Matthew 25:1-13

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Keep watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

This passage relates a story about ten maidens, friends of a bride, who light lamps and wait at the home of the bride for the groom to come for the marriage feast. Five take oil to replenish their lamps, but five take only their lamps. The groom is delayed, and when it is announced that he is about to arrive the five maidens who did not bring extra oil find that their lamps are no longer lit. They ask the other maidens for oil, but these "wise maidens" reply that they do not have any to spare. The "foolish maidens" leave to buy oil, and when they return the bridegroom has already come and the door to the home is closed. When these maidens say, "Lord, lord, open to us," they are told, apparently by the bridegroom: "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you." Then the narrator of the gospel says, "Keep watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

A literal reading of this story might conclude that we must be prepared in order not to miss marriage feasts (or other parties). The one line verse above may also be read more generally to mean that we should be prepared for the unexpected. In the context of the gospel, however, we read this as a parable about the coming kingdom of heaven (God) and being ready to enter it. And as we read Matthew 25, this kingdom will begin with the coming of the Son of man in his glory to judge all people. These he will judge not on the basis of their beliefs (about reading scripture, for instance), but by the way they have responded to "the least" of those among us.

The gospel asks of us: "Have you fed the hungry? Have you visited the sick and those in prison? Have you clothed the naked? Have you welcomed the stranger?"

Grace and peace...Bob