What exactly does Jesus mean when he says this?

Question

"1 At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom."?

Where did Jesus get this from, what is he referring to?
What exactly is he condoning or describing?

It's from Matt 25:1

Where did you get that interpretation from Denise? That sounds WAY off from what is obviously being described.

genepool: I still don't get it, what did the virgins need to be prepared for? Why ten?

Randy: It was the custom of first century Jewish Wedding for 10 virgins to go out to meet a bridegroom?
Why ten? What exactly IS this illustrating?

Answer 1

I think During those days, it was a custom to welcome the Bride Groom with Oil & light by virgins of the city. probably only for royalty.

So Jesus uses this illustration to tell us to be prepared anytime, any day for coming of the Lord. & not to do evil and sin when that time has come.

Answer 2

Like everything else....context, context, context.

This is the beginning of a parable that Jesus tells his followers. The rest of the parable follows:

"2 And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish. 3 They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, [Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Part of the Jewish rite of marriage (in Jesus' time) involved having virgins present for the ceremony because they were "pure in God's eyes." The more virgins present, the more blessed the marriage would be. So, he was using a situation that his intended audience would recognize to get across a point.

The point being that one shouldn't use up everything they have to be comfortable now because you do not know when you will need it...but you will DEFINITELY need it.

Answer 3

it is part of a parable. There are various interpretations. The virgins are awaiting the bridegrooms arrival at the wedding. 5 bring oil for a lamp, 5 do not. He is late and it becomes dark. The 5 without oil cant go out to meet him and are excluded from the festivities. Basically this is saying, we need to be prepared for Christs coming and if we arent we will be excluded from the heaven.

Answer 4

He is referring the the customs of a 1st century Jewish wedding to make a point.

Without going into too much deatil, Jesus is basically saying that you never know when you time on this Earth is up, so you should always be ready to meet God, just in case.

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I don't know if the number 10 itself has any significance, but this article might help:

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...Notice also that there were ten virgins. Apparently the Jewish people favored the number ten. Josephus said their had to be at least ten men assembled to partake of a paschal lamb (Wars VI.ix.3). Ten men had to be present at a wedding to give the proper blessing. It took ten men to constitute a synagogue. Apparently ten bridesmaids was a customary number to have.

All ten bridesmaids had a torch. Just as bridesmaids today carry flowers to show they are part of a wedding party, they carried torches in those days. They waited in anticipation of meeting the bridegroom. The Greek word translated "meet" in Matthew 25:1 refers to greeting an official dignitary. It's an official term appropriate for the event....

Answer 5

Jesus is speaking about the 10 virgins, 5 was wise & 5 were foolish, At midnight a cry was made, & that cry has been already made, back in the deliverence in the 1950' & 1960's, When that cry was made, All virgins was at first alseep, They heard the cry, & 5 wise took their lamps & trim it Because it had oil(Holy Ghost) in it. They went out to meet the bridegroom, while the 5 foolish went out without oil(Holy Ghost) in their lives. They were told to go to them that buy & sell, You know these big TV preachers, go to them, & that is what those foolish virgins did, & while they were gone the Door was shut, what door, the door of Revelations, they can not see pass those TV preachers.

Answer 6

The return of the Messiah will catch many people off guard. The virgins all had good intentions to meet the bridegroom. If you read the rest of the story, you find that not all were adequately prepared and missed their chance. The point is don't be like the unprepared virgins, be ready for his coming, it will catch many people off guard.

Edited to add:
The virgins needed to be prepared by having enough oil in their lamps. 5 of them were ill prepared, they did not begin with enough oil, and had to leave to get more oil. They presumably thought they had more time. While they were gone, the bridegroom came.

Answer 7

Jesus is the bridegroom.
The 10 virgins are all the believers.
Believers are the light of the world.
They went out to separate themselves from the sins of this world.

And while Jesus tarries half of the believers let down their guard and lose their love for Him. Even the 5 wise do begin to slumber, but when they hear the announcement they arise and go to the wedding, but the 5 foolish do not have time to get them selves in order to make it to the wedding but are left in this world of darkness and the coming Tribulation.

Answer 8

The oil is sanctifying grace. The Virgins who did not have enough oil were those who sinned after they were baptized and had no way to receive absolution. This is a statement that lends credence to the Sacrament of confession. Later in Scripture it talks of us being the salt of the Earth but, if salt loses it's saltiness it is of no use and should be thrown out but, then he goes on and talks about how nothing is impossible for God. Also this is what the washing of feet is at the Last Supper. They were clean because of their baptism (his word spoken to them) but, just their feet needed cleansing. This is the Sacrament of confession again. (confession is the same as the Sacrament of Penance)

Answer 9

ok if u kept on reading that chapter it says that there was 10 virgen women (in the bible wen they say virgen they ususally mean not married) well they were going to go out and find there husbands, It was night time so they had to take there lamps, 5 were wise and broght an extra jar of oil for there lamp but the other 5 were foolish and decided not to bring it. at the end the 5 who didn't bring any oil ran out and got lost, and the other 5 got husbands. So wat i think this story means is that do not be lazy and always be prepared

Answer 10

to say i know exactly what jesus meant would be silly but what i understand was that the ten virgins were ten people any ten people but five of them were foolish (thoughtless without forethought) and five were wise (sensible intelligent and prudent) the ones who were foolish didnt bring extra oil meaning they didnt have enough faith and perserverance to "meet the bridegroom" the ones who were wise were considered wise because they brought enough "oil"-faith to persevere until the "bridegroom"-Jesus came back to meet them and go to the "marriage feast"-heaven. i hope that helps