In this passage, Jesus tells the first of three stories that illustrate and illuminate the last section of Matthew 24. Ten virgins took their lamps and ventured into the night to meet the bridegroom. When he arrived, he was going to usher them into the wedding feast. But then Jesus introduced a complication into the story, “the bridegroom was delaying.”

The bridegroom’s late arrival exactly describes our experience. Although Jesus told the disciples that no one knew the “day or hour” of his return, they certainly expected it to happen in their lifetime (Mt. 24:32; Acts 1:6). Many of Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 24 were fulfilled within forty years of his death and resurrection. But other predictions, now some two thousand years later, remain unfulfilled.

When someone is a little late for an appointment, we get impatient. If they are very late, we get worried. If they are unreasonably late, we give up hope that they will ever arrive. When Jesus told this parable, did he know a day would come when many would despair of his return? If so, what is he telling us? Just this, that it is our wisdom to adjust to the tension of our situation by behaving as if he were going to return tonight and preparing as if he will not return in our lifetime.

O Jesus, we are relieved that You did not find fault with the ten women for falling asleep, but only with the five for not being “on the alert.” To our way of thinking, it seems You should have arrived by now. It seems that our prayers for enlightenment to Your will, a stronger resistance to sin, and a closer relationship with You should have been answered by now. Give us grace to live with delays without losing our edge or missing the opportunities to notice Your daily movements through our world when You do pass our way.

Jesus made a point of emphasizing that the hour of his coming was not only unknown, but that it would arrive unexpectedly (Mt. 24:36, 44). For that reason, his disciples had to live “on the alert.” How does a person do that? How can we prepare ourselves for an event that will occur exactly when we do not think it will? The answer comes down to how we treat others and it is illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the faithful and evil slaves.

Drawing a contrast between the two slaves, Jesus said the faithful slave feeds others, the evil slave feeds himself; the faithful slave acts responsibly, the evil slave abuses his fellow slaves; the faithful slave keeps the will of his master in mind, the evil slave assumes the master will be gone so long that his will is irrelevant; the good slave receives his master’s blessing, the evil slave receives punishment.

Although Jesus knew he would be gone from his disciples for “a long time,” it is obvious that he wanted them to always keep him in mind. True lovers never forget each other, even when separated by thousands of miles for months or years. They cherish memories, keepsakes, and photographs, and correspond as frequently as possible. In a similar way, Jesus desired to leave on our souls an impression of himself that would keep the flame of our heart burning for him, even through the long years of waiting to be united with him.

It is Your pleasure, Lord Jesus, to show Your love to all the world and to do so through those who know You. Grant us Your grace, O Savior, to be the faithful servants who do not beat others, but feed them and do not abuse others, but heal them in Your name. May people discover through our lives, actions and words, the infinite love of the Father, the eternal mercy of the Son, and the never failing grace of the Spirit.

It is possible to take select passages from the Bible and form a picture of God in which he is an infinitely superior Being who is beyond the reach of humankind, yet very demanding. This view is consistent with the notion that we were on his bad side from the day of our birth and must always fight the negative momentum of our moral flaws. So, even when trying our hardest to please him, we are still breaking rules we never knew existed.

In the heart and mind of Jesus, God was “the Father”–not only his Father, but “our Father.” The God whom Jesus represented was the one Person we could count on to care for us, watch over us, and in his mercy treat us with compassion, kindness, and understanding.

Jesus did not think is was necessary for him to know the day of his return–it was enough that the Father knows. In fact, there are many things that are known to “the Father alone.” God knows what breaks our hearts, gets to us, makes us feel like giving up. God knows the number of our days and everything else there is to know about us. Our “Father alone” can be trusted with this information (Ps. 139). He uses it to heal, guide, and protect us as we journey through life.

O Jesus, Son of the Father, we thank You for entering our world and through Your words, deeds, and life, reveal to us the heart of God. In Your goodness we discover that, even when we disappoint Him, the Father loves us. We realize our responsibility to learn truth and solve riddles that hinder our growth, but we also understand that there are things we cannot know and it is best to leave them to the Father. O Lord, strengthen our trust in You.

In verse 30, we come to the climax of events Jesus predicted in this chapter. It is here, with “the sign of the Son of Man” appearing in the sky that the curtain comes down on human history. When this happens and everything we have ever known is vaporized, when heaven and earth “pass away,” Jesus and his words will be the one remaining, stable reality (v. 35).

When preaching on this passage, a good number of ministers manifest a triumphant attitude, as if the coming of Jesus is all about the vindication of our faith in him. We are given the impression that what matters most is on the day of the Lord, is that we will be proven right and everyone else proven wrong. We could accept this sort of interpretation (and attitude) if our love for Jesus did not tell us that he intended to communicate a deeper and more important message.

Do you remember how Matthew’s gospel opened with Jesus’ genealogy? What was Matthew telling us? That charting the advance of human history, we could discern how it was moving toward “Jesus the Messiah” (1:1). This is the same message we find here in chapter 24. History has a goal, the universe has a center, our lives have a purpose, and all of it comes back to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dear Lord, is it not true that our greatest frustrations arise when we imagine ourselves to be at the center of the universe? We expend too much energy trying to control everything and everyone around us. May we learn in the depths of our souls what it means to say, Jesus Christ is Lord. Let us imagine the day when everyone on earth clearly sees that You are the eternal center of the universe so that we can have the freedom to give up trying to occupy that position and find our true place under Your care and in Your service.

Looking ahead, Jesus predicted a period of suffering and gave his disciples emergency response instructions for specific crises. He knew that many people would be deceived, which is not surprising, for in times of turmoil people prefer to embrace a present lie than a future promise.

Perhaps the most convincing education is personal experience. We tend to believe what we see with our own eyes. But Jesus warned that people would produce “signs and wonders” to trick others into following false Messiahs and false prophets. For those of us who long to witness a genuine miracle, this can be a bitter pill to swallow. But it is better to live without ever seeing a miracle than to live and die holding on to a false god that performs many wonders.

A miracle gives us a connection with God across the gap between heaven and earth, divine reality and human experience. But so does faith, and that is the bridge Jesus wants us to cross. If he repeats the command, “do not believe” (i.e., the false reports of his coming, vv. 23 & 26), it is because he wants us to believe in him and place our trust in him alone.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for watching out for us. Thank You for looking ahead and then preparing us for the future challenges we will have to face. Thank You for going before us, clearing a path for us to follow. If we go through our entire lives without ever receiving one miraculous answer to our prayers, we are content so long as we have You at our side, now and forever.