Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Matthew 25:1-2
Picture the story in your mind: Ten lovely girls, all of them friends of the bride, are part of an ancient wedding party. Beautifully dressed, they are the bridesmaids that are to meet the groom and escort him to the church. This was an evening wedding, and they each had an oil lamp to light the way. When they arrived at the groom’s home, however, there was an unexpected delay. The bridegroom had been detained, and was not even there yet.
The girls made themselves comfortable, utilizing the surrounding garden furniture to be able to kick off those uncomfortable high heels. Speculating as to what in the world happened to Mr. Right, they chatted and dozed, then eventually fell asleep. Suddenly, at midnight, a harassed groomsman shouted the news that the groom was finally ready, his arrival was imminent, and it was time to go – NOW! It was clear that there was no time to check their hair and refresh their makeup. Each girl reached for her lamp. All of them discovered that their light had gone out.
Five girls stared at their lamps, hardly believing it possible that they were empty. Five girls calmly reached into their evening bags and pulled out a little bottle of extra oil. The girls who didn’t make this extra preparation cried, “Wait! If you each just use half of your oil, you can give the other half to us, and we will all have light.”
“Not on your life!” replied the other five maids. “This joker obviously has no regard for time. He has delayed the start of the wedding till past midnight! The guests must be furious, not to mention the bride! Who knows what he will do on the way over there? He might stop off at that 7-11 on the way to get a snack or a Coke. If he doesn’t go straight to the church at a good clip, all of our lamps will go out! Nope, it’s not our problem that you didn’t bring any extra oil. Why don’t you run to Walmart and get a big bottle to fill all your lamps?”
Furious at their friends, the five girls rushed off in search of more oil. A few moments later, the groom sauntered up, the wedding party assembled, and they all left for the church. When they arrived, the aggrieved bride--and her mother--had their say on the matter, the church doors were shut, the music poured forth, and the five bridesmaids began their slow walk up the aisle.
The other young ladies, after purchasing their oil, filling their lamps, fixing their hair and adjusting their makeup, frantically tried to hail a taxi camel to take them to the festivities. Unfortunately, there were none available at that time of the night. They were forced to walk the entire way, arriving at the church only to find that the wedding was over, and everyone had left for the reception.
By the time they finally arrived, their dresses were stained and wrinkled, their hair was a mess, and their lamps were barely flickering. The groom himself came to the door, took one look at them and said, “Who are you?” All five began to speak at once, but the groom had little time for long and convoluted excuses – he needed to get back to his bride. Holding up a hand to cut short the clatter, he said, “Look. I don’t know you, you all look a mess, and I haven’t got time for this. You are not welcome here.”
Shutting the door in their faces, the bridegroom returned to the party. The five bedraggled bridesmaids were left outside in the darkness.
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