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VERSE OF THE WEEK
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Matthew 25:13 'Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.'
These words of Jesus occur at the end of him telling the parable of the ten wedding maidens who were awaiting the bridegroom. Five of them, he said were 'wise' and the other five 'foolish'. In what sense were they wise or foolish? Well, the wise were wise because they took enough oil for their lamps in case the bridegroom was delayed. In the event he was indeed a long time in coming and the foolish maidens ran out of oil and were not ready when he arrived. Now as always with interpreting Jesus' parables, we need to look for one major point and not seek to find parallels for every detail of the story.
First of all, it would be valid to interpret the 'bridegroom' as Christ himself. He has done this before in Mark 2:20 where He is portraying himself as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Second, the context in Matthew 25 is Christ's Return - usually referred to as his 'Second Coming'.
There can be no doubt or confusion whatever about this. Jesus Christ frequently taught that he was going to return and his Coming would be seen be all and bring human history to a close. Those of a cynical turn of mind might want to pour scorn on this idea. Or to interpret Christ's resurrection as his Second Coming. But this latter view can only be from a very poor examination of the the text of the Gospels. Against all that cynical humankind might suppose, Christ came the first time in a way that surprised us, despite the hints about it in the Old Testament. Why should he not come again just as assuredly as he came the first time? In any case are we going to suppose that Christ was a deceiver? Surely not!
So the BIG point of the parable is to be ready for His return. But how can we be ready? We can only be ready by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ - in his death and resurrection for us - by which he won for us forgiveness for our rebellion against the rule of God over our lives. We have always and continue to deny the right of our Creator to be King and Ruler over us and God will hold us accountable for this on Judgement Day. Only by fleeing to Christ by faith can be find forgiveness. That is how we can be ready. Are you ready? If you want to do know more, turn to the article on this website called 'What is the Christian Gospel?'. Click here to go directly to it.