Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom

 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

- Matthew 25:1-13

In our recent readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  It is what we know as Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly lifetime, and Passover Week.   In the past few readings, Jesus has been prophesying the destruction of the temple to come, the wars in Jerusalem, and also speaking of end times and His Second Coming.  In yesterday's reading, He gave a parable of the times in which we live, and how we are to live as His servants:  "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.  But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."  My study bible tells us that this parable illustrates the need for being spiritually prepared while the bridegroom -- Christ -- is delayed in His return.   The Kingdom is frequently portrayed as a marriage between Christ and His Church (22:1-14).  The marriage is to be consummated at the end of the age, when the Bridegroom returns to escort His Bride -- the Church -- into the eternal wedding banquet.  My study bible explains that this parable is mainly about the virtue of the practice of mercy.  In Greek, the words for oil and mercy have the same root and sound the same.  The wise virgins are those who practice charity and mercy, while the foolish are those who squander God's gifts.   The fact that all the virgins slumbered and slept indicates death:  in this world the virtuous will die alongside the wicked.  The cry at midnight is the announcement of the Second Coming, when both wicked and righteous arise for judgment.  My study bible adds that the inability of the righteous to share their oil is not due to a lack of generosity.   But it rather illustrates (1) the impossibility of entering heaven without one's own faith and virtue, and (2) the impossibility of changing one's state of virtue after death (see Luke 16:26). 

The ancient lamps mentioned in today's parable were oil lamps.  A small vessel held a "pool" of oil, in which floated a wick.  The lamp would burn until the oil ran out.  These are the lamps of the virgins in the parable, who would go out to meet the bridegroom.  Clearly the Bridegroom is Christ.  In the Greek, the sound of the word for oil is identical to mercy, and so the fuel for our own burning light is the oil of mercy.  Adding another meaning, oil was used as the base for healing balms in the ancient world (see the parable of the Good Samaritan), and so the idea of mercy is intertwined with the use of "oil" in Jesus' parables.   There is another Greek word to study in terms of today's parable, and that is the word for grace.  It is charis/χαρις, from which we derive the word charisma.  The original meaning for charisma in Greek is a gift of grace.  That is, the various God-given gifts each of us has for use, either selfishly or service-oriented -- whether we allow the dictates of mercy to guide us, or we squander those gifts, is really what today's parable is all about.  It's as if Christ is saying that we are each given the opportunity to build that pool of grace and mercy in our own lives through our own considerations and priorities, through the way in which we each live our own life.  This is the fuel that truly burns the lamp with a bright flame, so that we may go out to meet our Bridegroom.  All of Jesus' teachings for preparation of the life to come at His Second Coming regard the practice of mercy as the true key to that life.  The faithful and wise servant cares for the other servants and all in the master's household in order to "give them food in due season" (see yesterday's reading, above).  In today's parable, it is that pool or well, our own supply of mercy and grace, that allows us to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).   This is the place where we connect our God-given gifts with the ways in which we choose to live -- and that we know that faithfulness is in how we live, not simply what we think or believe.  Can we live within His model of mercy and grace, using our own time and talents for His work and purpose?  How is the pool of grace made deeper and wider by your choices and works?  How is the fuel for the fire of Christ's light made bright through your choices?  This is how we are prepared and awake for His return.  It's how we are to meet Him.