Parable of the Ten Virgins

Jesus begins by saying, “Then…” and has been talking of his return. The kingdom of heaven at that time is like the virgins. Of course, Jesus is the bridegroom who tarries. Again, his stress is to prepare for the potential of a long wait for his return. There’s more to it than that, however.

The attendants to the bride are all asleep, which is what he has warned about when telling them to watch and be alert. Out of oil, the foolish ask the wise to share, but there isn’t enough for both. At the end of the parable, the foolish virgins were not permitted to enter the banquet. The bridegroom, however, doesn’t restrict them because they were ill prepared or late. He says its because he doesn’t know them.

The parable seems to imply that there are both saved and lost in the Church awaiting Jesus’s return. That’s been true throughout Church history. One shouldn’t press a parable too far from its core teaching, but this may say that the end-time Church will be a mix of those actually saved and those that are cultural Christians only.

The lesson to them, and us, is that we should be expectedly waiting and alert, though it may be a long wait.