Parable of The Ten Virgins

It's been several months since I have been able to blog anything. So, here is my first in months. The reason for this blog is a meditation on the Parable of The Ten Virgins in Matthew 25.1-13. It refers of course to the Parousia or Second Coming of Christ; and Christ refers to himself, the Messiah, as the Bridegroom. In the OT, the "Lord," is often pictured as the "Husband" (Isaiah 54.2-6; 62.4-5, etc) of his people. Jesus, in the Gospels, frequently places himself in the "Lord's" place.

In this case, we have the metaphor of ten virgins or bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom. It was Jewish custom for the bridegroom and his close companions to go to the brides home, in order to get her and take her to his home. They would walk through the city at night in procession, each one bearing his own torch or lamp. Once home, there would be the wedding feast and the various ceremonies.

Interestingly, there were ten women, each of them a virgin, each of them had done the work of keeping themselves chaste. Each virgin had her own lamp with oil in them to burn for light. The only real difference is that the five "Wise" virgins had taken the time and effort to prepare themselves with "extra" oil in advance, in case the bridegroom was delayed. And the Bridegroom was delayed. All of them, both wise and foolish, fell asleep (sleep is a biblical metaphor for death) waiting for him to arrive. When the announcement finally came at midnight (a symbol of the end time), all ten, both wise and foolish, woke up and trimmed their lamps for the journey. The foolish, however, realised they didn't have enough oil left to make the journey. They ask the five wise virgins to share their oil; but they refused, saying there wasn't enough to share; and instructing the foolish virgins to go to the marketplace and buy oil. While they were doing so, the Lord came, and took the Wise virgins in and shut the door to the unwise virgins who arrived a little later. But it was too late and he said he did not know them.

It seems like such a harsh judgment. The Door is shut! The way is closed. Its too late. But this parable is a deeply mystical metaphor of the spiritual life. In the first place, many spiritual writers teach that the Virgins are the believers and the Lamp or Light is the human soul or spirit; and the oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, is whatever grace we have aquired-or to put it in a Eastern Orthodox way, it speaks of "The Aquisition of the Holy Spirit."

In the Greek text, it is especially clear, where the word for mercy or giving alms is, eleos, and that for oil or olive oil is, elaion. It refers then to the grace cultivated in our lives through the various works of the spiritual disciplines, penance, and works of mercy, we had done in our lives to prepare ourselves for the "long delay" of the Lord.

This parable reveals that it is possible to cultivate the virtues, to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One the first level, they were all virgins- the angelic state of monastics regarded as the highest sacrifice short of martyrdom. Although each one had kept their estate pure and chaste, some of them did not do all to prepare themselves for their Lord. We must take every preparation through the various spiritual disciplines to cultivate and aquire the grace of the Holy Spirit through various works of love and service to God and others. It should be noted that the final grace at the end is non transferrable. We cannot expect to enter the door of the bridegroom just because we're Christian (virgin) or because of the faith of our praents, etc. All ten were virgin (Christian) but only five who had prepared themslevs entered in.

So, we must ask ourselves, before we too fall "asleep" in death, if we have made adequate preparation for our Lord's return. Have we sacrificed all to cultivate and buy the extra oil for our lamps? Have we aquired adequate grace for ourselves? It's something to think and pray about.

"Watch for you know neither the day nor the hour." Watch! Keep vigil! Guard your heart! This is also a spiritual discipline spoken of by the Fathers and Saints. It is called "Guard of the Heart." Have we kept watch over the condition of our souls, the various movements that stir within? Have we fallen asleep, when we should have been watching?