Parable of the 10 Virgins | Matthew 25:1-13

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those young women[c] got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the other young women[d] came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

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How do you tend your lamp oil?

The passage for today forces us to consider absurd questions like this. Why shouldn’t I share my lamp oil? Why are there ten young women for one groom? Wait, is this about the end of the world? And, indeed, we live in absurd times. While we are squeezed by a world that extracts from us our finances, our labor, and our data, we are simultaneously bombarded by manufactured desire to consume: to consume fashion, wealth, power, dopamine. Like the young women who treat tending their lamp fuel as a minor inconvenience, we consume the instant gratification that scrolls, as if low-grade happiness is the only escape from capitalism’s demands on us. 

Although the image is absurd, the young women who tended their fuel are rewarded with full life beyond the end of the world. They receive their invitation to “the wedding banquet.” And so again: how do you tend your lamp oil? Facing temptation to lead with anger, to seek dopamine, to consume fleeting desires, do you seek lasting peace, do you seek neighbors and community? This matters, because Jesus here is not speaking of the end of everything, but the arrival of a new world, the Kingdom of Heaven. This new world stands against the exploitation of human need; it is instead resilient in the face of unending pressure to do evil. All it takes for us to bring it along is our willingness to do the hard, patient work of relationship.

Prayer:

God of peace and abundance, give us the strength to discern what gives us full, genuine life and what is a passing distraction from an inequitable world. We thank you for your love, shown to us by our communities. Amen.

Action Item:

1. Take some time over the coming day to make something with your hands that requires patience and can be done without a screen. Some ideas: draw, paint, cook, whittle, knit.

2. Then, share your creation with someone in your life and tell them about the experience of making this thing.

Peter McLellan, PhD

St. James Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN

Program Director, Hunger Education

Building Resilient Communities | Service and Justice Unit

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

2018 faculty