25:2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
Notes
foolish and wise; The quality that made the difference between them was prudent forethought on the part of the wise. Compare Mat_7:21-27.
Mat 25:3 For the foolish, when they took their torches, did not provide themselves with oil;
Notes
They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. The Jewish lamp was a shallow vessel filled with oil, on which the wick floated. These virgins had oil in their lamps when they started, but had no oil to replenish them. They started out, apparently, all right, but did not hold out. PNT
Mat 25:4 but the wise, besides their torches, took oil in their flasks.
Notes
The words “wise and foolish,” here, refer only to their conduct; in regard to the oil. The one part was “wise” in taking oil, the other “foolish” in neglecting it. The conduct of those who were “wise” refers to those who are “prepared” for the coming of Christ - prepared by possessing real piety, and not being merely his professed followers. The conduct of those “without” oil expresses the conduct of those who profess to love him, but are destitute of true grace, and are therefore unprepared to meet him. Barnes
Mat 25:5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, so that meanwhile they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
Notes
The bridegroom tarried - That is, while they waited for him. It was uncertain at what time he would come. He delayed longer than they expected.
All slumbered and slept - Waiting until near midnight, they fell asleep. This circumstance is not to be pressed to prove that all Christians will be asleep, or cold and careless, when the Lord Jesus shall come. “Many” may be so, but many, also, will be looking for his coming. This circumstance is designed simply to show more clearly the “duty of being ready,” Mat_25:13. It does not mean to affirm it “as a fact” that none will be ready.
lept, Mat_25:5. Observe here,
[1.] The bridegroom tarried, that is, he did not come out so soon as they expected. What we look for as certain, we are apt to think is very near; many in the apostles' times imagined that the day of the Lord was at hand, but it is not so. Christ, as to us, seems to tarry, and yet really does not, Hab_2:3. There is good reason for the Bridegroom's tarrying; there are many intermediate counsels and purposes to be accomplished, the elect must all be called in, God's patience must be manifested, and the saints' patience tried, the harvest of the earth must be ripened, and so must the harvest of heaven too. But though Christ tarry past our time, he will not tarry past the due time.M.H.
Mat 25:6 But at midnight there is a loud cry, "'The bridegroom! Go out and meet him!'
Notes
And at midnight — that is, the time when the Bridegroom will be least expected; for “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1Th_5:2).
there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him — that is, Be ready to welcome Him.
Mat 25:7 "Then all those bridesmaids roused themselves and trimmed their torches.
Notes
the foolish virgins as well as the wise. How very long do both parties seem the same - almost to the moment of decision! Looking at the mere form of the parable, it is evident that the folly of “the foolish” consisted not in having no oil at all; for they must have had oil enough in their lamps to keep them burning up to this moment: their folly consisted in not making provision against its exhaustion, by taking with their lamp an oil-vessel wherewith to replenish their lamp from time to time, and so have it burning until the Bridegroom should come. Are we, then - with some even superior expositors - to conclude that the foolish virgins must represent true Christians as well as do the wise, since only true Christians have the Spirit, and that the difference between the two classes consists only in the one having the necessary watchfulness which the other wants? Certainly not. Since the parable was designed to hold forth the prepared and the unprepared to meet Christ at His coming, and how the unprepared might, up to the very last, be confounded with the prepared - the structure of the parable behooved to accommodate itself to this, by making the lamps of the foolish to burn, as well as those of the wise, up to a certain point of time, and only then to discover their inability to burn on for want of a fresh supply of oil. But this is evidently just a structural device; and the real difference between the two classes who profess to love the Lord’s appearing is a radical one - the possession by the one class of an enduring principle of spiritual life, and the want of it by the other. JFB
Mat 25:8 "'Give us some of your oil,' said the foolish ones to the wise, 'for our torches are going out.'
Mat 25:9 "'But perhaps,' replied the wise, 'there will not be enough for all of us. Go to the shops rather, and buy some for yourselves.'
Notes
Are you really prepared to meet your Lord. He who endures to the end will be saved.
Mat 25:10 "So they went to buy. But meanwhile the bridegroom came; those bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
Notes
Their neglect was fatal. They delayed too long. They were still searching when the Bridegroom came.
those bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
Their forethought was justified for they had the oil which they needed there at hand. They could now easily take their place in the celebration.
Mat 25:11 "Afterwards the other bridesmaids came and cried, "'Sir, Sir, open the door to us.'
Notes
Don't be late for the Banquet!!!!!!!!!!
Mat 25:12 "'In solemn truth I tell you,' he replied, 'I do not know you.'
Mat 25:13 "Keep awake therefore; for you know neither the day nor the hour.
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