When I read this parable this time around, for the first time ever, I wondered, “Why are ten bridesmaids waiting for just one groom?” Why are they waiting for him. And where’s the bride? Apparently, in first-century Jewish weddings, the focus wasn’t just on the couple. It was on the whole community. Weddings were village events, with processions and feasts that lasted for days.
These “bridesmaids” here weren’t maids of honor in our modern sense. In fact, they weren’t maids to the bride at all. They actually served the groom. (“Bridesmaid” is a shortcoming of English translations that apparently seek to soften the language. The literal word is “virgin,” though it’s not simply about lack of sexual encounter but also “young woman.” Nonetheless, these maidens (that might be a better English term) would be present to help the groom get to where he needed to be. They were more like torch-bearers, waiting to light the way when he finally arrived. Their job was to be ready at any moment to join the procession and lead the party into the feast.
So the picture is less about ten people orbiting one man, and more about a whole community preparing for joy — with the catch that not everyone is ready when the moment comes.
Jesus isn’t giving an ethnographic description of an exact wedding ceremony; he’s using familiar cultural imagery to tell a story.
And the story is that the maidens’ job was actually pretty important. And an important job calls for attentiveness, preparation, and diligence.
Matthew 25:1-13
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil.
“When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.’
“Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.’
“But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut.
“Later the other bridesmaids came and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us.’
“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp before my feet and a light for my journey.
Prayer
God,
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.
Give me oil in my lamp, I pray.
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.
Keep it burning until the light of day.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.