Sunday, June 12, 2005
MATTHEW 25:1-13
In the parable the five improvident young women were unable to fulfill their joyous task: to light the way of the bride and the groom to the home of the groom where the young women would join the guests in the wedding banquet. Because they were improvident they were not ready to do what they were expected to do. So, they were barred from the wedding celebration.
What evil did these poor girls commit that they should be excluded from the banquet? The tragedy and the pathos of the five foolish bridesmaids is the heart of the parable. They were not wicked or indecent; they were just foolish. They really did nothing seriously evil, nor even anything mildly wrong. Their sin: they did not do what they were expected to do. So they were cut out of the banquet.
Jesus used this image to tell the people about his coming at the end of time. It can also be applied to the coming of death at the end of our lives. Those who are not prepared to go with the Lord, whether it is at the end of this life or at the end of time, will not accompany him to the heavenly banquet.
There is another message that should be noted here. In God's eyes refusal to do good is as worthy of condemnation as is doing evil.
In this context let us call to mind the lesson of the parable on the Last Judgment. If sometime you can sit quietly and listen deep in the silence of your soul to Jesus' words: if you fail to help the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the little ones, you are refusing help to me.
As mentioned previously, the improvident bridesmaids did no evil, not even a deed that was mildly wrong. They were not ready to do the good they were expected to do. They were neither good nor bad. They were foolish. And they were not allowed into the banquet of the kingdom.
What evil did these poor girls commit that they should be excluded from the banquet? The tragedy and the pathos of the five foolish bridesmaids is the heart of the parable. They were not wicked or indecent; they were just foolish. They really did nothing seriously evil, nor even anything mildly wrong. Their sin: they did not do what they were expected to do. So they were cut out of the banquet.
Jesus used this image to tell the people about his coming at the end of time. It can also be applied to the coming of death at the end of our lives. Those who are not prepared to go with the Lord, whether it is at the end of this life or at the end of time, will not accompany him to the heavenly banquet.
There is another message that should be noted here. In God's eyes refusal to do good is as worthy of condemnation as is doing evil.
In this context let us call to mind the lesson of the parable on the Last Judgment. If sometime you can sit quietly and listen deep in the silence of your soul to Jesus' words: if you fail to help the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the little ones, you are refusing help to me.
As mentioned previously, the improvident bridesmaids did no evil, not even a deed that was mildly wrong. They were not ready to do the good they were expected to do. They were neither good nor bad. They were foolish. And they were not allowed into the banquet of the kingdom.
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 5:29 PM 
