Breaking the Word

  "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps…

 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'  But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Mt 25:1-13)

There are some interesting facts about this parable. Yes, the wedding takes place at night and that too the bridegroom arrives at midnight. Secondly, the bridegroom comes late. The virgins who were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom fell asleep. All these things should not happen normally.

The story is created to communicate a particular message. Probably the facts are exaggerated to stress the message. This story is rooted in the Jewish tradition. This speaks about wisdom and foolishness. Wisdom here means being ready. But the strange thing is that even the wise fell asleep.

The parable is about Jesus, the messiah, who is coming to meet the people of Israel. The people of Israel are the ones who are invited for the wedding feast. These people are divided into two groups. The wise are the ones who await the arrival of the messiah. The foolish are the ones to whom Jesus says ‘I do not know’. One should be always prepared for the works of GOD.

 Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.  (Mt 24:42-51)

‘Stay awake’, ‘be prepared’, ‘be faithful’ and ‘be prudent’ are the suggestion given in this passage for a follower. Of these the first two are external attitudes and the rest are internal attitudes. External attitudes are always for the arrival of the master and it could be at anytime. The other two attitudes are for always. Being awake and prepared will show that the follower is always thinking of the master and his activities. Such a servant is rewarded with greater responsibility.

Delay in the arrival of the master can make the servant evil and negative. The servant destroys himself by eating and drinking and begins to beat up the other workers. He loses himself and the others. The servant does not realize that the delay only shows the postponement of the arrival and it never means the denial of the arrival. The master will definitely come.

Unfaithful and imprudent servant will be counted as a hypocrite. He will spend his life weeping and wailing. The reward is greater responsibility and acceptance whereas the punishment is being thrown out and rejected and counted as a hypocrite. The reward and the punishment will reveal the relationship that exists between the master and the servant.