Today’s readings are connected by the themes of wisdom, spiritual readiness, vigilance, hope and preparation for encountering God. The Wisdom text and the Gospel parable bear directly on the idea that wisdom brings foresight, attentiveness and the ability to live by values that enable us to appreciate what really matters.
Wisdom 6:12-16 Most scholars accept that the book of Wisdom, also called the Wisdom of Solomon, was written in Greek by an Alexandrian Jew sometime between 100 BCE and 50 CE. The author adopts the persona of King Solomon who had the reputation of being a wise king.
The author’s aim was to show his Jewish readers that Israel’s history gives hundreds of examples of God’s care for Israel, and to draw the lesson that those who live by justice and goodness are living wisely. The author is also careful to point out that Israel’s wisdom tradition is superior to that of the Greeks whose masters of wisdom were famous in the ancient world.
Notice how Wisdom is referred to as a feminine entity. This is because the Hebrew for wisdom is a feminine noun, khokhmah. In general, the wisdom writer shows how the Hebrew Scriptures were written in response to human experience, and experience proves that wisdom does not work unless it is sought with desire and determination. Only those who are awake to learning from experience can gain wisdom.
Wisdom is gracious, and is eager to pass on this quality of graciousness to those who are open to acquiring and practising wisdom in their lives. Wisdom goes beyond intellectual theory and can only blossom in relationships that are generous and free from affectation and self-importance.
Psalm 63 This poet is definitely searching for authentic wisdom. His longing for what is right is as strong as a desert thirsting for water. He realises that without God there in no life, let alone any flourishing. There is a mysticism here that prompts the poet to sing, ‘your love is better than life.’ It brings to mind Paul’s affirmation, ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21).
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 We can infer from this text that some in the Thessalonian community were wondering if the recently deceased might miss out on the Lord’s coming. Paul assures them that when the Lord comes all the faithful ones, including those who have died and those who would be still living, will be taken up to be with their Lord forever.
There is no mention in any of Paul’s letters of the resurrection of those who are not in Christ. However, elsewhere (Acts 24:15; John 5:29) there is mention of the just, who will experience the resurrection of life, and the unjust, who will experience the resurrection of judgment.
Matthew 25:1-13 This is a parable about being watchful and ready for the coming of the Lord at the end of time. It makes a comparison between two kinds of readiness: 1) readiness to receive the bridegroom and then take part in the wedding celebration and 2) readiness to know Christ and be known by him and so take part in the fulness of the reign of God. The challenge in this parable is to live a life of goodness and wholeness that would bring us closer to Christ.
It is also called the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, but the young women are not married and so would be around 12 years old. They are part of the bridal party and provide singing, rejoicing and greeting the groom when he arrives. They are certainly not like modern bridesmaids with special dresses, make-up and flowers.
The wedding banquet is about to take place in the home of the bridegroom. The parable presupposes a tradition whereby the groom would set out with some of his friends to the bride’s house, and he would seat her on a donkey or other riding animal to be paraded through the village or town so that all the neighbours could see her and the wedding party.
This is so the groom can show off his bride to everybody. To achieve this they might make a fairly disorganised procession to cover as much territory as possible before arriving at the groom’s house. It is easy for us to judge the girls who refused to give oil to their companions. We could see them as being mean, but the bigger issue for them is that it would be a disgrace if by giving over some of their oil the whole group should risk having no lamps alight when the bridal party arrived. It would be a poor reception for the bridal procession if the welcoming party were standing in the dark. What’s more, these young women would bear the shame of their lack of preparation for the rest of their lives.
Jesus is making the point that there are no compromises
Some interpreters have considered the bridegroom (Christ) to be ungracious in refusing entry to the women who came late, but this only shows a lack of appreciation of how stories work. Jesus is making the point that there are no compromises. We are either ready for his coming or we are not. We have lived wisely to prepare ourselves for his coming or we have not. Living according to the values of Jesus gains us entry. By ignoring his teachings, we disqualify ourselves.
The idea that the bridegroom represents Jesus and it is Jesus who is denying entry to the unprepared girls is taking the allegorical reading of the details of the parable too far. This would amount to accusing Jesus of being unfair and not making allowances for the unprepared girls. But the point Jesus makes with the parable is that we have a choice, we can be watchful and prepared and so qualify to enter into God’s realm or we can ignore Jesus and his teachings in our life. If we ignore his teachings we are making reckless decisions to turn away from the grace offered to us.
Imagine Jesus saying to any of us, ‘The fact is, I do not know you.’
A telling statement in the parable is the one spoken by the bridegroom to those women who were unprepared. He said, ‘Truly, I do not know you.’ Imagine Jesus saying to any of us, ‘The fact is, I do not know you.’ Imagine how devastating that would be. He would be saying that we had not taken his message to heart and lived a quality life by seeing him in the people we met in life and reaching out to help. It would mean that we had not established a relationship with him by showing respect and compassion towards others. We come close to Jesus when the goodness of our life shows that we are prepared to meet him.
Imagine Jesus opening the door and saying,
‘Come on in. We know each other. You’re the one who always reached out in your life to show love and compassion to others. We are definitely not strangers.’
~~~
Only someone who is well prepared has the opportunity to improvise.
Ingmar Bergman. Swedish filmmaker
~~~
Frank: ‘Got a call from a telemarketing scam artist last night.’
Bob: ‘What makes you so sure it was a scam?’
Frank: ‘She was soliciting contributions for the widow of the Unknown Soldier.’
Laurie Woods