“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women[a] took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those young women[c] got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the other young women[d] came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.[e]
Matthew 25:1-13
This Gospel text appears after another important US Midterm Election. The congregation awaits the preacher to make sense of the current political system. One in which votes were cast for candidates who either see humanity in our trans siblings or display their own transphobia. One in which candidates campaigned to stop supplying arms to Israel, which has been fueling a genocide against the Palestinian people, or they have remained silent on such issues. And citizens decided whether candidates who see affordability as a high priority received their vote. The congregation wants to hear the preacher declare a hope-filled and reality-centering message that will ground them in gospel truth. They are eager to hear the Word of God, but what they get is a distinctly Matthean parable about wise and foolish young women waiting for a bridegroom. The passage is found among a cluster of other Holy Week teachings and parables about the Second Coming. The future orientation of this passage ignores present realities and struggles. The patriarchal time structure, the folly of young women, and a wisdom statement that doesn’t fit make for a parable that should be preached against, at least this year.
The Gospel lesson is not reading the room. It is starkly ignorant of concerns about sexual and gender violence. Currently, the story of Jane Doe at Cornell University is dominating the news cycle; even Netflix has a new Instadoc about it. Jane Doe is an anonymous student who, in 2024, was gang raped at a fraternity house in Ithaca, NY. It’s been striking that, in these two years, little to nothing has been done to those young men. Punishment and time move more slowly for men. In Jesus’ patriarchal parable, a different standard of time is presented for the young women than for the male bridegroom. The young women should be alert at all hours of the night, while time bends to the bridegroom. The bridegroom has the upper hand, while the young women bide their time.
Julia Kristeva notes, in her essay “Women’s Time,” “When evoking the name and destiny of women, one thinks more of the space generating and forming the human species than of time, becoming, or history” (15). While the bridegroom rules over time, the women are relegated to space. The many artists who have painted this parable often only portray the young women in the house. The bridegroom is yet to be seen. In Hieronymus Francken II’s painting “Parable of the Ten Virgins,” the foolish women are on the left side, drinking wine, playing musical instruments, and acting out scenes with theatrical masks and playing cards, sprawled on the ground in front of them. The wise women are on the right side, praying the rosary, reading the Bible, and pouring oil into their lamps. The young women keep themselves busy, filling the space, as they wait for the bridegroom.
Preparedness, though, is the main concern of the parable. There are ten young women who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five brought lamps without oil and five brought lamps with flasks of oil. It says that both the wise and foolish fall asleep waiting on the bridegroom. They may have stayed up as late as possible waiting for him, or they may have had a tiring day and trusted that someone would wake them when the bridegroom arrived. The young women falling asleep also does not seem to be the concern of the parable.
Rather, it’s about the lamp oil. We are not sure why five did not bring oil. They could’ve been in a hurry, or they had added it to their checklist but forgot to look at it before they left. Maybe they thought they could borrow someone else’s, or they assumed the bridegroom would arrive before dark. In a footnote in An Introduction to the New Testament, Raymond E. Brown notes, “If this parable were a general picture of ideal Christian life, the wise virgins should have had the charity to share their oil with the foolish” (199). Yet the wise did not, for they believed that there would not be enough for everyone, so they sent the foolish away to buy some. And while they were still out, the bridegroom arrived. The wise ones attended the wedding banquet because they were prepared, and the foolish ones were left outside. The bridegroom tells the foolish ones behind the locked door, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” The prepared ones enjoyed the feast, while the unprepared ones returned home.
What then are we to make of this parable? Historically, it’s been interpreted that one should be expectant of the Second Coming of Christ at all times. Like Hieronymus Francken II’s painting, one best prepares for Christ’s Second Advent by praying, reading Scripture, and engaging in spiritual practices. Yet this seems very individualized and not communal.
Jesus ends the parable with an aphorism (as he often does). It’s a way to summarize and to emphasize what was important in the parable. The challenge with this aphorism, though, is that it does not seem to fit. Jesus says, “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). The problem wasn’t that the young women fell asleep; the shouting awakened them; rather, it’s about being prepared. Perhaps, though, it could be translated more contemporarily as “Stay Woke.” As in, pay attention to who holds power, understand why the marginalized are treated so badly, and be prepared to struggle against corrupt systems.
Maybe then we could use the “Stay Woke” idea for this parable. We hear how time moves differently for the women and the one man, how the wise women were not in solidarity with the foolish ones, and how the man even controlled who was allowed inside for the wedding banquet. We “Stay Woke” by not making demands on others, by being in solidarity, and practicing an open table.
What does that look like in our faith communities? It could mean paying attention to the vulnerable in our churches and neighborhoods. It could mean creating a phone tree to check in with one another each week. It could mean preparing and training members to be on guard and to serve as witnesses when ICE shows up in your community. It could also mean being intentional about hosting vigils after tragedies. Stay awake, be vigilant, for time is not on our side.
