Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus says this coming reign of God will be like ten virgins who take their lamps to meet the eternal Bridegroom. These virgins look the same. They all have identical lamps. They appear to have the same purpose—to meet the bridegroom.
These ten virgins are all people who have ever been associated with the church on earth. They all hold membership in a congregation. They all attend Sunday services. They all do churchly things. They look the same to us, but on the day of Christ’s coming we will discover that they’re not all the same. Some are wise and some are foolish.
The foolish virgins are excluded from the marriage feast of the Lamb. They are excluded because, even though they had church membership, went to church on Sundays and did churchly things, they lacked faith in Jesus in their hearts.
St. Paul said it well: “Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:1-5). Sounds like headlines in your newspaper or news website of choice!
The “last days” are all the years between our Lord’s first coming and His second coming. In this time span, many hold the outward form of Christianity; many call themselves Christian. But they do not know the power of the Gospel. They do not trust only Christ for their life, their identity, their purpose, or their forgiveness.
These foolish ones hear the words of Jesus but do not believe them. As Jesus said: “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. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Mt. 7:26-27).
A fool stops his or her ears to the words of Jesus. The words fall on the ears physically, the words beat on the eardrums, but the heart refuses to open. The words fall to the ground and bear no fruit in the fool’s heart.
A fool thinks that mere outward ties to a church is the ticket to heaven, mere friendly association with other church-goers is the same as being Christian. A fool may be on the church membership roster, but denies the power of the Gospel. A fool may stay away from hearing God’s Word and receiving Jesus’ Sacrament. A fool may hear the Word and receive the Sacraments, but the divine gifts don’t change heart and life.
Foolish virgins think they know Christ but, truthfully, they do not. And He does not know them. “[Jesus] answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Our Lord knows all people very well and yet He says to the foolish virgins, “I do not know you.” Frightful words!
In the Bible, knowing a person can mean different things. It can mean a simple acquaintance, but it can also mean intimacy—such as the relationship of husband and wife. When Jesus says, “I do not know you,” He means I am not intimate with you. You have kept Me at a distance. You have kept Me from penetrating into your heart and soul. You have kept Me from giving My life to you.
Imagine a man and a woman going through the formality of a wedding service but then never becoming intimate. They are husband and wife in name only.
So it is with the foolish virgins. They have been through the outward formality of church membership, but they are not joined to Christ. They are not one body with Him. They are not bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. At His second coming, Jesus exposes the pretend Christians and tells them the true and frightful words: “I do not know you.” Lord, spare us!
But to the wise virgins, the door will be opened. They will enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which will have no end. The wise virgins are members not just of a congregation, but also members of the Body of Christ. They are joined to Christ. They are one body with Him.
The wise virgins are baptized into Christ, buried with Him through Baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, they too might walk in newness of life.
The wise virgins are nursed and nurtured on the very Body and Blood of Christ under bread and wine. It’s how Jesus nourishes and cherishes His own body, the Church.
The wise virgins partake of the divine promises. The words of Jesus do more than fall on their ears. The words of Jesus enter through the ears, penetrate into the heart, and enliven the soul. The words of Jesus take root in the soul and bear the fruit of faith. The words of Jesus give life with God, both now and into eternity.
As Jesus said: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Mt. 7:24-25).
You are the wise virgins! You are the ones Jesus talks about: “I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14). You wise virgins are intimate with the Lord. He knows you and you know Him. He has penetrated your being with His Gospel message. You are one flesh with Him.
In the custom of Jesus’ day, the virgins were merely friends of the bride and the groom. They rejoiced with the bride and the groom. Not so with Christ and the wise virgins! The wise virgins are not just guests at someone else’s wedding party. In this case, the virgins become the bride of Jesus. Jesus transforms you virgins into His holy bride, the Church. Christ the bridegroom makes you His holy bride.
Let’s go back to Genesis 2. The Lord God looked at Adam and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” God then remedied Adam’s aloneness by creating a bride for him. God put Adam to sleep, opened his side, took out a rib and fashioned a wife. Then as a good father giving away the bride, the Lord God also brought the woman to the man. The man looked at his bride and said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” And the two became one flesh.
Jesus is the second Adam. On the cross He was put to sleep in death, His side was pierced open, and out flowed blood and water. And from that blood and water, the Father created you, the bride of Christ, the Church. “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree” (1 Jn. 5:7-8).
When Jesus returns, you wise virgins will enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb as the bride of the Lamb. You are washed clean from sin by His precious blood. All your spots and blemishes are removed by the water of Holy Baptism. As St. Paul says: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ 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, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Our Lord is an anxious husband joyfully waiting for the day when He can come for you, His bride, and take you into the feast in His kingdom which shall have no end.
Let that image on the wall [second from the back, lectern side] remind you of Jesus’ promise and return. Five lamps are unlit. They remind you of the foolish ones who were not ready for Jesus’ delay or His coming. They will be left out in the dark, separated from Jesus for eternity. The other five lamps are lit. And they are inside. Inside what? The life of the cross, the life of Jesus poured out for you in His Word and in the water and the blood. Amen.
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