Until this morning, I have never taken time to fully understand the historical custom behind this verse. It's actually a lovely symbolism:
"The whole imagery of the parable is drawn from Eastern marriage customs. The betrothal, which took place some time before the marriage, was a kind of solemn marriage contract, but preliminary to its final consummation. When the time for the celebration of the marriage came, the bridegroom came to the house of the bride and brought her by night to his own house. The virgin bridesmaids awaited his coming and attended the bride to the marriage feast." -People's New Testament
I think I much prefer it: the way that the bridesmaids are actively involved and waiting with the bride seems much better than them just standing up at the front of a church like so many statues. Also, so sweet how their are two parts to it--the preliminaries, but then the groom comes to seek his bride. How affirming it must have been for the bride to be surrounded by friends, awaiting the time when her husband would seek her out and bring her to his home. Rich in meaning, this imagery is less about "attending" a wedding or being a statutory piece of a ceremony, but being involved in its outworking in a beautiful way.
The Lord seeks to involve us too in His second coming in such a fashion. In the Middle East, the bridesmaids would look for the groom's arrival and when they would see him coming, they would go out with their lamps to greet and escort him. How encouraging to know that we are more than mere pawns, active participants in His grand plan. We are dignified by our role of watching for His arrival and going out to greet Him.
It's all an encouraging counterpoint to the horrible scenes and images that are so prevalent regarding the Second Coming. Yes, Earth and heaven must necessarily recede. However, the groom has come, and we are all on our way to the most amazing celebration beyond anything we could have guessed or fathomed.
A call to press on from Geneva Bible Translation Notes:
"We must desire strength from God's hand which may serve us as a torch while we walk through this darkness, to bring us to our desired end: otherwise, if we become slothful and negligent because we are weary of our pains and travail, we shall be kept from entering the doors."
Our walk on this earth can be terribly difficult and tenuous at times, but we must remember our purpose here--it's not to sleep or carry on with anything else. We are called to watch and wait upon the bridegroom's arrival and be ready to go to Him.
Ah the sweet loyalty of Christ to us:
The Bridegroom is our Lord Jesus Christ; he is so represented in the 45th Psalm, Solomon's Song, and often in the New Testament. It bespeaks his singular and superlative love to, and his faithful and inviolable covenant with, his spouse the church. -Matthew Henry
Love this from Matthew Henry too:
Joh 12:26 "Anyone who wants to be My disciple must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me."
"We must follow him as honorary servants do their masters, Joh_12:26. Hold up the name, and hold forth the praise of the exalted Jesus; this is our business. (2.) Expectants of Christ, and of his second coming. As Christians, we profess, not only to believe and look for, but to love and long for, the appearing of Christ, and to act in our whole conversation with a regard to it. The second coming of Christ is the centre in which all the lines of our religion meet, and to which the whole of the divine life hath a constant reference and tendency." -MHenry
"The gospel is light, and they who receive it must not only be enlightened by it themselves, but must shine as lights, must hold it forth." Phi_2:15, Phi_2:16. Matthew Henry
I love light imagery in the Word. These verses in Philippians are worth looking up:
"Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless." -Philippians 2: 15-16
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The second parable in this chapter is equally, if not more, haunting. Probably because I am the type of person who likes to be prepared and do a good job when given a task, it troubles me greatly to think of the fearful or lazy servant. He says it is out of fear, but of course, how can we read another's heart?
"Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, 'Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.' -Matthew 25:24-25
So was he an excuse maker, or was he truly troubled by the character of God and the successful execution of the task?
One encouraging bit from each is that the groom took a long time and the master was away for a long time. Admittedly, I sometimes wonder about His time table and wonder about His tarrying. These details confirm the need to wait it out and be faithful for the long haul; they acknowledge the length of the waiting.
"For the truth is, the more we do for God, the more we are indebted to him for making use of us, and enabling us, for his service." -Matthew Henry
Excellent point. And another:
"And it is observable that he who had but two talents, gave up his account as cheerfully as he who had five; for our comfort, in the day of account, will be according to our faithfulness, not according to our usefulness; our sincerity, not our success; according to the uprightness of our hearts, not according to the degree of our opportunities." -Matthew Henry
It is this willingess to give back what we have been given, to acknowledge the chain of opportunity as from the hand of God, that makes the difference here--not the quantity or degree of resources, but the willing or unwilling condition of the spirit to engage with what we DO have. Good food for thought.
These verses in particular are sobering:
"For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me." Matthew 25:35-36
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