The Parable of the Ten Virgins 3

We’re studying the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus answers the question of his disciples: “What shall be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). In that context, Jesus tells four parables. It’s the second one—the parable of the 10 Virgins—that we’ve been focusing on for the last couple of weeks. 

The key to that parable, in my opinion, is that it is more about the wait than it is about the coming of the bridegroom, but most believers in the Parousia (the Second Coming) want to focus more on the coming of the bridegroom than on the wait. We wish to know when Jesus will come. We want to know the timeline and where we fit within it. 

We have the notion that if we know the timeline we will be able to get “ready.” But what does it mean to be ready? How can we be prepared? We have the idea that if we knew that Jesus’s coming was imminent, being ready would mean that we would be righteous, we would be cleaned up, we would be holy. 

Do you think the parable is more about the coming of the bridegroom or more about the wait? The coming we have no control over. No one knows the timeline, Jesus says not even himself, only the Father knows. The coming of Jesus, the Parousia, will occur when it occurs, and that’s all that we can say. The signs of His coming are not (as we have supposed) made in order to predict the timeline, but rather, in my opinion, to reaffirm and reassure us that the Lord will come. When we see the signs of His coming—wars and distress, natural and manmade disasters and catastrophes—we are focused on the certainty of His coming, not on the timeline of His coming.

We have no control over the timeline but we have control over how we wait for the coming. The lamps, the oil, and the wicks are the key to the parable. The end product is light, not oil. The idea that somehow we can accumulate some extra oil—more of the Holy Spirit—by our own effort, by buying it, is part of the foolishness of the five foolish virgins. The Holy Spirit—the oil in the parable—is a gift: 

 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

And:

 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me,…” (John 15:26)

The Holy Spirit is a gift sent at the request of Jesus by the Father to us. The Holy Spirit is not for sale. We see this clearly in the story of Simon:

 Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized. Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.  

 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. (For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. (Acts 8:9-21)

The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father through Jesus to us. Some apparently get a lot, and some apparently get a little. (We’re going to talk more about this next week.) But everyone—and this is the important part—gets enough to get to the party, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The virgins have different amounts of oil but when the midnight cry goes out and when the wait is over, the virgins have enough oil to go to the party. Their lamps are all present. They’ve all been invited. They’re all at the open door. 

The idea that we can somehow make ourselves more attractive, more useful, more satisfactory, more beneficial to the bridegroom by trying to get more oil and shed more light in the middle of the night is foolishness and turns us away from the light and sends us into the darkness. In some real sense, the 10 virgins are all foolish. They don’t appreciate that they’re there at the wedding feast by invitation. 

They hold two concepts of God in error (last week I said they held one concept in error, but it is two): First, that the measurement of oil is a criteria for getting into the wedding feast—that how much oil you have is important. Those with oil don’t want to share their oil lest they run out themselves. And those whose oil is running out wish they had more. 

The second faulty concept of God that they all hold is that the Holy Spirit is for sale, a commodity that can be obtained by my initiative; that I can turn my back on the open door and by myself head off into the darkness to refresh my spiritual condition. The foolish virgins head off into the darkness encouraged to do so by the so-called wise virgins, who apparently have the same understanding as their foolish sisters about the purchasability of the Holy Spirit. 

But wisdom and foolishness have nothing to do with the oil. It is wise to go into the wedding feast when the door is open, when the wait is over and the bridegroom has come. It is foolish to turn your back on the open door and to start out into the darkness. The wise are wise because they choose the open door, they accept God’s grace. The foolish are foolish because they turn their back on God’s grace. They are foolish because they rely on their own ability to produce light, rather than running to the true light, the brightness of his coming. 

So if the parable is more about the wait than it is about the coming, what do we learn here about the wait? First, we learn that the end product of lamp, oil, and wick is light. While we wait, we are to produce light: 

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

The wait is about producing light. The wait is about doing good work and glorifying God. It is not about salvation. You’ve already been invited to this to the wedding. You have an invitation to the party. The door is open for you. While you’re waiting, Jesus says; do a little good, share a little light, and give God the glory. This is spelled out more completely by Paul: 

 “…and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 

 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:24-29)

This is the insulting of grace, this is turning your back on the on the open door and heading into the darkness.

While we wait, we are to do good for one another. We are to be in a spirit of community. We are to assemble ourselves together. And we are not to insult the Holy Spirit of grace. Turning one’s back on the open door is insulting to the Holy Spirit. It is, in my view, the Unpardonable Sin. Turning one’s back on grace has a fearful consequence: 

 “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Turning toward the darkness, relying on your own ability to produce light, is not just foolish: It is fatal. Turn toward the light, turn toward the open door—that’s the plea of Jesus in the parable. But as Jesus concludes this parable He gives a simple instruction—one takeaway to be had from this lesson of the parable of the 10 virgins: “Watch,” he says, “for you know not the day or the hour.” Other translations read: “be alert,” “be ready,” or “stay awake.” 

It’s interesting that the very thing that Jesus emphasizes as important is the very thing that all 10 virgins were unable to do: They all fall asleep. None is able to stay awake. Just as we see in the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples who fall asleep while Jesus prays, here we see the fallen condition of humankind. The very thing that is cautioned against in Galatians 6:9, where we’re told that we should not become weary in well-doing, is the very thing that we do—we become weary with well-doing and fall asleep. Even Jesus himself, as told in the in Mark 4, becomes weary with well-doing after a long day of teaching. He is weary and falls asleep in the boat. 

This is the human condition. We become weary of well doing and fall asleep as we wait for the Parousia. Jesus chides us as he chides the disciples: “Can’t you stay awake even for one hour?” There are of course benefits to staying awake—lessons to learn, experiences to have, things to anticipate, and above all things to do, to participate in. 

When we sleep, our wicks burn down, they become dull and the oil in our lamp becomes low. We awake to realize that the gift of oil has not been given. We awake to realize that our wicks need to be trimmed. (Donald talked about the importance of this a couple of weeks ago—trimming the wicks in order to achieve maximum efficiency of the lamp, and therefore maximum light.) 

The very thing that we’re asked to do while we wait for the Parousia is the very thing we have difficulty doing: We’re unable to stay awake. Fortunately, due to God’s grace, it doesn’t affect our salvation, but it does limit our service to others. It stifles community. God asks us to be alert, but we’re unconscious. God asks us to be ready, but we’re unprepared. God asks us to stay awake, but we’re asleep. While God wishes for us to maximize our opportunities to service, we are limited, unfortunately, by our humanity. 

How do we wait, then? How should we wait? We are to wait expectantly. We are to wait alertly. We are to wait in service to others, recognizing that even when we fail, even when we fall asleep, there is a warning sign and a warning cry that goes out to let us know that the bridegroom is here and reminds us that the door of grace is still open—an opportunity to enter the banquet hall, eat with God, and enjoy his eternal grace. 

What are your thoughts on the oil as a gift, not as a commodity, and the fact that some had different amounts of oil; about the wait and about the coming. Do you see the parable as more about the wait or more about the coming? And how do you wait? What do you wait for? How are you to become ready? What are you ready for? How do you get the gifts of the Holy Spirit? 

What are your thoughts about the signs of His coming and the end of the age?

Donald: All of them fell asleep, period. We have tended to gloss over that and focus on the preparedness. As well, we understand that the groom is coming and the doors will open but we don’t consider that when the door opens, there will be light from inside. They all have the Holy Spirit (oil), but some ran out of the Holy Spirit. What does that actually mean, “having the Holy Spirit”? I ask for the Holy Spirit every day. But what what should that produce in me?

Sharon: I never had that take on this parable, either. It’s like the Holy Spirit is the means, and we’ve always been talking about the means and the oil, but we really never talked about the results of the oil and the open door and walking into the light. I think that’s a powerful new take on the fact that we ourselves need to stay awake and that it’s not our work, not the oil we’re going to get—rather, it’s staying awake and letting the Lord do what he’s already promised us through grace.

Carolyn: The Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost. Does this mean that the Holy Spirit only came after Jesus went to heaven? That no one before the crucifixion had access to the Holy Spirit? That at Pentecost it was given only to the people who asked for it? Or was it distributed to everybody?

In this parable, why is the Holy Spirit with us every day? Can we ask for more Holy Spirit? There is such a big cloud in my mind. I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit, so thankful that he gave us this helper. But grace seems almost to usurp it. I’m so grateful for the grace that comes with it. Do grace and the Holy Spirit need each other, and if so what was the situation way back before Pentecost?

C-J: I was taught that the curtain was rent in two where once a year the high priest was able to go into the Holy of Holies and intercede in behalf of the Hebrew people. So I think that what Christ was saying is like “Though I leave, I give to you the Holy Spirit.” I think it was the anticipatory set: “I will demonstrate this to you,” and he had said before that: “Greater things than these shall you do in my name.” But Jesus spoke that he had not yet died. So I think he was creating this anticipatory set of “Watch, learn, do not lose your faith, it’s not going to be an easy road,” because right after that he was crucified. 

So I think fortunately we receive the Holy Spirit at the time of our transformation of acceptance. And that Holy Spirit becomes so resonant within us that it displaces the “I“—less of me, more of God. And that’s the gift. I really believe that God made a covenant and is resident within us and it is sealed by that blood. I believe that with every fiber of my being

Michael: Donald asked a couple of weeks ago about why would the wise virgins get extra oil and he was suggesting that it might be a personality trait or some attribute of their personality, though not as a judgment. It sounds very similar to the parable of the talents where a guy gets five talents, another gets two, and one gets one. None of it is a basis for judgment. It doesn’t seem like that’s where you can judge because a personality trait is not enough to form a judgment. They didn’t bring extra oil, but who’s giving the oil? Dr. Weaver is suggesting that God is giving the measure of oil. That, then is who I am, and I can’t change who I am.

Don: The judgment is that the door is open and some went in and some didn’t, some headed out the opposite direction into the darkness. That’s the judgment of John 3, that the light came into the world and men prefer darkness rather than light. I don’t think it has anything to do with the oil. I know that is a different take from others.

Donald: But if you were waiting to go into this place and you fall asleep—it is a long wait and you get a little drowsy—when the door opens, why would you run the other way? After all, you were there in anticipation of this door opening and of the party getting under way. It doesn’t seem to add up to me. But I am with Michael. If we were all invited to this occasion, we would all come with a different level of preparedness based upon our personalities. Our personalities play such an important role in how we approach it.

Michael: I now see grace often portrayed as a party, like the party the king threw for his son’s wedding, to which a lot of people just refused the invitation. It sounds similar to that. I do want to say that I find it very interesting that everybody slept. Despite a repeated call to stay awake, everyone sleeps. It’s not as though some slept and some stayed awake. I’m not sure which group I would fall into! But in the parable, everyone slept. Yet there is a wake up call. Who makes that call if everyone is asleep?

C-J: If you liken this idea of falling asleep, the first thing I thought as you were finishing up what you were saying was Samuel, who goes in and says, “Did you call me?” He goes, “No, go back.” Samuel comes back again. And he says, “Did you call me?” He goes, “No, go back.” Third time, He says, if you hear the voice again, say, “Lord, here am I.” 

I may be wrong in terms of doctrine, but it goes back to the problem of predestination. Some choose not to hear and obey, but I believe that a loving father does call. I don’t know about personality, because God made us. What does that mean? God made a mistake with some? I don’t understand that. For me, that was a hot mess. And God said, “Are you interested in what I have to say?” And I go, “Maybe… tell me more.” And he said, “I’m just gonna take you even if you don’t know you need me. I’m gonna fix this for you.” I mean, that’s grace. I didn’t deserve it. It’s just God’s grace.

Kiran: First, the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord was given to Samson, then he became strong. It was given to Saul, who prophesied. Whether it is in the Old Testament or the New Testament, it was always given by God for whatever reason he saw fit. There isn’t anything special in people for them to receive the Spirit. 

Second, Jesus specifically said that the Spirit of Truth was given to them to remind them of what he said and lead them into the truth. Many references to the Holy Spirit call it the “Spirit of Truth,” whose fruits are love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. There is no law against these things. 

Nowhere does the Bible tell you what to do to get more Holy Spirit or that it takes certain traits. The Holy Spirit was given to people as a gift. In John 14:26, where Jesus talks about a helper, he’s talking specifically to those who have already received God’s grace. In the parable, all 10 virgins are pure in their virginity. That means that they’re purified by God for some reason. I don’t think that we can do something to make God give us more holy spirit. It’s not a muscle to exercise. 

Third, when the Spirit of the Lord comes, it’s supposed to clarify what we’re supposed to do and what we’re not supposed to do. It’s the spirit of the truth. It automatically produces fruit because who can  practice self-control without help? I can’t—not in everything. It’s the fruit of the Spirit. 

If you have self-control, can you make it to heaven? No, you can’t make it to heaven. We have no right to get into heaven just because we have self-control. I think there are two different things here. Because someone chose to call this the parable of foolish virgins, we focus on foolish virgins. If they had called it the parable of the groom’s arrival, then maybe we would have focused on the groom’s coming. 

So when the groom shows up, just be there, no matter what sort of person you are, because he’s a gracious groom, and he’ll let you into the party.

Carolyn: With an invitation, it is a choice of the invitee whether or not to go in. It’s about the invitation more than about the oil or the lamp.

Don: That’s how I see it.

Anonymous: I was wondering why Jesus would say to be vigilant and keep watch if he knows it’s not in our capacity to do so and he knows we’re going to get tired and sleep. Then I thought of Jesus warning the disciples on Mount Olive before his crucifixion to pray and be vigilant, lest they fall into temptation, and none of them took the advice and they all slept. 

I second your opinion that this is just an admonition. It doesn’t have anything to do with our salvation because in Peters case, even though he didn’t heed the admonition and he didn’t pray and he fell in in temptation, it wasn’t a hindrance to his returning to Jesus in repentance. 

It’s clearer to me now that it doesn’t affect our salvation, but it does affect the kind of life we live. We’re more prone to have more temptations. We will have more hindrances on the way, and life altogether will be harder if we don’t heed this admonition and be vigilant, even though it’s kind of up and down—sometimes we’re very vigilant and very active in spirit and full of the Holy Spirit, and at other times we’re lukewarm. It’s a struggle for everybody. All this week, I was struggling to find this answer. 

I wanted to know why is it so normal for all human beings to be up and down in their walk with God, sometimes full of the Spirit and sometimes they just don’t feel like doing anything—no praying, no reading the Bible, just no interest. So it’s kind of come together now, to show me that it’s just an admonition and it affects the quality of our lives, no more, no less. So by reading the Bible and being vigilant, I think the main thing is to wait. The focus is on the waiting not on the coming of the Lord. 

The waiting involves being active, reading your Bible, study, be open to insights from God, try to pray, resist lukewarmness, keep going. It’s not the end of the world. In the disciples’ case, they denied Jesus at the beginning but then they went back and they did a great job for him, and God did not prevent them from receiving the Holy Spirit because they didn’t heed his admonition. So it’s just something to learn from. It shouldn’t affect our salvation, it shouldn’t affect this time of waiting for His coming. If we don’t fail or don’t get tired of doing good, I think that God honors that. That would be enough.

Donald: I’m just wondering what David, as a Daoist, has to say about the idea of an obligation to change somehow, You’re supposed to go to the wedding, you’re supposed to stay awake. But that that means I’m being held responsible for doing something. It’s not all about the Holy Spirit.

David: A number of interesting concepts come up this morning in relation to this parable. They are: The way, the truth, and the light—the light coming through the door, the spirit of truth, and Jesus as the way. If I understand Don’s interpretation correctly, the oil represents the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit represents one’s readiness to serve your fellow human being and God. When the door is opened, you enter the realm of the Golden Rule, a place where it’s all about service to God and service to your fellow human beings. If the door opens and you’re not there, or you’re not ready to go in for whatever reason (you’re asleep, or you’ve gone off in search of more more oil) then that’s the end of it for you. 

It is about readiness to serve. And this truth, to me, is (as Jesus kept saying) the heart of the matter: Love God and love your fellow human being as you would love yourself. That’s what it’s really all about. Reading the Bible may very well help you to be ready, but there are billions of human beings who never get to see the Bible. I believe they still have access to that Holy Spirit within, which tells them (as it tells Bible readers) that what they’re supposed to do is to serve their fellow human beings and, if they believe, to love God. 

I agree with Anonymous that Jesus is basically admonishing us to be like him, to follow the Way (the Dao), the truth, and the light.

Reinhard: I think it’s still our responsibility to be aware, to be ready, and then to live a righteous life, to obey His commands, in order for us to receive this invitation to come to the Lord. God knows all these people yet, in this story, tells the foolish virgins he doesn’t know them. Their mistake seems small but it was a defining moment. I believe the lesson is that we have to be on constant watch. We have to look out that our spiritual life is in alignment with God’s words. I think that’s how we reach the goal. 

This is just one of several parables about how to prepare for the second coming, which will help us to see it from several angles. It’s not just about oil, but oil is one of the things we have to watch—our oil must always be full. That means we have to be in constant connection with God and the Holy Spirit to keep feeding us to grow in our spiritual life.

Donald: It’s very interesting that we’re talking so much about the oil, when in reality, all of them fell asleep. So is it important to have your flame burning while you’re sound asleep? Why was it mentioned that they all fell asleep? Why was it necessary to mention it? Why not just talk about the oil and leave it at that? What’s the significance of all of them falling asleep?

C-J: What about the spirit is willing in the flesh is weak, as Paul speaks of it, and you could spread that very wide or very narrowly?

David: When you’re asleep, first of all, there is no light—you’re in darkness; second, you’re not following the way or anything else; and third, I guess you’re blissfully unaware of the truth.

Don: We will talk more about the oil—the Holy Spirit—and try to answer some of Carolyn’s questions. I want to ask you to continue to think about the parable and the questions it raises. My view of the traditional way of understanding the parable is really quite different, not because I want to be different but because I don’t think it addresses the central issues that the parable brings up. And I think Jesus is trying to teach us something a little bit more. 

Michael talked about the Holy Spirit and its relationship to the talents and that each one got different treatment. What also happened in that parable is that those who had more were given more. It’s as if the expectation is greater for those that have more. And that the way that you increase the Holy Spirit is by extending the grace to others that has been extended to you.

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