SHARING BREAD
1 “At that time the kingdom of
heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 Five
of them 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. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming,
and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’”
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.’”
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.’”
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.”
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’”
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.”
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’”
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.’”
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.’”
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.”
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’”
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.”
Matt
25:1-13 (NIV)
In our verses for today, the Lord Jesus continues His
discourse on His second coming and the end of the world as we presently know it
– this was His farewell sermon of caution, red flagging us to watch and be
ready. He urges us on to the utmost care
and diligence in awaiting His return.
Today is the first of three parables the Lord gives relating to our constant
care to be prepared for His arrival.
Luke also records the Master’s warning of readiness as well as stating our
sure reward for obedience to His command:
35 “Be dressed ready for service
and keep your lamps burning, 36 like
men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he
comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose
master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress
himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on
them. 38 It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes
in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the
house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his
house be broken into. 40 You
also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not
expect him.” Luke
12:35-40 (NIV)
We discover in our parable today of the ten virgins that
they all were awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom yet not all possessed the
same character. Jesus tells us five were
wise and five were foolish. There are
some who profess faith and even worship beside us in our churches yet their characters
are vastly different in God’s sight. One
is either wise or foolish in the affairs of their soul. True faith is wisdom yet sin is folly or
quite frankly, insanity as all sin carries with it a death sentence. To consistently choose to sin is to choose a
death to something and is foolish indeed. Jesus gives us no middle ground – no walking
the proverbial fence - we are each called to make clear decisions. Remember Jesus’ Words:
30 “He who is not with me is
against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Matt 12:30 (NIV)
“There are thousands of people who have had some form of
emotional experience that they refer to as conversion but who have never been
truly converted to Christ. Christ
demands a change in the way you live – and if your life does not conform to
your experience, then you have every reason to doubt your experience!” Billy
Graham
Next, Jesus tells us the foolish
virgins took only enough oil to make their lamps burn for the present. Many make a firecracker show of their
professions – emotionally charged - only to quickly dismally fizzle. They perhaps intended to walk in a manner
worthy of the Gospel and to meet the Bridegroom with a “Well done, good and faithful servant!” ringing
in their ears yet there remains no change in their life. They walk the same way, they talk the same
way and they behave the same way before their professions. If it looks like a dog and it sounds like a
dog, it probably is a dog no matter what profession it barks out. Jesus calls these hypocrites – those who wear
a mask – verbally claiming faith yet their hearts remain as dark as river
mud. Carrying the lamps of profession in
their hands for a present show yet having no Holy Spirit within – neither able
to live what they profess nor able to make provision for what is to come.
Our Lord then speaks of the wisdom of the wise virgins who
brought oil along with their lamps. They
carried good principal within - being filled with the Holy Spirit – enabling them
to continue on in their profession and be ready for His return. This should cause us to examine our own lives
as well. Are we prepared for His sure
coming – will we be found wise in the Spirit’s power or foolish in our own “power”
of vain confidence and conceit regarding our goodness? The lamps of the hypocrites of this life will
go out and the door will be shut. Hopes
will fail and comfort will be gone.
There will be no getting something from someone else. We all stand before the Judge alone. Many seek admission to heaven when their time
of opportunity has passed as Esau who afterward desired to inherit the blessing
yet was rejected though he sought the blessing with tears. The time for preparation for all is the
present.
“Don’t
slack off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we
exhort unconverted people to strive for, and a degree of which you have had in
conversion. Thus pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight,
that you may know your self and be brought to God’s feet, and that you may see
the glory of God and Christ, may be
raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart.
Those that have most of these things still need to pray for them; for there is
so much blindness and hardness and pride and death remaining that they still
need to have that work of God upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them.
This will be a further bringing out of darkness into God’s marvelous light, and
a kind of new conversion”. Jonathan Edwards
What
I glean from this:
· I am to be watchful and prepared for Jesus’ sure
return.
· I am called to make a clear decision – no fence
walking.
· I am not to slack off seeking, striving and praying.
