MOTIVATE
Some people are early birds. You wake up ready to go, bright-eyed and energetic. You show up at least 10-30 minutes early and wonder where everyone else is. You’re on your third round of tasks when others are taking their first sip of coffee. You are known as “Morning People,” aka “untamed animals!” Ha!
But, then there’s those other people… They’re notoriously late for everything. They show up to crowded rooms thinking everyone present is there as their welcoming committee. They stroll leisurely to consider a schedule of tasks that you have already been checking off and crossing out. Their lateness extends to every area of their life that friends joke somehow they will be late to their own funeral. They have time blindness and it causes others to feel unappreciated and overextended.
EXAMINE
But it helps to step back to realize that clocks and schedules are not what give supreme meaning to life. Other cultures are not inextricably tied to time and find joy in relationships and motivating purpose.
Today we will explore a passage of Scripture that reminds us to wait patiently and work faithfully for those who appear late to us but are right on time in their own eyes.
Matthew 25:1-13
1 “At that time
Mt 25 in context of Mt 24 with 7 signs of Jesus’ return.
- Spiritual deception (24:4-5)
- International conflict (24:6)
- Natural disasters (24:7-8)
- Christian persecution (24:9)
- Christian apostasy/deconsctruction (24:10-13)
- Missiological advance (24:14 “the gospel proclaimed thru world”)
- Christ returns following a significant tribulation (Mt 24:29-30)
Jesus said “no one knows the day or hour” of his return, so while we don’t know when, we do know we are 1-day closer; and the evidence of his first coming provides us confidence to trust the promises of his second coming. The tomb is empty, the throne is occupied, and our trials are temporary in the light and love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said “no one knows the day or hour” of his return, so while we don’t know when, we do know we are 1-day closer; and the evidence of his first coming provides us confidence to trust the promises of his second coming.
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the kingdom of heaven will be like…
Jesus teaches in parables. It’s said that parables are earthly stories with heavenly meaning – brief illustrations about everyday culture to instruct about a spiritual concept.
- Parents use illustrations to instruct children: if everyone jumps off a bridge, will you do same? Close the door; do we live in a barn? Parents are not advocating for repelling or sky jumping, nor condemning farmers or barn-style living.
- Teachers illustrate to students: we’re not at a stadium; it’s time to be quiet and listen. Or, you’re not sitting on a boat; chairs have 4 legs. Teachers are not condemning athletes or being anti-sailors/navy…
- Preachers illustrate all kinds of things from Reese’s to explain delight (not advocating diabetes), to enjoyment of children (not condemning singlehood or non-parents). Recently, I illustrated Joseph as head of government efficiency. Church, please know that I was neither speaking for/against DOGE or Elon Musk, and my sincere sympathies for all who are experiencing tension or rejection in their employment status. Our church family’s prayers and support is with you. We give benevolence, meals, and time with listening ears…
- Sometimes a person’s illustrations will connect, and other times distract. But the intent is to understand the larger spiritual & life principles and not dissect our own meaning into what was never intended.
- So, Jesus teaches about the kingdom with an illustration about
a) marriage – bc God’s kingdom is highly relational, b) personal preparation and not spiritual procrastination.
the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to unmarried women in a bridal party.
The wedding occasion for the Eastern world was unique.[1] The groom sends a friend of the bridegroom to conduct negotiations with the woman’s parents to establish a dowry for purchase. The reason for a dowry was the family would miss out on the workforce efficiency and required assistance for its loss (cf. Gen 29:18; 1Sam 18:25).
So, the man pays for the wedding – – – which, as a father of four daughters I am herby instituting a policy #DowryForDadsOfDaughters!
After a dowry was agreed upon the wedding couple would enter a betrothal period; stronger than the modern version of being engaged. In fact, to separate from a betrothal agreement would have required a divorce (Mt 1:18; Dt 20:7). During the betrothal time the groom would ensure the woman’s purity and wait for intimacy, and would also go prepare a place for his bride with the assurance that he would return to take her to himself (cf. Jn 14:2-3). On the night of the wedding procession, both parties would dress as elegantly as they could afford (Rev 21:2). The groom would come to the house of the bride and together they’d march through the neighborhood celebrating with music and dancing and joy. Friends would come along to help light the path at night (cf. Mt 25:1-13).
The wedding feast would last an entire week with guests coming and going. Again, the groom was financially responsible for hosting a huge feast of food and wine for the community (Mt 22:1-13). In return, the community dressed in wedding garments brought gifts to help offset the costs and to help the new couple get started establishing their family.
So, there were 10 members of this bridal party waiting for the groom to arrive in the nighttime with lamps.
> Much of life and faith is learning to wait. Sometimes the wait is short and other times long. Sometimes it’s short but feels forever. We fill our waiting time with white noise, solving tasks, or in many cases fretting and fear. The key to waiting is not to be passive doing nothing. Waiting is active with preparing, organizing, training, and trusting God to guide your next steps. It’s leaning on Him, especially when you’re weak; and learning from Him, realizing life and faith are about growth in our character and convictions. And the reality is that the Lord waits for us far more than we wait for Him.
The key to waiting is not to be passive. Waiting is active with preparing, organizing, training, & trusting God to guide your next steps. It’s leaning on Him, especially when you’re weak; & learning from Him, realizing life & faith are about growth in our character & convictions.
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Ps 25:1-5, 21 “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.”
2 Five of the virgins were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
Jesus describes two categories of these unmarried women: foolish & wise. Interestingly, the word Jesus uses for foolish is more than ignorance (empty minded); μωρός = ungodliness; empty character. The foolish women had torches but did not bring extra oil to endure throughout the night. Yet, the wise women had fanny packs or large pocketbooks to carry extra oil (jk!). These women knew they couldn’t assume the waiting time of this important happening, and they didn’t want to miss out. So, they stayed ready and were prepared.
5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
In this parable, the groom is not waiting on the bride but the reverse. In this culture, it was the bridegroom’s prerogative to be on his own schedule and nobody expected punctuality.[2]
And since this parable relates to the kingdom of God, the bridegroom is Jesus. Jesus is never late, never. He is unhurried and methodical. God is never ignoring us but He’s improving us by pruning our idols. While His timing is not our own, He’s preparing us for things to come.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Pet 3:8
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Midnight is not the exact time, but the sense is in the middle of the night.[3] And someone in the party is either paying attention and keeping watch, or is a light sleeper (I think the former) hearing the bridegroom walking toward the meeting place. But once they see him, the alarm cry rings out with the bridegroom becoming the center of attention.
Undoubtedly, the alarm cry parallels the trumpet blasts of Mt 24:31; 1Co15:52; 1Thes 4:16.[4]
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
The women woke up from their slumber and trimmed their torches. Like long candle wicks that smoke and hinder a formidable flame, they trim their torches, but only five refuels with oil.
And now the foolish women find themselves in trouble. The smoking torches are growing dim, but the women did not immediately panic. They assumed the other women would share their oil despite their reckless negligence.
Prov 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoices but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
9 “‘No!’ they replied, ‘There may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
The solution did not appeal to the wise women. Their oil supply would not be adequate for everyone, and they were unwilling to risk their own torch. If all the torches go out, the wedding procession would be a catastrophe.
And evidently it was possible to buy oil in the middle of the night, though, of course, it might mean rudely awakening oil merchants out of their beds.
In all, this parable is meant to teach us that faith and spiritual readiness cannot be transferred from one to another; we’re all responsible for our own faith – God has no offspring. No matter how much a Christian prays or wishes faith for another, there must be a moment of personal accountability and acceptance of faith.
#Matthew25 is meant to teach us faith & spiritual readiness cannot be transferred to another. God has no offspring. No matter how much a Christian prays or wishes faith for another, there must be a moment of personal accountability and acceptance of faith.
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10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Finally, unpreparedness creates consequences. While they were replenishing their oil and repairing their torches, the bridegroom arrived to finalize the procession. For the foolish women, their inattention and interruption were fatal. The bridegroom shut the door. The wedding festivities were closed to any outsiders.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ [Lord, Lord] they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
They have no lack of identifying the bridegroom and his importance, nor eagerness to join the gathering. Yet…
12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
The parable is reminiscent of Jesus’ words at the end of the sermon on the mount (Mt 7:21-23). Those who approach the wedding banquet based on assumption without affection will be sent away.
If we try to reason that no bridegroom would say that he did not know some of the invited guests, we miss the poignancy of the parable. Jesus is not telling a story about something that actually happened; he is warning people of the dreadful fate for what may happen. So, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Unpreparedness creates consequences.
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APPLY/TAKEAWAYS
There is a sobering reality that
- sheep live among goats, and sometimes wolves
- wheat grows among weeds
- wisely prepared among foolishly negligent
- true disciples among false believers.
This passage portrays how similar the 10 virgins appear on the surface:
- All invited to the wedding feast
- All wait for the bridegroom
- All have lamps with oil
- All fell asleep
- All awakened by a midnight alarm
- All attempt to go to the wedding
Imagine the 10 women standing like a prison lineup. Could we differentiate which were true?
- #2 keeps twisting hair & seems nervous; maybe she’s false
- #4 is chewing gum & is a total poser
- #8 doesn’t make eye contact but is sincere… must be true.
No! We are meant to view them equally because the only decisive difference is internal. Humanity looks at outward appearance but God weighs the heart.
> So, be careful, friend. Going to church does not make one a Christian any more than stepping into a walk-in freezer makes you a Blue Bell ice cream; nor stepping onto an airplane makes you a pilot. Test your testimony.
- Php 2:12 “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
- Heb 4:8 “Today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart”
- Heb 10:26-27, 31 “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a fearful expectation of judgment… It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”
Every true believer should be waiting faithfully and watching expectantly for the coming of the Son of God. But there are many who are unfaithful and unprepared. They are not truly identified with the people of God, and there is coming a day and hour when the door will be shut.[5] Test your testimony.
Come to Jesus. His last words are an invitation not condemnation.
Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”
[1] Insights from Fred H. Wight, Manners and Customs of Bible Lands, Chapter 14: Marriage Customs.
[2] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 622.
[3] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 622.
[4] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 370.
[5] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 625.
Growing Godly Generations 