How do we get ready for an event at an unknown time and place?
“Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 25:1-13.
The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids is found only in Matthew’s Gospel. The parable is placed in the middle of Jesus’ teaching about the end times (24:1 -- 25:46). Jesus is speaking to his disciples while sitting on the Mount of Olives, looking at the Temple grounds (24:1-3). He has left the temple and the verbal battle with the scribes and Pharisees. The disciples come to Jesus privately (24:3) to ask Jesus about the signs of the end of the age. Jesus uses several analogies to stress the need to live faithfully and expectantly, to watch and remain ready.
The image in this week’s parable of the bridegroom is found in both the Old and New Testaments to describe the covenantal relationship between God and God’s people. (See Hosea 2:14-23; Isaiah 62:5; Revelation 22:17). A typical ritual at a wedding would have the bridegroom coming with his companions to the house of the bride’s parents to take her to his own home. As the groom approaches, the bridesmaids would come out with lighted lamps and meet him.