In the latter part of Matthew’s Gospel, before the passion narrative, our Lord turns His attention toward the end of days. He has spoken to His disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem. He has cautioned them about false teachers who will seek to lead the people of God away from the truth. He has told them about the great day of judgment when the Son of Man returns in glory as the King of kings. And then, in chapter 25, He offers a few parables which serve as a warning and a call to action for His followers. Those who are disciples of Christ are to be watchful and found ready at His coming. The first of these parables is before us today, the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It is a somber warning, one that may make us anxious as we hear them pounding on the shut door only to be told, “I do not know you.”

“The Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five of them were wise.” The image Jesus paints for us is of a marriage feast, a grand party that will begin as soon as the bridegroom arrives. And these young maidens have a role to play. They are to be part of the wedding party, part of the fanfare of his arrival. They do not know the exact time of his arrival. They only know that sometime during the night he will show up, and it is their job to meet him, to function as escorts for his entrance into the feast.

This is a fitting image for the Kingdom of Heaven. Throughout the Old Testament, God is often referred to as a husband to His Church. For instance, through the prophet Hosea, God says, “I will betroth you to Me forever. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” So, the end of the age is a picture of the long-awaited Bridegroom’s arrival. He will carry His bride into eternity, beyond the valley of the shadow of death, beyond the age of suffering and sin. And we are to go out to meet Him, to be ready at His arrival. Though we do not know the day or the hour, we are to always be watchful for this day.

Therefore, this becomes a bit of a cautionary tale, and we lean in a little closer to the parable when we hear that five of these virgins were foolish and five were wise. All ten go out to meet the bridegroom. All ten were excited about his arrival. All ten, in fact, fell asleep waiting for him. The difference, we are told, is when the foolish took their lamps, they took no extra oil with them. So, when the announcement rings out in the night that the bridegroom is coming and they get up and trim their lamps, the foolish ones find that their lamps are going out. They ask to borrow some oil from the other five, but there is not enough for everyone, so they rush off to get more, hoping to be ready when he comes. But they miss it. They find themselves locked out of the wedding feast. The party has already begun, and they cannot come in. The ramifications of this are terrifying to say the least.

Our first focus, then, is the oil. What is the oil in the lamps of those awaiting the bridegroom? I remember years ago sitting in a somber home in southeast Georgia with a woman whose husband had just died. I knew him, not well, but I knew him. He was an occasional churchgoer. He showed up on all the big days: Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day, and a few others here and there. As we sat together, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, she spoke nervously about his eternal hope. “Pastor,” she said, “I think he lived a life well enough. He was a good man. He cared for me and our family. Do you think he did enough? Do you think he is worthy of eternal life?” Now, she would not have asked this if anyone else was there, but with just the two of us, she clearly had some doubts and was looking for some comfort.

There is a nagging fear many have about the arrival of our Bridegroom. Will we have enough oil? Have we done enough? Have we been faithful enough, gracious enough, sacrificial enough? Often, newer Christians look at those who have been on the journey for many decades, see their Biblical knowledge and long practice of supporting the church, and wonder if they will be ready when the time comes. Will they be counted among the wise? Will they have enough oil?

Now, there is comfort when we begin to think of the oil not as our works, not our earnest effort to be made worthy, but as a gift of God. Throughout Scripture, oil is used as a physical symbol of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. The oil in the lamps of those awaiting the bridegroom is not our deeds but our faith. Faith is not created or generated by what we do. It is a gift received. As Saint Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” To have lamps full of oil, lamps which are lit when the bridegroom arrives, is to be where the Word is proclaimed, where the Word is washed over us, where the Word is placed into our mouths, over and over again. It is the promises of Christ and not our deeds that make us wise to eternal life and open to us the doors of the Wedding Feast.

Yet, perhaps, there is more to this parable, more we are to learn from the wise and foolish virgins awaiting the bridegroom. It may be what truly makes them foolish is not that they do not have enough oil, but they are focusing on the wrong thing. They are concentrating completely on the oil, on their slowly dimming lamps, when the cry goes up that he is coming. It is their concern over the oil, concern over how they are presented to him when he comes, which causes them to miss out. It is as if they do not know him at all. They seem to believe he will reject them if their lamps are going out. But this is the one Isaiah prophesied about, saying, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench.” The key is to be focused on the bridegroom, eagerly awaiting his arrival. That is what is important.

Our hope and assurance are not in ourselves but in the grace and mercy of the Bridegroom. As I spoke with that grieving widow all those years ago, we did not talk about the measurable works of her husband or try to discern if he had enough oil when he died to get him through the doors. We talked about the nature of our Lord. We talked about the promises made in Holy Baptism; about the sacrifice Christ has made to redeem sinners like us. The call at the end of the parable is, “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Jesus does not say to watch your oil levels but watch for the Bridegroom. And Therefore, we watch. We gather in His promises, in His gifts, in the outpouring of His Spirit as together and await His arrival.