Matthew 25:11-12: Why Were the Virgins Shut Out?

The picture of people arriving after the door has been shut and finding it impossible to gain entrance appears elsewhere in the teaching of Jesus. In Luke 13:25-28 Jesus speaks of such people who, seeing themselves shut out, protest to the master of the house, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But even so they are refused admittance; they are excluded from the kingdom of God. Matthew's version of the Sermon on the Mount contains a parallel to that passage in Luke; in Matthew's account those who are shut out produce what might be regarded as even stronger credentials entitling them to admittance: "Did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" (Mt 7:22)--but all to no avail.

The memorable setting of the picture, however, is in the parable of the ten virgins, as it is traditionally called. The haunting pathos of the latecomers finding the door closed in their faces was caught and expressed by Tennyson in the song "Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill!" which was sung to Guinevere by the little maid in the nunnery where the queen had sought sanctuary. True, in the scene from real life depicted in the parable the maidens' disappointment was keen, but they suffered no irreparable loss; they had missed the wedding feast, indeed, but there would be other wedding feasts, and they would remember to take an adequate supply of oil another time. But in the application of the parable the loss is more serious.

The parable is one of three which Matthew appends to his version of Jesus' Olivet discourse--the discourse which has its climax in the glorious coming of the Son of Man.

There was a wedding in the village. A wedding story with no mention of the bride seems very odd to us, but different times and different lands have different customs. Just possibly she does receive a mention, but if so, only in passing; some authorities for the text of Matthew 25:1 say that the ten maidens "went to meet the bridegroom and the bride." The ten maidens do not appear to have been bridesmaids, or even specially invited guests; they were girls of the village who had decided to form a torchlight procession and escort the bridegroom and his party to the house where the wedding feast was to be held. They knew that, if they did so, there would be a place at the feast for them, so that they could share in the good cheer. To this day there are parts of the world where a wedding feast is a public occasion for the neighborhood, and all who come find a welcome and something to eat and drink.

No time was announced for the bridegroom to set out for the feast, and the day wore on. That was all right; a torchlight procession is more impressive in the dark. The "torches" were long poles with oil-lamps tied to the top, and the more provident girls took a supply of olive oil with them in case the lamps went out. As the evening wore on and the bridegroom still not come, one after another dropped off to sleep. However, their lamps were lit, ready for the warning shout. Suddenly the shout came: "Here he is!" They set off to join his party, but as they trimmed the wicks of their lamps, five of them found that their lamps were going out, and they had no extra oil. The others could not lend them any of theirs, for then there would not be enough to last the journey. So the improvident girls had to go and buy some, and that would not be too easy at midnight; yet by persistence they managed at last to get some. But by that time they were too late to join the procession, and when they reached the house, they could not get in. They hammered on the door and shouted to the doorkeeper, "O sir! O sir! please let us in." But all the answer they received was "No; I don't know you." So they had to go back home in the dark, tired and disappointed, because they had not been ready.

The oil was good oil, while it lasted; but the oil that was used yesterday will not keep today's lamps alight. So perhaps we may learn not to depend exclusively on past experiences; they will not be sufficient for the needs of the present. Daily grace must be obtained for daily need. The explicit lesson attached to the parable is "keep awake, then, for you do not know the day or the hour" (Mt 25:13 NEB). Later forms of the text (represented by the KJV) add the words "when the Son of Man comes." Certainly in the context of the parable those words are implied, but the fact that the Evangelist did not include them suggests that the parable has a more general application. Keep awake, because a time of testing may come without warning. Be ready to resist this temptation (whatever form it may take); be ready to meet this crisis; be ready to grasp this opportunity. Somebody needs help; be ready to give it, "for you do not know the day or the hour" when the call may come.