Wedding Crashers (Matthew 25:1-13)
This parable about 10 bridesmaids was used by Jesus as an illustration about being ready for His return with the said moral of the story ending with vs. 13 "So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return."
Basically there are 10 girls waiting up for the groom to arrive at the wedding feast. The groom takes longer than expected and doesn't arrive til late at night. Upon his arrival they all eagerly jump out of their sleeping bags ready to receive him, however only 5 of the girls thought ahead and brought extra oil for their lamp (or extra batteries for their flashlights).
While the other 5 scramble in the dark, the prepared girls quickly follow the groom into the house for the feast while the rest ran off to radio shack thereby missing their opportunity.
So what?
Well, Jesus is making a comparison between those who are truly ready for His return and those who only think they're ready; point being: which one are you?
In Jesus' day, those who were officially part of the wedding party carried their lamps/torches through the street behind the grooms procession. If you arrived to the reception way late and without a lamp you would easily be suspected of being nothing more than a wedding crasher.
Without assuming anything, let's read the fine print. All 10 girls knew he was coming. All 10 were in the right place at the right time and appeared ready. Nobody was slacking off in terms of doing the right things.
The main difference between the two groups was the fact that half of them had taken the time to prepare and half of them did not.
When it comes to the Kingdom of God, there are two types of people: those who are prepared to enter and those who only look the part. When Jesus comes there will be people who miss out because they only thought they were ready.
So what makes the difference? It's more than believing (even satan does that- James 2:19). It's more than confessing your sins (anyone can admit their guilt without being truly sorry). It's even more than being sorry that makes us ready to meet Christ (even Judas did that).
The Bible says those who are truly ready to meet Christ have believed in the resurrected Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9), admitted and confessed their sins to God (1 John 1:9) and most importantly repented of (turned entirely away from) their sins (Acts 2:38, 2 Corinthians 7:10).
The best way to tell whether we're ready to meet Christ is whether we embraced all of the above into a daily lifestyle that exemplifies the likeness of Jesus (1 John 2:6).
In the end it has nothing to do with whether we say we are following Jesus (1John 2:3-5), but rather we are Scripturally prepared for eternity. Those that are prepared demonstrate that readiness not in the things they profess but by the life that they live.
"And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6 NLT)
Basically there are 10 girls waiting up for the groom to arrive at the wedding feast. The groom takes longer than expected and doesn't arrive til late at night. Upon his arrival they all eagerly jump out of their sleeping bags ready to receive him, however only 5 of the girls thought ahead and brought extra oil for their lamp (or extra batteries for their flashlights).
While the other 5 scramble in the dark, the prepared girls quickly follow the groom into the house for the feast while the rest ran off to radio shack thereby missing their opportunity.
So what?
Well, Jesus is making a comparison between those who are truly ready for His return and those who only think they're ready; point being: which one are you?
In Jesus' day, those who were officially part of the wedding party carried their lamps/torches through the street behind the grooms procession. If you arrived to the reception way late and without a lamp you would easily be suspected of being nothing more than a wedding crasher.
Without assuming anything, let's read the fine print. All 10 girls knew he was coming. All 10 were in the right place at the right time and appeared ready. Nobody was slacking off in terms of doing the right things.
The main difference between the two groups was the fact that half of them had taken the time to prepare and half of them did not.
When it comes to the Kingdom of God, there are two types of people: those who are prepared to enter and those who only look the part. When Jesus comes there will be people who miss out because they only thought they were ready.
So what makes the difference? It's more than believing (even satan does that- James 2:19). It's more than confessing your sins (anyone can admit their guilt without being truly sorry). It's even more than being sorry that makes us ready to meet Christ (even Judas did that).
The Bible says those who are truly ready to meet Christ have believed in the resurrected Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9), admitted and confessed their sins to God (1 John 1:9) and most importantly repented of (turned entirely away from) their sins (Acts 2:38, 2 Corinthians 7:10).
The best way to tell whether we're ready to meet Christ is whether we embraced all of the above into a daily lifestyle that exemplifies the likeness of Jesus (1 John 2:6).
In the end it has nothing to do with whether we say we are following Jesus (1John 2:3-5), but rather we are Scripturally prepared for eternity. Those that are prepared demonstrate that readiness not in the things they profess but by the life that they live.
"And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6 NLT)
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