"The Parable of the Ten Virgins: The Bridgroom Delays"

Matthew 25:1-5: Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

If you remember the verses from last week, Jesus made a point of being ready for the Lord's Return. This is underscored as we come to the first paragraph of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. In a real sense, the Parable is an evangelistic tool to awaken people to their need to come to Christ's grace while there is still time. Over the years, I have had so many people ask if these are the Last Times. With the specter of a Palestinian State created by the United Nations late last week, we would all the more see the need for Christ to return and intervene in the inevitable attack that will come on Israel. Yet, His return could still be far off.

Many of those people that were so concerned about the signs of the times have now gone to their reward. Jesus knew when He gave the Olivet Discourse that His return was not near, but He also knew that none of those disciples would live into the next century. Thus, the setting of dates for the Return of Christ is irrevelant once you are deceased. He has come. The point is: Were you ready?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is given to remind us to be ready for Christ's return at all times--even if we do not live to see that return. Saturday, I was told to be ready at 7:30 AM for the mechanic to come to the house to fix one of our church vans so it would be ready for Sunday. I was out there at that time even though we had gotten home from youth group rather late the night before (due to a freeway closing and being in massive traffic). By 9 AM, I phoned the middle man to see why the mechanic had not arrived. "He will be there by noon." I returned from visiting at noon, and no mechanic. Again, assured over the phone that he would soon be there. These assurances went all the way until the mechanic showed up at 10 PM and said as we stood out in the rain that the work could not be completed that day. With the help of John Liu and Pastor Vance, those on my Sunday morning list were still picked up. That the bus was not fixed was still a major disappointment as there had been so many promises of an exact time that were not fulfilled. That is this world, that is not Christ. That is why no dates were set for the return. God's purposes are so far above our own self-centered desires for Christ to return.

Jesus uses a familiar symbol in Middle Eastern Culture--the wedding. In Bible days, weddings were long processes that involved the entire town. The parents of the groom often selected the bride, which was followed by a period of engagement that lasted a year, and then the actual marriage. The ten virgins are the bridesmaids for that actual wedding. The lamps are torches that the bridesmaids would carry as the procession would occur as soon as the bridegrrom arrived at the house of the bride.