LESSON 21 – THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH
THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH
As I have mentioned in previous lessons, much of the content that I will be sharing with you has been acquired from different bible sites and bible scholars. I’ve tried to put this difficult chapter in order so that it is understood.
In our verses today, the Lord Jesus continues His discourse on His second coming and the end of the world as we know it. He gives us caution with His farewell sermon for us to watch and be ready, and he urges us to be most diligent in awaiting his return.
Weddings never go out of style. There is something beautiful and exciting watching two lives become one. Most of the fuss at a wedding is made over the bride and groom, with little or no attention to the attendants, but this is not so with Jesus. Here he uses a wedding scene as a parable to exemplify what he means by the command, “Watch”. He doesn’t even mention the bride and only incidentally the bridegroom.
It is the unexpectedness of his return for the church, and the need to keep watching for it that he introduces the parable of the ten maidens. “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens,”. It’s the time of his coming as a thief in the night before the Great Tribulation, when he shall appear on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. Therefore, watch for you know neither the day nor the hour.Jesus tells this story to the disciples on the Mount of Olives:
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry. Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all the maidens rose and trimmed their lamps” (Matthew 25:1-7).
This is not the entire story, but it does serve as an introduction. In an eastern wedding, it is the bridegroom rather than the bride who is the center of attention. It is the bridegroom at Oriental weddings who bears all the expense of the wedding. Weddings were always at night, and it was traditional for the bridegroom to go to the bride’s house and take her to the wedding. The Lord’s story of the ten maidens is the story of a group waiting for the bridegroom. As a reminder, this was intended for those who live in the intervening period between our Lord’s first coming and the second coming. It will be valuable to us only if we realize ourselves somewhere in the story, as it is intended to describe an element of watching that is vital and essential.
Life seems to have a great deal of waiting, and here we have a group of people who are waiting for someone. These maidens were waiting for the bridegroom, waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ. These maidens, therefore, are those who are convinced that the end of the age will come as Jesus describes it. They are not being misled by the sensational earthly illusions that will be brought about by man’s wisdom and skill. They believe that only Jesus Christ’s return will accomplish that end, and they are hopeful that his coming will be very soon.
At this point, we have been listening to the words of God’s greatest Prophet. We have heard what he predicts, and we are convinced that history will end at the feet of Jesus who will come flaming in glory from the heavens to astonish a deceived world. Therefore, we share the expectations of the coming of the Bridegroom with these ten maidens.
The second section of this parable is one of division: “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with then, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.”
Though this group is united in its expectations, it is divided in the way it conducts its waiting because five maidens have brought along extra oil, and five haven’t. Jesus says that this division is not between good and bad but is between the wise and the foolish. There is no moral division intended as they are all equally sincere in their expectation of the Bridegroom. The only difference is that five of them felt that it was wise to provide some extra oil. It appears that all would have gone well for the entire ten if the bridegroom wasn’t delayed.
“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come to meet him.’”
We do not know why the bridegroom was delayed, but this could be an indication from the Lord that his absence could be rather long as the situation has been. As the story moves forward, we learn that due to the delay of the bridegroom, it was very late, and the ten maidens grew weary of waiting and fell asleep. Many interpreters have viewed this as negligence on the part of the maidens, but there was no disapproval suggested by the Lord for them sleeping as the wise slept as well as the foolish. So when his coming was delayed, they grew weary, and it was only natural that they would fall asleep.
Jesus may be suggesting that watching does not mean consciously watching the sky for his return but is indicating that watching must allow time for normal activity. Money must be obtained, food must be cooked, school lessons must be learned. Basically, all the activities of life must go on. Suddenly there is a cry, “Behold! The bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” And as the cry is heard, all ten maidens are awakened. They are all awakened in plenty of time to meet the bridegroom, but the forthcoming problem that they would soon encounter did not come because they had fallen asleep.
Next part of the story brings a crisis. It discloses the wisdom of the wise and the foolishness of the foolish:
“Then all those maidens rose 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 replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’”
To the dismay of the foolish, their lamps are running out of oil, flickering and about to go out as the long delay used up their oil and they have no more. They plea to the wise: “Give us some of your oil.” The wise reply that oil is not something that can be borrowed or loaned, Here the Lord moves right on into the story, and the final movement is one of denial:
“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Many may be surprised that the door was shut and that the five were unjustly treated. Why should they not be allowed to go to the wedding just because they were a few minutes late? But there is no vindictiveness in this shut door. We must seriously consider the clues that will help us learn why our Lord was correct to take this action. The Lord’s words, “I do not know you” are a faithful honest acknowledgement of something that had been true all along. Weddings are no place for strangers. Only the friends of the family are permitted to attend. So the door is shut to the five foolish maidens for the Lord says, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
Let us now learn the meaning of oil. The foolish maidens did have some oil when they began, but it just wasn’t enough oil. In the Old Testament, oil is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The oil symbolized the Spirit of God by which the light of testimony could be maintained in the hour of darkness. The supreme ministry is to pass on to men the knowledge of Jesus Christ. In John 16:13,14, Jesus said of him: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his authority but … will declare to you. Although the Spirit’s task is to take the Word of God and reveal Jesus Christ through it, there are levels of such revelation.
There is even a Spirit-born ministry to those who are not true Christians. Jesus also revealed this. “When he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and judgement” (John 16:8). This ministry of the Holy Spirit is available to anyone who seeks the Scriptures to know the truth, but it is also intended to take them deeper into a personal relationship that will be the giving of divine life. The danger in exposing the truth and knowledge of Scripture is that we may become satisfied with the intellectual portion of Christ and know the doctrine but never know the living Christ. This is the problem with the foolish maidens, who represent those who gladly take enough of the oil of the Spirit to give them immediate help in their problems, or some relief from fear of guilt, but who never go on to a surrender the will to the authority of Jesus Christ.
The foolish, then, are those who only consider a superficial knowledge of scriptural truth. They believe in the Bible but not the Lord of the Bible. Therefore, faith must go deeper than doctrine. Orthodox knowledge is worthless unless it leads to the surrender of self, and what Jesus conveys here is that there is a deeper level of commitment to the Spirit that is essential to meet the unexpected demands life will throw at us. The wise have found that deeper level. They have an extra reservoir of oil which continually feeds the flame of life keeping them firm and steady amid the stress, pressures and disasters of life. They have a hidden supply of oil that lights the flame of life despite the circumstances.
So, what if despite the eagerness with which you read scripture, you begin to drift back into the cold indifference of the deluded masses? Can you say to someone, “Give me some of your oil? That cannot be done. Every impartation of the Spirit’s power is marked “Nontransferable.” He cannot share it with anyone else. It’s been said that there are only two ways to take a thing seriously. You either renounce it or risk everything upon it. I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” {Matthew 16:25)
Of course, some would like a third choice and find a compromise with God whereby they may subscribe to the truth of Scripture but refuse to allow a change on their activities and attitudes. That third alternative doesn’t exist, as God does not compromise. That is why he bluntly says to the foolish maidens, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” In the end, he shows them what they are. The door is shut, both to the unbeliever who never tried to get in and to the foolish person who never took God seriously.
Lord, we ask that you show us the light that can never be put out. So, I believe that Jesus is asking what do you choose? Are you in or are you out? It kind of reminds of the movie, “The Karate Kid”, when Mr. Miyagi says to Danielson, “Walk on right side, safe. Walk on left side, safe. Walk in middle, squashed like grape”. We all have a choice.
Until next time, may peace, love and joy be with you always.