Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!

 

 "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 has been teaching about end times, and His Second Coming.  In yesterday's reading, He said to the disciples, "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 of 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."  Jesus teaches a parable which illustrates what we are to be about while we await His return; that is, the return of the Bridegroom.  My study Bible says that this parable illustrates the need for being spiritually prepared while the bridegroom -- Christ -- is delayed in His return.  The Kingdom is often portrayed as a marriage (Matthew 22:1-14) between Christ and His Church.  This is a marriage which will be consummated at the end of the age, when the Bridegroom returns to escort His Bride, the Church, into the eternal wedding banquet.  This is made very clear in the imagery of the Revelation, and the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-2, 9-10).   My study Bible comments that this parable is primarily about the virtue of charity and almsgiving -- as oil and "mercy" have the same root in Greek, and the words sound identical.  The wise virgins are those who practice charity and mercy in this life, while the foolish are those who squander God's gifts on themselves.  The fact that all of the virgins slumbered and slept gives an indication of death:  in our world, the virtuous will die alongside the wicked, my study Bible says.  But the cry at midnight is the Second Coming, when the wicked will arise together with the righteous for judgment.  The righteous cannot share their oil in the parable, and not from a lack of generosity.  Rather, it shows the impossibility of entering heaven without one's own faith and virtue, and the impossibility of changing one's state of virtue after death (see Luke 16:26).  

 

 The imagery of the Bridegroom is important, and it tells us so much about who we are as faithful.  If Christ is to be united to His Bride, the Church, then we also should understand this union on a smaller scale.  In each of our lives, as we pray, we seek to be in communion, united with the One to whom we pray.  This includes the saints to whom we pray for help and assistance, and the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.   Of course, all of these persons -- the saints and angels, and the whole of the Holy Trinity -- are present in and with Jesus Christ.  Even symbolically, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is in itself a unification of heaven and earth.  And we who are human beings, who seek to live our faith, effectively seek through prayer and worship, and all the ways in which we "remember God" in our lives, this union of our lives with the holy, the guidance by which Christ teaches us to live, the holiness and beauty which may permeate through even the evil and the pain which we experience in a world that is also corrupted with selfishness in all its forms and outcomes.  Even the seeking of that union itself is the opposite of "selfishness," in the sense that if we seek only our own guidance, and nothing beyond ourselves, we are simply stuck within ourselves, like the Pharisee who "prayed with himself" in this parable.  To be unified with the Bridegroom should be our deepest desire.  It is the profound goal of the Church, and part and parcel of Christ's Second Coming.  In the Revelation, the merging of the heavenly New Jerusalem with the Bridegroom means that there is no need for a temple or a church, for Christ is everywhere dwelling with all (Revelation 21:1-4).  But when we pray, when we seek God, when we worship, when we turn for help and guidance for our lives, so we are also seeking the same, in real time, as we live in the here and now, today.  We seek that union, no matter how fleetingly or ephemeral, so that the fullness of the images of the Second Coming are just that:  the fullness of what we seek here and what we learn now through the practice of our faith.  This is not a "pie in the sky" kind of teaching, but rather just the opposite.  It is the power of our true lives in Christ, participating in His life, and merging worldly identity while we bear His image, and seek to live the love He taught us as we make our choices and decisions.  We seek His "righteous judgment" (John 7:24), discernment (Philippians 1:9), and even His discipline and correction (Hebrews 12:3-11).  For each of these are a part of His love, just as is His compassion and mercy (Romans 9:15).  The endurance and victory He asks of us takes place in this world, as we seek the union of all of these things within ourselves, for this is the real work of faith.  This is how we fill our lamps.