Isaiah 65:17-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; St Matthew 25:1-13
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Today our Lord Christ tells a parable to His Bride, the Church. For He is the heavenly Bridegroom who loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word (Eph 5:25-26). And you all beloved, are in this parable. You’re all bridesmaids. Yes, even the men. But the question today is, “Are you a wise bridesmaid or a foolish one?” Are you ready to meet Bridegroom Jesus when God says, “Time’s up” on this world? Are you prepared for that Day when Jesus comes suddenly to make all things new? You don’t know the day nor the hour. So will you be surprised? Left out in the dark, because you weren’t ready?
We’ve got a few couple newly married, a few others preparing for marriage. You all know the customs associated with the typical American bridegroom. They’re not really all that Christian, actually. He’s not supposed to see the bride before the service. He’s got to choose his best man. He’s got to pick out a tux or nice suit.
The bridegroom in Jesus’ day followed a different set of customs. After he proposed he started building an extra room - the wedding chamber - on his parents’ house. Weddings were always on Wednesdays for ancient Israelites. So every Tuesday night as the wedding chamber was nearing completion, the bridesmaids would go out and wait with the bride on the chance that a wedding might take place. The bridegroom was supposed to be a “Man of Surprise.” One of the greatest things he could accomplish was to catch the bridal party napping as they waited with the bride for him to arrive. As soon as the Bridegroom arrived, they could all walk to the wedding and the reception outside the wedding chamber. It could last for days.
In our day, though, weddings are scripted down to the minute. You know exactly when the service will start, when the reception will start. Both parties have a schedule for the day of. I was once told by a bride that I would be offering the dinner prayer at 6:43pm.
But it wasn’t this way in Jesus’ day. You didn’t know what time the wedding would start. It could be 6p. It could be 9p. It could be midnight. It all depended on the Bridegroom’s arrival. And it was the duty of the bridesmaids to wait with the bride and not fall asleep. To be awake and alert when the cry went out, Behold, the Bridegroom is coming! They would all be ready to meet him in the streets and march over with him to the wedding banquet with their lamps burning. And no one was allowed on the streets after dark without a lighted oil lamp.
Jesus is the Bridegroom of Bridegrooms. He is coming again, but you don’t know when. You yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Are you ready? Are you spiritually prepared? Notice how all ten look alike. All have their hair done up. Their fancy clothes on. They all have their lamps. And they all fall asleep. That is, they all die.
It is in waking, in the resurrection, that the wise are distinguished from the foolish. Jesus sets them apart at the start. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. The Scriptures, my friends, describe wisdom as trust in the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Mt 7:24). The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (Ja 3:17). Whereas, Fools despise wisdom and instruction (Pr 1:7). The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Ps 14:1). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Mt 7:26). Foolishness in Scripture is unbelief.
They looked alike, didn’t they, until the resurrection? It was what they had before death and the resurrection that set them apart. The wise had extra oil. The foolish didn’t. By the grace of God, the wise, despite their weakness and lack of diligence in their task, never lost faith that the Bridegroom would come. They so delighted themselves in being with the Bridegroom when He came that they were prepared. The oil that these virgins had was a faith fed and fueled by the Gospel given to them in Holy Baptism, sustained by Holy Preaching, Holy Absolution, and the Holy Supper. The wise fill up on these things before it’s too late. This is how the Christian faith is kept alive and burning brightly. Being gathered to where the Bridegroom comes, not allowing trust to grow cold and oil to run dry. This is how the wise Christian waits for Jesus.
And as much as you may want to, you can’t believe for someone else. That’s why the five bridesmaids could not share their oil. Even St Paul had great sorrow and anguish of heart for his Jewish brothers. He wished that he were accursed and cut off from Christ for their sake; that they would believe (Rm 9:1-5). We all have people like that in our lives. That’s what’s so sad about this parable. Half of the virgins don’t enter the wedding banquet. Three quarters of the Seed falls in bad soil and fails to produce a harvest! Oh what of that Lord, what of that?
But faith cannot be purchased. And it cannot be taken for granted. It is a gift given where Jesus and His Word and Supper are found. The Church is the oil depot for the wise. You cannot stay away, for whatever reason or excuse, and assume its okay. That everything will be fine. “I’m baptized. I pray. I read my Bible. That’s enough. I’ll be okay.” No!
This parable is a warning, dear Christians. A warning not to be a the foolish virgins. Nonchalant about the oil. Not taking it seriously. Relying on their own schemes. Their own strength. Their own reason and smarts. And then after they hear the cry that the Bridegroom is coming they go out and try to buy some but its too late. What they need can’t be bough and the door is shut to them forever.
You are children of the light, children of the day. Let us keep awake and be sober. It’s not enough to be on the church rolls. You don’t get credit for saying your grandma was devout. It’s not enough to be baptized and never darken the door of the church again. It’s not enough to be confirmed as though its a graduation rite. To the foolish He will truly be the Bridegroom of Surprise. A terrifying surprise of sudden destruction.
To the wise, whenever He comes, He will be the Bridegroom we’re expecting and longing to see. To the wise Jesus will not be a Bridegroom of Surprise. We belong to the Day; dressed with the breastplate of faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation, as you wait and watch with your lamp burning bright.
Jesus told this parable on the Tuesday before Good Friday to prepare His disciples to be ready at all times for His Coming Again.
And this morning, He lovingly prepares you for that Day as He always has. He makes you wise by filling the lamp of your heart with more oil. And you need that oil always, because your faith is constantly under attack, both from without and within. Perhaps your faith in Jesus has grown cold and you’ve compromised. Perhaps you find yourself honoring God only with your lips, but your heart and actions are far from Him. Perhaps you hear the Word of God, but you don’t do it, which to God is as though you never really believed it. Perhaps your heart is so filled with love for the things of this world that you no longer have room for true repentance and true love for Jesus.
If so, dear ones, repent. Allow Christ your heavenly Bridegroom rekindle the oil of your faith again this morning. Let Jesus stir up that thick-as-molasses heart and fill it with oil. For the Bridegroom who two days later forgave those sleep, unprepared disciples in Gethsemane, is prepared and ready to forgive sluggish and drowsy Christians right now.
For the wise, He is the Bridegroom of No Surprises. He was not surprised when He came to a world that hated Him. For that is why He came. To exchange His love for the world’s hate. This world will come to an end. He has always told us. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word will not pass away. Cars and trucks and RVs and deer stands will pass away. All those tests you crammed for will mean nothing on that Day. All that will matter is faith in the Bridegroom who is coming.
CS Lewis in the Narnia tales described life in this world as a book, but only as the cover and title page. The life to come he described as Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read and which goes on forever. And every chapter is better than the one before. That life, my friends, is already yours by faith.
And that’s because Jesus wasn’t the typical Bridegroom. He does see the Bride before the great wedding. In fact, He found her in the filthy garments of her sin, took them for Himself, and prepared and dressed her by covering her with the glorious garments of His blood and righteousness. He chose His best man to be St John the Baptizer. But you, His Church, receive the honor of being His beloved Bride, presented to Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; hold and without blemish (Eph 5:27).
He wore no tux. Rather He chose to hang on naked on a Cross, ashamed and condemned, so that you might be clothed, forgiven, acquitted and made holy. He was the Bridegroom who was the Light of the world, but love you so much that He was willing to have His Body thrown into a dark tomb and the door slammed and heaven shut to Him until the Third Day. He then rose from the dead to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers, that those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above (Dan 12:3).
Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Live in repentance and faith, ready for the coming Day, when the Bridegroom shall take His wise one to the wedding banquet. Until then, come, receive the Foretaste of the Feast to Come, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Today our Lord Christ tells a parable to His Bride, the Church. For He is the heavenly Bridegroom who loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word (Eph 5:25-26). And you all beloved, are in this parable. You’re all bridesmaids. Yes, even the men. But the question today is, “Are you a wise bridesmaid or a foolish one?” Are you ready to meet Bridegroom Jesus when God says, “Time’s up” on this world? Are you prepared for that Day when Jesus comes suddenly to make all things new? You don’t know the day nor the hour. So will you be surprised? Left out in the dark, because you weren’t ready?
We’ve got a few couple newly married, a few others preparing for marriage. You all know the customs associated with the typical American bridegroom. They’re not really all that Christian, actually. He’s not supposed to see the bride before the service. He’s got to choose his best man. He’s got to pick out a tux or nice suit.
The bridegroom in Jesus’ day followed a different set of customs. After he proposed he started building an extra room - the wedding chamber - on his parents’ house. Weddings were always on Wednesdays for ancient Israelites. So every Tuesday night as the wedding chamber was nearing completion, the bridesmaids would go out and wait with the bride on the chance that a wedding might take place. The bridegroom was supposed to be a “Man of Surprise.” One of the greatest things he could accomplish was to catch the bridal party napping as they waited with the bride for him to arrive. As soon as the Bridegroom arrived, they could all walk to the wedding and the reception outside the wedding chamber. It could last for days.
In our day, though, weddings are scripted down to the minute. You know exactly when the service will start, when the reception will start. Both parties have a schedule for the day of. I was once told by a bride that I would be offering the dinner prayer at 6:43pm.
But it wasn’t this way in Jesus’ day. You didn’t know what time the wedding would start. It could be 6p. It could be 9p. It could be midnight. It all depended on the Bridegroom’s arrival. And it was the duty of the bridesmaids to wait with the bride and not fall asleep. To be awake and alert when the cry went out, Behold, the Bridegroom is coming! They would all be ready to meet him in the streets and march over with him to the wedding banquet with their lamps burning. And no one was allowed on the streets after dark without a lighted oil lamp.
Jesus is the Bridegroom of Bridegrooms. He is coming again, but you don’t know when. You yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Are you ready? Are you spiritually prepared? Notice how all ten look alike. All have their hair done up. Their fancy clothes on. They all have their lamps. And they all fall asleep. That is, they all die.
It is in waking, in the resurrection, that the wise are distinguished from the foolish. Jesus sets them apart at the start. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. The Scriptures, my friends, describe wisdom as trust in the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Mt 7:24). The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (Ja 3:17). Whereas, Fools despise wisdom and instruction (Pr 1:7). The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Ps 14:1). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Mt 7:26). Foolishness in Scripture is unbelief.
They looked alike, didn’t they, until the resurrection? It was what they had before death and the resurrection that set them apart. The wise had extra oil. The foolish didn’t. By the grace of God, the wise, despite their weakness and lack of diligence in their task, never lost faith that the Bridegroom would come. They so delighted themselves in being with the Bridegroom when He came that they were prepared. The oil that these virgins had was a faith fed and fueled by the Gospel given to them in Holy Baptism, sustained by Holy Preaching, Holy Absolution, and the Holy Supper. The wise fill up on these things before it’s too late. This is how the Christian faith is kept alive and burning brightly. Being gathered to where the Bridegroom comes, not allowing trust to grow cold and oil to run dry. This is how the wise Christian waits for Jesus.
And as much as you may want to, you can’t believe for someone else. That’s why the five bridesmaids could not share their oil. Even St Paul had great sorrow and anguish of heart for his Jewish brothers. He wished that he were accursed and cut off from Christ for their sake; that they would believe (Rm 9:1-5). We all have people like that in our lives. That’s what’s so sad about this parable. Half of the virgins don’t enter the wedding banquet. Three quarters of the Seed falls in bad soil and fails to produce a harvest! Oh what of that Lord, what of that?
But faith cannot be purchased. And it cannot be taken for granted. It is a gift given where Jesus and His Word and Supper are found. The Church is the oil depot for the wise. You cannot stay away, for whatever reason or excuse, and assume its okay. That everything will be fine. “I’m baptized. I pray. I read my Bible. That’s enough. I’ll be okay.” No!
This parable is a warning, dear Christians. A warning not to be a the foolish virgins. Nonchalant about the oil. Not taking it seriously. Relying on their own schemes. Their own strength. Their own reason and smarts. And then after they hear the cry that the Bridegroom is coming they go out and try to buy some but its too late. What they need can’t be bough and the door is shut to them forever.
You are children of the light, children of the day. Let us keep awake and be sober. It’s not enough to be on the church rolls. You don’t get credit for saying your grandma was devout. It’s not enough to be baptized and never darken the door of the church again. It’s not enough to be confirmed as though its a graduation rite. To the foolish He will truly be the Bridegroom of Surprise. A terrifying surprise of sudden destruction.
To the wise, whenever He comes, He will be the Bridegroom we’re expecting and longing to see. To the wise Jesus will not be a Bridegroom of Surprise. We belong to the Day; dressed with the breastplate of faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation, as you wait and watch with your lamp burning bright.
Jesus told this parable on the Tuesday before Good Friday to prepare His disciples to be ready at all times for His Coming Again.
And this morning, He lovingly prepares you for that Day as He always has. He makes you wise by filling the lamp of your heart with more oil. And you need that oil always, because your faith is constantly under attack, both from without and within. Perhaps your faith in Jesus has grown cold and you’ve compromised. Perhaps you find yourself honoring God only with your lips, but your heart and actions are far from Him. Perhaps you hear the Word of God, but you don’t do it, which to God is as though you never really believed it. Perhaps your heart is so filled with love for the things of this world that you no longer have room for true repentance and true love for Jesus.
If so, dear ones, repent. Allow Christ your heavenly Bridegroom rekindle the oil of your faith again this morning. Let Jesus stir up that thick-as-molasses heart and fill it with oil. For the Bridegroom who two days later forgave those sleep, unprepared disciples in Gethsemane, is prepared and ready to forgive sluggish and drowsy Christians right now.
For the wise, He is the Bridegroom of No Surprises. He was not surprised when He came to a world that hated Him. For that is why He came. To exchange His love for the world’s hate. This world will come to an end. He has always told us. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word will not pass away. Cars and trucks and RVs and deer stands will pass away. All those tests you crammed for will mean nothing on that Day. All that will matter is faith in the Bridegroom who is coming.
CS Lewis in the Narnia tales described life in this world as a book, but only as the cover and title page. The life to come he described as Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read and which goes on forever. And every chapter is better than the one before. That life, my friends, is already yours by faith.
And that’s because Jesus wasn’t the typical Bridegroom. He does see the Bride before the great wedding. In fact, He found her in the filthy garments of her sin, took them for Himself, and prepared and dressed her by covering her with the glorious garments of His blood and righteousness. He chose His best man to be St John the Baptizer. But you, His Church, receive the honor of being His beloved Bride, presented to Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; hold and without blemish (Eph 5:27).
He wore no tux. Rather He chose to hang on naked on a Cross, ashamed and condemned, so that you might be clothed, forgiven, acquitted and made holy. He was the Bridegroom who was the Light of the world, but love you so much that He was willing to have His Body thrown into a dark tomb and the door slammed and heaven shut to Him until the Third Day. He then rose from the dead to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers, that those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above (Dan 12:3).
Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Live in repentance and faith, ready for the coming Day, when the Bridegroom shall take His wise one to the wedding banquet. Until then, come, receive the Foretaste of the Feast to Come, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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