Have you ever heard the phrase, “A watched pot never boils?” Well, of course it will eventually, but the point is simply this. The greater the expectation level of an event, the harder it is to watch and wait for it.
Like many children, I remember one of the hardest times to wait was on Christmas morning. We were not allowed to go rushing into the living room and start ripping open presents. In fact, Dad would tack up a sheet over the archway between the living room and the rest of the house so we could not even see what was placed under the tree on Christmas Eve. Before any gifts were opened, we had to be dressed and finished with breakfast. My sisters and I were responsible for preparing breakfast and we could not “wake” mom and dad until 8:00am. After everything was ready, we would watch for that second hand to sweep around until it reached exactly 8:00 am.
Unfortunately, if what we are anticipating is not important to us and the wait is too long, we may get tired of watching. For some, waiting and watching for God to work in our lives gets difficult when we do not know when he will act. Watching for God to work is part of the history of scripture. Noah was told to build an ark and to watch for the clouds. Abraham was told he would be a dad and to watch for the miracle. The Jews were told to watch for the coming of Messiah. All of these required a long wait, and at times, seemed like the appointed time would never come.
There remains one more event for which the church is told to watch. In Matthew 25:1-13, we have the parable of the ten virgins that shows us the significance of this injunction. We need to understand the context to grasp what Jesus is teaching us. In first century, Israel, weddings were a community event that involved several days of celebration. During these many days of celebration, the groom came for his wife when he decided the time was right. Only he knew when that time would be. Everyone else simply needed to be ready.
Jesus told the story of ten women who were invited to play and significant role in the proceedings. In summary, these women were to lead the groom’s processional toward the home of the bride where the ceremony would take place. Since this was an agricultural society, these events were at night, so the women were to have lamps ready to light the path for the groom. Five of these women were ready and were invited into the wedding. Five did not have oil for their lamps and were rejected.
The main point of this story is that we need to be watching for the return of Jesus, the bridegroom, when he comes to take his Church, the bride, to heaven. Vs. 1, “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like…” Jesus is using the symbolism of this parable to impress on us an important truth. The ten virgins are those waiting for the return of Christ. The wise women are those who have received Christ as Savior and are prepared for his return. The foolish are those who talk about it but have not prepared. The lamps represent the light of Jesus in a life. And oil is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, the indication of true salvation. The key verse is 13. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
The promise of the return of Jesus to take us to live with him forever is the hope that makes this life tolerable. This amazing promise is granted to all who have truly received the gift of salvation and live with the presence of God’s Spirit in their lives. It is easy to get caught up in the business of this life and neglect our preparation for our eternity. This parable shows us that the consequences of that neglect are devastating and eternal. God calls us to live in his presence and grants us access to his Spirit. All he asks of us is that we make the pursuit of that presence a priority in our life. In the end, he will take us, his bride, to live with him forever.