The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE TEN VIRGINS
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE TEN VIRGINS
Golden Text: “Watch, therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.” (Matt. 25:13)
Lesson Plan:
1. The Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13)
2. The Kingdom of Heaven Typified by a Wedding Feast
3. The Conduct of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins as Related to the Kingdom of Heaven
4. The Parable Applied to Our Day
Lesson Setting:
Time: The afternoon of Tuesday, April 4, A.D. 30, 2 or 3 hours after the last lesson.
Place: Jesus had left the Temple, and was on His way to Bethany over the Mt. of Olives. The parable
was spoken in some place on that hill overlooking Jerusalem.
Place in the Life of Christ: After He had completed His public ministry, and had left the temple.
He now gives His time to His final instructions to His disciples.
Research and Discussion: What special instructions would the disciples need to help them in the trying times close at hand? The Oriental customs as to weddings. In what respects may the kingdom of heaven be likened to a wedding? What was the essential difference between the wise and the foolish virgins? Why could not the wise help the foolish? What does “watching” mean in this parable? “And the door was shut.”
Introduction: Jesus, having done all that skill and love could do to persuade the rulers to accept the true Messiah, left the Temple with His disciples, taking the winding path that led over Olivet to Bethany. Apparently in the silence of amazement they go on till they reach the brow of the hill from where Jerusalem, in all its glory, comes into view. Here they ask Jesus questions concerning the strange things He had said; (a) When shall these things [the destruction of the temple and city] be? (b) What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world, rather, the age, the old dispensation? After discoursing on these things, Jesus, by means of three parables, impresses the great essential fundamental truths they need most. The first is the subject of this lesson; the second we considered in connection with the parable of the Pounds; the third is the subject of our next lesson. With the atoning death of Jesus, three days later, His resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, there began a new era of the kingdom of God, the greatest moral and political change ever made in the history of the world. The disciples could not understand it till later. But in the strange disturbances, confusions and terrible times – as if the sun were darkened, and the stars falling, and the world wrecked as Jesus had described to them not long before – there was real danger that the faith of the disciples would fail; hence, the repeated warnings to watch and this parable of the ten virgins to enforce the warnings.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
1. The Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins
“This is one of the most beautiful and touching of the parables. Poetry, painting, and the drama have combined to give it an exceptional hold on the Christian imagination. The weird pathos of the story is unspeakable. The occasion is so happy, the agents so interesting, the issue so tragic” (A.B. Bruce, ‘Parabolic Teaching of Christ’). A picturesque scene of an original wedding reception – The details of wedding ceremonies varied with circumstances, and no complete description exists. But from various accounts and experiences of modern missionaries and travelers we can perhaps form a picture of the events described in this parable.
Scene 1: We see the bride at her home, with her maiden friends, being decked and arrayed in her best attire for presentation to her husband. She is loaded with all the gold and silver and precious stones she possesses. Ear-rings, nose-rings, nose-pins, anklets, necklaces, broaches, headbands, hair chains, girdles, were common. The object of this is not merely for show. It is a protection. It is her own property, and in case of divorce, the husband cannot take away those possessions on her person ...
Scene 2: “When both parties live in the same town, the marriage reception may take place in either home, but the older tradition points to the house of the bridegroom’s parents as the proper place” (Dr. George M. Mackie).
Scene 3: We see the intended bridegroom in the same evening away from either home, at the house of some friend where his comrades have congregated for the purpose of escorting him home, just as bridegrooms now often have a supper with their bachelor friends the evening before the wedding. Here speeches of congratulation were made, and poems were recited in praise of the groom and honoring the family name.
Scene 4: We now look in upon the house of the bridegroom’s parents where the wedding feast is to be. Here we see the virgin companions of the bride. And as the night wears on and all the duties of robing the bride and adorning the house are accomplished, a period of drowsy waiting sets in, as when in the parable both the wise and foolish virgins were overcome with sleep. The hour was late and the time of the procession was unknown, so they slept in peace. After all, the shouts and cries of the coming crowd would awaken them in time. They had no anxiety; the wise because they had faith and were prepared; the foolish, by false security, ignoring the future.
Scene 5: Next we see the bridegroom’s procession from the house of his friends. It is late in the evening, toward midnight, when the bridegroom indicates to his companions that it is time to go. They all rise up. Candles, lamps, and torches are supplied to those who are to form the procession. The whole company then goes in procession by torchlight to the bridegroom’s house, being joined on the way by parties of invited guests, every one carrying a lamp or torch. Flowers are scattered by the way. Musical instruments are played, glad songs are sung, with dancing and shouts of joy. In Oriental wedding processions, like the one referred to in our lesson, illumination of the procession was not done by small lamps as used by the maidens. It was from flaming torches of pitch-pine, or from branches of tow saturated with pitch and fastened to long poles; also a basket-like iron framework, supported on an iron rod six or eight feet long, was filled with pitch-pine and other inflammable material, and carried aloft by stout men in front of the procession, with shouts and loud cries of rejoicing. What a picturesque sight that must have been; seeing such a procession moving along in the stillness of an Oriental starry night, while on each side of the narrow street, from flat housetop and balcony, crowds look down, and women raise through the still air those peculiar shrill, quavering cries of joy, called Zugaret, which are heard throughout the East on occasion of special rejoicing. So, at midnight the cry was raised all along the route ...
v 6 ... “Behold the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him.” The fact of his approach was known along the path in front of him. Owing to what was probably the stillness of the air, the slow pace of the illuminated procession, and no doubt frequent stops, the cry could perhaps be heard half an hour or so before the bridegroom’s arrival. In his book, “History of the Hindoos,” Ward writes about a similar marriage procession, “after waiting two or three hours, at length, near midnight, it was announced, as if in the very words of Scripture, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.’"
Scene 6: In the bridegroom’s house. The cry awakened all the slumbering guests “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps” (v 7), preparing to go forth with their lights and songs to meet the bridegroom, and join the procession to his home. It was a busy time. The wise virgins trimmed and replenished their lamps with the oil which they had had the forethought to bring with them. The five foolish ones found their lamps burned out and they had carelessly brought no olive oil with which to fill them again. The “foolish” were characterized purely on the basis of their thoughtless behavior. Giddy with excitement, they no doubt passed the day thinking about their dresses, etc., making no necessary preparations as did their sensible sisters. If they thought at all they assumed that somebody would certainly have the things they needed. Most of us have suffered from such easy-going confidence.
v 8 ... “And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out.”
v 9 ... “But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you. Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Then they doubtless tried earnestly to obtain oil. The houses along the route of the procession were open and lighted. And they no doubt rushed hastily trying to obtain some oil, because they knew that only those with lighted lamps could enter. Koetweld suggests that because the marriage procession was moving along so slowly, there was a fair chance that the foolish virgins could perhaps overtake it even after purchasing oil (Int. Crit. Com.).
Scene 7: “And the door was shut” (v 10). The outer door was closed and barred perhaps in order to avoid the danger arising from violent men who might make irruption, rob and carry off jewelry, costly garments, and even the bride herself. Of the bridegroom’s retinue only a limited number would enter, their chief duty being that of escort. They might call next day to offer congratulations. An Arabic wedding rhyme says: ‘To the bridegroom’s door went the torch-lit array, And then like goats they scattered away.’ With their dispersion the doors would be closed, leaving within the relatives and invited guests, and so, when the belated virgins hastened back, they found themselves inexorably shut out by the etiquette of the bridal ceremony. The opportunity of service was past and they were no longer needed (Dr. George M. Mackie). On his way from Sinai to Hebron in Palestine, Dr. Henry Clay Trumbull encamped at Castle Nakhl and witnessed the ceremonies of the marriage of the son of the governor of Egypt. He was conducted close to the bridegroom’s immediate party till they reached the castle; but “then ...
v 10 ... ‘they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut,’ leaving us in the outer darkness of the desert night” (Studies in Oriental Social Life). Tennyson’s ‘Idylls of the King’ contains a solemn and effective poem, a song sung to Queen Guinevere, based on the foolish virgins, one of the saddest in the English language: ‘Late, late, so late! and dark the night, and chill! Late, late, so late! but we can enter still.’ ‘Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.’ ‘No light had we; for that we do repent; And learning that, the Bridegroom will relent.’ ‘Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.’ ‘No light! so late! and dark and chill the night! Oh, let us in, that we may find the light!’ ‘Too late! too late! ye cannot enter now.’ ‘Have we not heard the Bridegroom is so sweet? Oh, let us in, though late, to kiss his feet!’ ‘Oh, no! too late! ye cannot enter now.’
2. The Kingdom of Heaven Typified By a Wedding Feast
The idealized picture of an ideal home: Not the wedding feast as in one of our last lessons, ‘The Wedding Feast,’ but the wedding itself, the founding of a Home. When the Lord expresses the intensity of His love for His people He uses this figure: “For as a young man married a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee” (Is. 62:5). “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies” (Hosea 2:19). “Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are bidden to the marriage supper of the lamb” (Rev. 19:7-9). The first miracle of Jesus was at a wedding. The ideal Home is the best representative of the kingdom of heaven on earth. The attractions of each are similar. Picture the ideal home. Here is the strongest, highest, deepest, broadest, most intense, unselfish, undying love that exists among mankind. Parents with children form a marvelous harmony of love, with many different voices and instruments, but all united in one heavenly anthem of Love. Here is the closest friendship, the home garden of virtues, the atmosphere of love, a discipline of culture in all that is good, the greatest opportunities of usefulness, the blessing of worthy guests. This variety in unity, the home as a focus of many influences, helps to make a true family a training school for saints, a real university extension for both minds and morals. The place to look for saints is amid the active duties of life. Daily home duties are one of the very best schools for building up a noble character. The star of Bethlehem for morals and religion, for the millennium, stands over the home where Jesus is. It is the realization of the ancient Greek’s dream of the Garden of the Hesperides, guarded by four sisters named ‘AEgle,’ Brightness; ‘Erythei’a,’ Blushing, Modesty; ‘Hes’tia,’ the Spirit of the Hearth; and ‘Arethu’sa,’ Ministering. Frances Tyner wrote this motto and placed it over her living-room fireplace: “The flame purrs and sings, The heart upward springs, The multiform blaze Fills the soul with its rays. The good angels meet In the light and the heat. And heaven opens wide At the holy fireside.” Do you long for this ideal home? Do you seek to enter in, and be a living part of the kingdom of heaven on earth, which this picture of the ideal home faintly represents?
3. The Conduct of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins as Related to the Kingdom of Heaven
This parable was first of all spoken concerning the crisis which was then at hand in the development of the kingdom of God. The historical events of the next few years interpret to us the meaning of the parable, and reinforce its truths that bear on the people of today. This is plainly a parable of the second coming and of the judgment, thus emphasizing the presence of that theme in Chapter 24. Analogies in the Parable: (a) The kingdom of heaven equals the church; (b) The bridegroom equals Christ; (c) The midnight arrival equals the second advent; (d) The virgins equal church members; (e) The wise virgins equals the prepared members of the church, those inspired to carry on the kingdom of heaven. The work was transferred to them – they represented the disciples of Jesus and those who at Pentecost were to become disciples, those who recognized Jesus, the Son of God, as the Messiah, the Bridegroom of the story; (f) The foolish virgins equal the unprepared – these were the leaders of the Jewish nation, the Pharisees and the great mass of the people; who were so sure that they belonged to the kingdom of heaven, and would hold their position as guests of the marriage feast, that they were careless, gave no thought, perhaps feeling doubt that their lights would continue to burn; (g) The lamps equal faith or works; (h) The oil equals works or the Spirit – this was the spiritual life, the character, the principles of righteousness, the heart filled with love and devotion to God and His cause which are the source of the light that shines before men; (h) The sleep of the virgins equals the sleep of death; (i) Tarrying of the bridegroom equals delay of second coming; (j) The midnight cry equals the call to judgment; (k) Refusal to give oil equals merit not transferable; (l) Exclusion of the foolish equals rejection of unprepared; (m) The shut door equals impossibility of last-minute preparation; (n) The Wedding Feast represented the new kingdom of heaven which Jesus had proclaimed from the beginning of His ministry as being at hand. (o) The Bridegroom was Jesus Himself, the Messiah; (p) The Procession represented the marvelous series of events as described in the Gospels – the coming of Jesus into this world, His teachings, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit – which ushered in the kingdom; (q) The Cry “Behold the Bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him” was the voice of Providence, and of prophecy proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand; (r) The Crisis had come for the church of God on earth. Will the leaders of the Jews accept the Messiah or not? Will the kingdom of God be continued through the then leaders of the Jews, or will it be continued through the Jewish Christians, widened to take in the Gentiles who become disciples of Christ? The leaders of the Jewish people found their lamps going out. They refused the true Messiah and His righteousness, were left out, and “the door was shut.” A few years later the temple was destroyed; Jerusalem was overthrown and the race scattered over the world.
4. The Parable Applied to Our Day
First: There is held before us a life which only the choicest and best things in the world can typify or even hint at, finding place in the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven.
Second: Oil in the lamps, plus or minus oil in the supply-vessels that belongs to them. The oil, as we have seen, is the spiritual life, the motives and desires of the heart, all that inspires to right actions, and the outward visible flame of our life. In the words of Browning: “God gives each man one life, like a lamp, then gives That lamp due measure of oil. Lamp lighted – Hold high, wave wide, Its comfort for others to share.” The wise always have a permanent supply of the power that keeps the lamp of true life burning. Their goodness is not mere longing, or good resolutions, but has become a part of their very nature and life. They have chosen God and His kingdom with their whole heart. They have consecrated themselves to Him forever, and have received a new heart from God, a love of His righteousness, and of the study of His Word. This keeps their outward life shining. No blast of temptation or persecution can blow it out. One of the scenes which Bunyan, with his deep insight, shows to Christian in the Interpreter’s House is “a place where was a fire burning against a wall, and one standing by it always casting much water upon it, to quench it; yet did the fire burn higher and hotter.” The explanation was that on the other side of the wall was a man with vessel of oil in his hand, which he continually poured on the fire. We see in the wise virgins the necessity of conversion, of consecration of our lives to the king and his kingdom. The foolish virgins represent those who have religious desires and feelings, making good resolutions, especially when under good influences, but they do not have the true principles firmly fixed in their hearts, i.e., not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Third: These could not enter because they had neglected preparation. They had not fulfilled the conditions. They did not have the character, faith, or love required making it possible to receive the blessing of the kingdom of heaven. It is easy to illustrate this truth from the affairs of daily life. For instance, you might desire to join a choir. Can you do so without learning how to sing? Or you might desire to be on a baseball team, but you cannot unless you are willing to be trained. You wish to be successful in business, to be a splendid home maker, but you cannot unless you train and practice and prepare. The preparation, love of the work, and the fulfilling of the conditions are like the oil in the vessels that kept the lamps burning.
Fourth: The foolish virgins had a second chance. The wise ones told the foolish just what to do. They must go to those who could sell them the oil. Applied to our lives this means that we must: (a) Go to Jesus who can give us new hearts and new principles of living, (b) Go to the Word of God, (c) Pray, (d) Put ourselves in connection with those who can spiritually teach and train us.
Fifth: We must remember that for those who delay and refuse, there comes a time when it will be too late. The door will be shut. There is a continual tendency to fixity, stability or permanence of character. We shut the door against ourselves. The only safe time is now.
Sixth: Watch, for the times of His coming are unknown to us. Watching consists in being prepared for every emergency, and every duty, as the wise virgins watched by having their lamps continually burning, and a full supply of oil to keep them burning. The Son of Man comes in many ways. Every crisis, every change in circumstances, every revival; sickness, death, trouble and trials of every kind; the procession of opportunities – are comings of the Lord, for which we must watch by being ready for them.
