Parables — The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Spoken just days before the cross, the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 is one of Jesus' final and most urgent teachings. To read it rightly means stepping into a first-century Jewish wedding, where bridesmaids waited through the night for a bridegroom whose arrival no one could time. Five virgins brought oil for their lamps; five did not. When the cry rang out at midnight, only the prepared entered the banquet, and the door was shut. The point is not works or self-improvement but readiness: another person's faith cannot cover you, and the opportunity to respond does not last forever. This message presses a single question. If Christ returned now, would you be ready? It treats spiritual preparation as the one preparation most often neglected, and urges a present, personal response rather than waiting for a tomorrow that is never promised.