The Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten brdidesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five were foolish. Matthew 25:1-2.
In the first century CE marriages as we know them today did not exist. There was no justice of the peace, no caterer that cooked wedding cakes or fed large groups of people good food and wine. Nor was there a wedding license to be signed. Marriage as we know it, today did not exist.
In the first century a marriage began with the bride waiting in her home for her husband-to-be to take her to the wedding celebration. There was a suspense about this because no one knew when the groom would arrive. The virgins with their lamps provided lights to light the way for the groom.
The groom, when he arrived would take the bride away for the planned reception and party, and the consummation of the marriage by the bride and groom. That was it.
Jesus told this parable because of the suspense and surprise of the groom’s coming. In one case the groom of the parable; in the second symbolic case, Jesus and his return to earth. The point is that there are some events that are impossible to predict. The explosion of a volcano, the vibrating of the earth in an earthquake, the dreaded cone-shaped clouds of a tornado. Or like Southern California, an all-encompassing fire that destroyed everything in its path.
And, of course, the second and final coming of Christ to the earth.
All you can do in any of these situations is to prepare yourself. You build a storm shelter to which to flee. Or create an emergency package that contains important papers and supplies that can be gathered quickly. It’s the person who procrastinates, ignores, and denies who is caught off guard.
Prayer: O Christ, the bridegroom. We wait for your coming. We know that time is hidden and shrouded, and all we can do is wait expectantly. Living as if it happens tomorrow. Or maybe today. Requiring us, if we want to be ready for that time, to be prepared. To put our lives in order. Please help us to live in this expectation. Amen.