The Wise and the Foolish: A Meditation on Matthew 25

The parable Jesus offers of the 10 Virgins can seem enigmatic on its surface, and over the centuries has certainly seen its share of allegorical interpretations.  What is the significance of the virgins?  Of the oil?  Of the lamps?  Of the bridegroom?  Of the wedding feast?  Of the virgins falling asleep at a late hour?  Of the shut door?  Many attempts have been made to find deeper meaning in the details… some better, and some worse.  But like most parables Jesus uses to teach His disciples, they aren’t really intended to be studies in agriculture, politics, or wedding planning.  They are meant to teach the people something that points them to Him.

And so, if we step back from this parable and look at it like an impressionist painting, the image and subject matter become much more clear.  Jesus begins this parable after having spent the previous chapter discussing the end of the world, and His Second Coming.  Chapter 24 culminates with an admonishment to “Watch, therefore:  for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,” and an example of faithful versus unfaithful servants who will receive from their coming Lord either blessing or destruction.  It is from this context that Jesus begins his first parable in chapter 24 with, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins…”  Jesus interest is not to teach His Disciples about lamps and oil, but rather about being faithful and watchful for His coming.

From this perspective, we can see that the wise virgins took oil with them, and the foolish did not, representing a sense of preparation for the coming of the Lord.  The wise ones were prepared to do their duty until the Lord returned, but the foolish made no provision to either work nor prepare.  And when the Lord finally comes, the wise enter in with Him, and the foolish are left outside, having found no time for repentance or preparation after the Lord’s return.  At His Second Coming there is a decisive moment, where those who have clung to Him by faith will continue to live by His grace now fulfilled, while those who have despised Him in unbelief are confirmed in their judgment.  And great will be the judgment of that Day—for the household of faith, it is bliss forevermore, but for the wicked it is the horror of hell never ending.  His parable ends as it began:  “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.”

We read and meditate upon this parable as the season of Pentecost comes to an end, and with it, the calendar of the Church Year.  We have walked with Christ through His teachings, learning from His blessed Apostles what it means to be saved by His grace through faith in His Vicarious Atonement for the sins of the whole world.  We have learned what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, alive in and by His Word.  And now we remember that He has called us into His fellowship, to labor faithfully until His return, no matter when that may be.

To be a servant of Christ, is to live by faith in Him—and such faith is always at work, producing by His grace the fruit of His Spirit.  Such fruits of faith do not save us, but they are the necessary result of a living faith, like fruit is the result of a living tree.  Those who abide in Christ’s Word and Sacraments, hearing His Law and Gospel, and responding in Faith and Repentance, will bring forth by His grace the fruits of a living faith.  Such fruitful works are nothing for us boast in, since they are begun and completed in Christ our Savior, but they are marks of the life we have in Him.  They are signs of our living, saving faith.

But all too often, we sound much more like the foolish virgins or the unfaithful stewards, dawdling while our Lord delays His return.  We live far too often as if our Lord Jesus Christ is never coming back, or as if we can live in unbelieving sin until He gets here.  Jesus warns us of the awful dangers of living in such wicked sloth, reminding us that we have no idea when He will return—and as He finds us, so will His judgment be.  If we are found living by His grace through faith, we will be forever blessed; but if He finds us living in wicked unbelief, our place will be with all the wicked, condemned to fire forever.

And how will He find you?  Whether He comes for you at the end of the world, or at the end of your life, you do not know the hour of His coming.  You do not know if you will have tomorrow to find repentance and faith, or even if you will have this afternoon.  You do not know the hour when the Lord of Glory will return for your soul, and as He finds you, so shall you remain.  You do not know when your last day shall be, because He has told you that you will not know.  He has intentionally left this part of your future dark, so that you may cling only to His Word.

But He has told you exactly what you need to live in Him forever.  He has given you His Law that you might understand your sin, and repent of your ungodliness.  He has given you His Gospel so that you might believe in Him and His grace, receiving His mercy and forgiveness.  He has given you His Spirit, so that you might walk by faith and not by sight, bringing forth the fruitful good works of love and compassion He has called you to.  He has filled your lamp with oil, so that you can work by faith every day of your life, and be found at the end alive in Him.  He who has begun the good work of salvation in you, shall complete His good work that sanctifies and preserves you in His grace unto life everlasting.  He has given you everything you need—even the faith that clings to His grace, by the power of His Living Word.

And so He calls to you, even today.  Hear His Word.  Believe and live.  Watch, for you do not know the hour your Lord returns for you.  There is no safe time for sin, rebellion, sloth, and unbelief.  Today, in this very moment, He calls you to Faith and Repentance by His Eternal Word.  Hear Him, before it is too late, and the doors are sealed against you forever.  Amen.