Jesus tells a parable of ten bridesmaids
‘My second coming will resemble a wedding in a sense. Those who will expect me are like ten bridesmaids who looked out for the groom to welcome him with the light of their lamps. Only five of them were far-sighted and took with them containers of oil to refill the lamps. The other girls recklessly forgot about it. The groom didn’t go for long, so all the bridesmaids were tired and fell asleep. At midnight, they were pulled out of their sleep by a shout: ‘The groom is coming! Come welcome him!’ The girls jumped up and quickly adjusted their lamps. The reckless ones, who didn’t take enough oil, begged the others: ‘Give us some of your oil, the light is already going out!’ But the reasonable ones answered them: ‘If we split up, oil will not be enough for us or you. Better try it at the buyer’s!’ However, as soon as they ran out to get oil, the groom came and the girls who were ready went with him to the wedding feast. Another five bridesmaids came to the already closed door. They shouted, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But he replied, ‘It’s late, I can’t accept you anymore.’ So always be prepared because you don’t know which moment I’ll be at.
Comment: When we read something in the Bible, it is important to always balance it with what is clearly stated in other parts of the Bible. What do we already know from the other parts and many verses about who will go to heaven and? – He who is saved to heaven and gets to the Lamb’s Wedding. So what does this mean, who in this case are the unreasonable girls in this parable? – Yes, those who are not saved. Those who did not accept Jesus into their hearts! From other prophecies in the Bible and from the previous chapter – Matthew 24 – we know that Jesus will come after 7 years of the reign of the Antichrist. Therefore, it will not be a surprise for those of us who know the Bible. Of course, it is important to have enough oil – God’s word in our hearts – to spend time with Jesus every day. This is helping us all now. When something difficult happens in our life, it is much easier for us to respond to it, because we have much more of God’s strength. At the same time, time with God prepares us for his coming and gives us the strength to do what happens before.
Jesus tells parable of the money entrusted
I will give you another example. One person called his employees before leaving for a long trip and entrusted them with his property. To each according to his abilities: Five thousand to one, two to the other and one to another. Then he traveled.
Comment: In English in the King James translation, it is written that he gave them talent – which was a currency at the time, but it can be very well applied to the talents/gifts that God has given us, and this is what this parable is about. So, he gave each of them a certain amount of talent.
An employee who received five thousand started trading and earned another five thousand. The one who received two thousand also doubled the amount. But he, who was entrusted with one thousand, dug a hole in the ground and hid the money in it. After a long time, the employer returned and wanted the subordinates to present the bills to him. The first brought the money and said: ‘Lord, you entrusted me with five thousand and here you have a profit of another five thousand.’ The Lord praised him for his good work and said to him: ‘You have proven yourself in a small task, so I can entrust you with a lot more. And now I invite you to celebrate my return.’ You have completed a small task, I will entrust you with a bigger one. I invite you to the feast too.’ exclaimed, ‘You lazy! You nothing! You knew what I was up to. You should have saved the money entrusted to me and it would at least earn me interest! Take the money from him and give it to the first. Because to those who make good use of what has been entrusted to them, it will be added. Anyone who doesn’t try at all will lose everything. Kick that lazy person out into the dark. All he has left is crying and late regret.‘
Comment: This parable – unlike the previous ones, talks about rewards not about salvation, therefore it also applies to those who are already salvation. Getting to heaven is a gift from God, but we will be rewarded here on earth and then in heaven according to what we do with our gifts. Since each of us received different amounts and we should not compare different gifts! However, we should do what we can with the gifts we have. Some of us have the great privilege of knowing the Bible well and Jesus personally and know what it wants from us. And even if we only do what he told us in Matthew 22 every day – to love God and others, – we will already fulfill our message on earth. Practically, even this can mean something different for each of us. The key is to ask Jesus and be guided by him every day.
Jesus speaks of the final judgment
When I come in the royal majesty, accompanied by all the angels, I will sit To the court, where all the people come. This will be the moment of the final division of humanity. As the shepherd chooses from the herd which he keeps and which he discards, so I will also say to my faithful to my faithful on the right: ‘Come, the Father himself invites you to the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the beginning of the world. I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink, I didn’t have a roof over my head, and you accepted me, I had nothing to wear, and you put me on, you took care of me when I was sick, and when I was in prison, you came to me.’ The faithful will object: ‘We do not remember that we would ever have the opportunity to take care of you like this.’ That’s when I answer them: ‘What good have you done for one of my tiny brothers, you have done for me.’ I will say to those gathered on the left: ‘Gone from me, you have fallen into the fire of damnation, which is ready for Satan and for his helpers! After all, when I was hungry, you didn’t let me eat, I was thirsty, and you didn’t let me drink, I didn’t have a roof over my head, and you closed in front of me, I had nothing to wear, and you didn’t dress me, you didn’t care for me when I was sick, and when I was He was in prison, you didn’t come to me.’ They will defend themselves: ‘Lord, how could we help you if we never saw you?’ He says to them: ‘Amen, I’m telling you that whatever you didn’t do for the smallest of them, you didn’t For me.’
Comment: The key to understanding this parable is the last verse – ‘the righteous will go into eternal life.’ Can we be righteous – perfect – without Jesus? No! So it is again one of the examples when we ourselves – by our own justice – will not get to heaven. Of course it’s great when we do all the good things mentioned here and it’s wonderful that we actually do them for Jesus. We will definitely be rewarded for that! But in order for us to get to heaven, our righteousness is not enough, but Jesus’ yes, thank God for that and for the fact that we can accept his righteousness by asking him to enter our life and anyone can do that.
