Then 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, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, 4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. 11 Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ 12 But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
This parable was understood by the early Christians to be about being watchful, ready, and fruitful while waiting for the return of the Son of Man (the bridegroom). The exact day or time of his return is not known (v. 13; Mt. 24:36). The imagery of a wedding was used by Rabbis in ancient times to describe the relationship between God and His people.
The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, representing the mixed nature of the Christian Church (vv. 1-4; Mt. 13:36-43). The bridegroom was delayed. In the time of Jesus, it was common for the bridegroom or his family to negotiate a marriage contract with the bride’s family so the bridegroom could have been delayed because he was negotiating the marriage contract. The early Christian Church understood the delay of the bridegroom to mean that they should wait on the promise of the kingdom. All of the virgins fell asleep - waiting may cause the love of God and love of neighbor (Mt. 22:34-40) in some hearts to grow cold (v. 5).
The bridegroom returned suddenly, and all the virgins got up and prepared their lamps to go and meet the bridegroom - The Lord will return at a time they do not expect (v. 6). Along the way, the foolish virgins realized that their lamps were running out of oil and asked the wise virgins for some of their oil - The oil represented good works, and the foolish virgins were lacking in their good works and were not ready to be welcomed into the kingdom (v. 8). The wise virgins refused to give them any for fear that they may not have enough for themselves and told them to go and buy some oil. Since good works are not transferable, the wise virgins could not give the foolish virgins any of their good works (v. 9). The foolish virgins went out to buy oil - do more good works - so they could also be welcomed into the kingdom.
The wise virgins went into the wedding feast because they were prepared and when the foolish virgins returned the bridegroom refused to open the door - he refused to welcome them into the Kingdom because they had not prepared themselves for entry into the Kingdom and the opportunity was now gone. The locked door means that acceptance into the kingdom is not automatic. We must be patient, prepare ourselves, and do good works for the kingdom. They needed to be vigilant and not fall short in judgment, mercy, and fidelity (Mt. 23:23).
Almighty God, help us to seek you with our whole hearts while the door is open.. Grant us the grace to be righteous in our good works with the assurance that we will be welcomed at the heavenly banquet. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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