Imagine you have an appointment with Jesus, only you have no idea when He’s coming to pick you up. It’s the only chance you’ll get, and all He says is, “Be ready.”
You don’t know if He’s coming tonight, next week, in five years, or five decades. All you know is that if He shows up and you’re not prepared, that’s it — you’ve lost your opportunity forever.
That’s the point of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which is found in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus used simple lesson-based stories, called “parables,” throughout His time on earth to illustrate and emphasize His critical teachings.
One of the most important things He reiterated was readiness — all of us should be ready when the Son of God returns in triumph.
And that is the significance of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Here, let’s unpack the meaning and story further to more fully understand what our Savior is asking of us all.
What Is the Parable About?
In this story, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a commonplace situation His audience would have known well. In those days, traditional Jewish wedding custom called for a wedding ceremony, followed by an evening wedding banquet.
Those in the wedding party — the groom and bride, as well as bridesmaids and other key participants — had a role to play.
The bridesmaids were expected to serve as part of a processional leading from the ceremony’s location to the home of the groom, where an elaborate and lavish celebration would await.
In the story, told in Matthew 25:1-13, the 10 virgins are the bridesmaids in a wedding party. Five are wise, and five are foolish. It is dark when they leave for the procession, and the wise bridesmaids bring their lamps and some oil for the lamps, but the foolish ones bring no oil.
The groom takes a while to get there. When he finally nears, the wise bridesmaids go off toward the procession with their lamps shining brightly, thanks to the oil they remembered.
The wise cannot share their oil with the foolish ones without risking their own place in the procession, so the foolish bridesmaids are forced to go find some oil and hope to join the procession late.
But it’s too late.
As Scripture tells us, “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:10-13).
The foolish bridesmaids missed their chance, and that is the lesson — we, too, must be ready when Jesus returns so we can live in His heavenly kingdom for eternity.
How Does This Story Apply to Us?
Jesus often compared Himself to a bridegroom and the church to a bride. It’s the same analogy Paul used in Colossians 1:18 when he taught that Jesus is the head, and the church is the body —all the parts work together, led by the Lord.
Those who believe, know, and follow Jesus as their Savior are “true disciples.” They have a relationship with Him, and they are always ready. They live their lives for Him, always striving to emulate Him.
Because of this, God knows them and loves them. As Jesus said in John 8:31, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”
Those who are true disciples and hold to His teaching are ready for Him, just like the 10 virgin bridesmaids are supposed to be ready for the bridegroom. They get to go to the wedding banquet — that is, heaven. They get their eternal reward.
What if They Are Not Ready?
If there are not ready, the message is clear: they are not true disciples. Rather, they are false disciples. They show this by their lack of readiness, which indicates they don’t follow Jesus’ teachings.
This means they don’t have a genuine relationship with Jesus… He is the shepherd, but they are not His “sheep” (John 10:1-18).
And as they are not His sheep, He doesn’t know them. They are turned away.
But if we are His, we need to act like His sheep, His children, His people. We need to embrace the words of the Apostle John, who wrote in 1 John 3:1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
Otherwise, the Lord will tell us the words our hearts fear most: I don’t know you. Be gone (Matthew 7:21-23).
Where Else Does the Bible Talk about Readiness for Heaven?
There are a host of other scriptures throughout the Bible that reiterate this concept of readiness.
One is Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Luke, where He tells His disciples, “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:39-40).
Later in that same conversation, when His disciples ask if this warning applies to them as well, Jesus insists it does indeed, telling them it’s like a master with a servant. The master has gone away and is gone so long the servants decide to relax and get drunk.
“The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers” (Luke 12:46).
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples that the day and hour of His return are known by none, “not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).
“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:26-27).
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus urges His disciples to “keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn” (Mark 13:35).
The Apostle Paul reflects in his letter to Titus much the same, encouraging the man to stay strong in faith and be ready (Titus 2:11-13).
What Are Some Ways We Can Be Ready for Christ’s Return?
Here are a few ways you can be ready:
- Stay strong in faith; Read God’s Holy Word
- Pray; Ask God for increased belief
- Repent of your sins; Encourage others
- Share the gospel so that all may know God’s truth
- Keep one foot in heaven and one on earth and train your mind and heart always on things eternal.
Remember: the wise virgin bridesmaids were ready with their lamps and oil. The foolish were not. The wise gained entry to the wedding banquet — that is, heaven. The foolish did not.
Be wise and be ready.
For further reading:
What Were the Parables of Jesus?
The Church Is the Bride of Christ — What Does that Mean?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Dmytro Duda
