Matthew 25:1-13

The Future Is Now

/ reverendjoannwhite / Leave a comment

Sabbath Day Thoughts — “The Future Is Now” Matthew 25:1-13

In the year 847, Thiota thought the world was coming to an end. A German Christian peasant woman, Thiota began to prophesy that the apocalypse was drawing near. In fact, the Kingdom of God would come that very year. Fellow peasants and local clergy joined her apocalyptic movement. With public prayers and generous offerings to support the growing ministry, it didn’t take long for the church to raise the alarm. They convened a special synod meeting in Mainz, took Thiota into custody, and interrogated her about the origin and purpose of her message. Under duress, she confessed that she shared her prophecy at the instigation of a local priest, who was profiting from her message. We’re not sure what happened to the priest, but the church condemned Thiota. She was stripped and publicly flogged. Humiliated, she never prophesied again.

In early 19th century England, Joanna Southcott prophesied that the Kingdom of God was coming and the end was near. Her prophecies were widely distributed in pamphlet form and she found a growing following among the working- and middle-class. In 1814 at the age of 64, she announced that she was miraculously pregnant and the birth of her child would usher in the end of the age. When Joanna died later that year, without giving birth, her followers despaired. She left behind a sealed trunk which they believed contained writings that would further illuminate her prophecy, but when the Southcott Box was finally opened in 1927, there were no writings, merely a jumble of personal possessions, including a night cap, horse pistol, and lottery tickets.

We may be amused by the end times predictions of the Germans and English, but did you know that northeastern New York was once a hotbed of apocalyptic predictions? In 1834 in Washington County near Whitehall, William Miller, a prosperous farmer and Baptist lay preacher, published a 64-page teaching that insisted that Jesus was coming soon. Basing his prognostication upon his interpretation of the Book of Daniel, Miller narrowed the date down to October 22, 1844. Miller attracted a sizeable following, by some accounts as large as 500,000. As the big day drew near, they prepared for the coming Kingdom, by distributing possessions, settling debts, and gathering for prayer. When October 22, 1844 ended like any other day, it was labeled “The Great Disappointment.”

The question of our preparedness for the coming of God’s Kingdom is at the heart of today’s strange parable from the Gospel of Matthew. As Jesus shared his story, he was teaching on the Mount of Olives, where first century Israelites anticipated God would one day come to usher in the Day of Judgment. It was the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In town for a final Passover Festival, Jesus was facing increasing opposition from powerful adversaries who controlled the religious and political landscape of Jerusalem. Already those opponents were plotting his demise. Within days, he would be arrested, condemned, tortured, and marched through the streets to a public execution.

Against this backdrop, Jesus told his story about bridesmaids, half of whom were ready for the delayed coming of the bridegroom and half of whom were unprepared. Without a sufficient supply of oil to light the wedding processional, the ill-equipped maids rushed off to the marketplace while the bridegroom arrived, the wedding party got underway, and the door was locked to late arrivals. The foolish ones were left languishing in the dark while the party was in full swing. It helps to know that in Jewish thought, the fulfillment of history would come as God—the holy bridegroom, wed Israel—the expectant bride. It was an end-times’ teaching being shared in an end-times’ location. The kingdom was coming. Would Jesus’ followers be prepared?

It really shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus concluded his public ministry with messages about the coming of God’s Kingdom. Afterall, that was how he got the party started. Jesus emerged from his forty days of wilderness temptation with the words, “Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” In Jesus, God was at hand, working in ways that revealed the mercy, love, and justice of God’s Kingdom. When Jesus welcomed outsiders, like sinners, tax collectors, Canaanites, Romans, and Samaritans, the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. When Jesus multiplied loaves and fish to feed hungry people, the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. When Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead, the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. Jesus’ life was one long revelation of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that is always all around us if we only have eyes to see.

As they sat on the Mount of Olives, Jesus’ friends hoped that the apocalyptic moment was near. They hoped that the Kingdom would come and God’s will would at last be done on earth as it is in heaven. But then Jesus told that story, the one about the bridesmaids, which cautioned them that the Kingdom was coming, but they would have to wait for the end times party. In the meantime, they were called to readiness. It was a “not-yet” time. The Kingdom had come in Jesus, but it was not yet fully revealed. In that “not yet” time, they would need to live in faith and patience, putting into practice the lessons that Jesus’ life and ministry had taught them.

Unlike Jesus’ first century disciples or Thiota of Germany or Joanna Southcott of England or William Miller down in Washington County, we don’t live with the daily conviction that the Second Coming­—the End of the Age—is about to pounce upon us. It’s a struggle for stories like Jesus’ parable to speak to our life of faith. But at the heart of Jesus’ words is a deeply ethical core that is important for people of faith, whether we are convinced that the bridegroom is coming tomorrow or we are hunkered down for the long wait. I’d like to make a few suggestions that could prove useful for here and now. Are we ready?

We live in the “not yet.” The love, mercy, and justice that Jesus revealed in his ministry is not yet fully revealed in this world around us. When fifty million Americans each year depend upon food banks and local food pantries, this is not the Kingdom. When more than 600,000 of our immigrant neighbors, regardless of status, have been detained across the US, this is not the Kingdom. When nation lifts up sword against nation from Gaza to Ukraine, from Lebanon to Iran, from Sudan to Somalia, this is not the Kingdom. We live in the “not yet,” longing for the day when the love, mercy, and justice of the Kingdom shall reshape our world.

Although we live in the “not yet,” we also live in the “already.” As Jesus taught, the Kingdom of God is all around us. That Kingdom is revealed when our intentions and actions reveal Jesus to a waiting world. When we partner with the Food Pantry to feed hungry neighbors, the Kingdom comes. When we welcome the stranger, like our immigrant neighbors, the Kingdom comes. When we choose peace instead of conflict and stop making little wars on the home front and big wars on the world stage, the Kingdom comes. The Kingdom is revealed through us when we live with a willingness to be like Jesus in this “not yet” world.

Jesus teaches that we have a choice. We can seek to forge that “already” world, where Jesus is known and the Kingdom comes in our everyday actions of mercy, love and justice. Or, we can choose to live into the “not yet”—to choose the status quo, to turn a blind eye to want and injustice, to fail to accept responsibility for the hell we create on earth. The coming Kingdom of God is here. We choose if we will serve it. Our failure to do so has serious implications for our world, which needs mercy, love, and justice now, more than ever. Our failure to do so has serious implications for us, because a world without Kingdom values and Kingdom actions is a lot like bridesmaids shut out of the wedding party, weeping inconsolably forever, alone in the dark.

Undoubtedly, the latest end times prophecy is being imagined, even as I speak. According to a recent paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, one-third of the country quietly suspects that the end will arrive within their lifetime. That’s right, about 100 million of our neighbors are convinced that threats like climate change, nuclear war, economic collapse, and artificial intelligence will bring an end to the world as we know it. In a world where it feels like the “not yet” is winning, Jesus needs us more than ever. Our neighbors need us more than ever. The future is now, my friends. May we go forth with the mercy, love and justice of the Kingdom.

Resources

Beth Schwartzapfel and Anna Flagg. “Trump’s ICE Has Detained More People Than the Population of Atlanta” in The Marshall Project: Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, August 25, 2026. Accessed online at https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/08/25/immigrant-detention-trump-ice-thousands-length

Matthew A. MacIntosh. “Apocalyptic Cults from Antiquity to the Modern World” in Brewminate, April 20, 2026. Accessed online at https://brewminate.com/apocalyptic-movements-history-end-times-cults-beliefs/

John Mac Ghlionn. “Why tens of millions of Americans now believe the end is near” in The Hill, March 25, 2026. Accessed online at https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5798331-end-of-world-suspicions-rise/

O Wesley Allen. “Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13” in Preaching This Week, Nov. 8, 2026. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-32/commentary-on-matthew-251-13-10

Susan Hylen. “Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13” in Preaching This Week, Nov. 12, 2017. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-32/commentary-on-matthew-251-13-9

Matthew 25:1-13

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those young women got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the other young women came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Photo by Maddy Freddie on Pexels.com

Lamps Lit

/ reverendjoannwhite / Leave a comment

Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Lamps Lit” Matthew 25:1-13

We don’t like to wait. It can make us feel grouchy, frustrated, annoyed, and bored. Americans spend an average of thirty-two minutes waiting at the doctor’s office, twenty-eight minutes waiting at airport security, and twenty-one minutes waiting for our significant other to get ready to go out. All that waiting adds up. As a nation, Americans spend thirty-seven billion hours waiting in line each year. The bad news is that New York state has the longest waiting times in the country. A survey of twenty-five New York communities found that our average wait time in stores is six minutes and fifty-one seconds. That sounds about right. The worse news is that our patience is growing shorter as digital technology, like smart phones and on-demand streaming services, lead us to expect instant gratification. The average person grows frustrated after waiting sixteen seconds for a webpage to load or twenty-five seconds for a traffic signal to change. Does any of this sound familiar?

Our gospel reading today reveals that the struggle to wait isn’t limited to twenty-first century New York. Jesus told this parable of the Ten Bridesmaids to his disciples as they gathered one evening on the Mt. of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem.  It was the final week of Jesus’ earthly life.  Powerful enemies in Jerusalem were conspiring to bring about his arrest and execution.  Jesus knew what awaited him at the end of the week, even if his friends were unwilling to accept it.  And so, he told a story of a wedding banquet too long in coming and bridesmaids who missed out on the celebration.

In Jesus’s day, when a young girl reached marriageable age, her parents would seek an appropriate bridegroom.  First, a contract, stating terms of the dowry, would be agreed upon.  Then, at the end of a year-long engagement, the bridegroom would collect his bride, paying her parents the bride price and bringing his new wife home to the house of his father.  On the blessed night of the wedding, bridesmaids waited at the father’s house.  With lamps lit, they would go forth singing and rejoicing, leading the couple to the marriage tent, where their wedding vows would be consecrated.  After the wedding, a festive weeklong party began.

In Jesus’ story, the wedding party didn’t go according to plan. The groom was delayed. As the long hours dragged on after dark and the bridesmaids waited, they fell asleep and their lamps burned low.  When the shout at last went up, “The bridegroom is near!”, the maids rose to tend their flames, but only half the girls had anticipated the wait and brought extra oil.  While five maids went out with glowing lamps to rejoice with the wedding party, the others ran off to bang on the door of the local oil merchant.  When they returned to the father’s house, it was too late. The door was closed and there would be no late entries.

This is not my favorite parable. For one thing, it takes a lot of explaining. For another, I’d like to soften its sharp edges.  Let there be a super-abundance of oil to share.  Let the bridegroom throw open the doors and welcome the latecomers to the party. But Jesus knew that his story required sharp and uncomfortable edges to get our attention. We can bet that every disciple who listened to Jesus on the Mt. of Olives sat up straight and opened their ears.

In Jesus’ day, the wedding feast was a common metaphor for the beautiful feast of the Kingdom of God that would come at the end times.  Jesus’s friends knew Jesus was the bridegroom, the Messiah, sent to usher in a new age of righteousness and holy living.  But there would be no wedding feast that week.  Instead of a wedding procession of joyful bridesmaids with lamps aglow, there would be a funeral procession.  Jesus, beaten, bloody, and broken, would be paraded through the streets to his brutal execution.

Jesus hoped that his friends would live with a sense of urgent patience, even after he would be taken from them. God’s Kingdom would come, even after long delay. Jesus hoped his friends would live like those five wise bridesmaids, well-equipped and ready to serve, even if the shout went up at midnight. The disciples, who listened to Jesus and looked out across the Kidron Valley to the holy city, glowing with the light of thousands of household lamps, would have heard Jesus’ story as a bold exhortation to wait with patience and vigilance through the long years to come.

One of the great challenges of preaching this parable is that people like us don’t have a sense of expectant urgency when it comes to Judgment Day. We leave that to the evangelicals, and even they don’t do it very well. We don’t wake up each morning, wondering if this is it, if the Lord will come in glory. We struggle to have a teaching like this feel relevant and useful for faithful living. We don’t like to wait six minutes and fifty-one seconds at the grocery. We can’t be bothered to waste our time looking at the apocalyptic clock, waiting for it to strike midnight.

But what if this parable isn’t just about Judgment Day? After all, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus begins his ministry with the warning that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Professor Dirk Lange, who serves as assistant general secretary at the Lutheran World Federation, teaches that Jesus’s return is a “now” event. Let me explain. The appearance of the risen Lord on the Emmaus Road was a true experience of Christ’s return. Our monthly celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an ongoing wedding banquet with Jesus at the table. The vulnerable people whom we encounter—Jesus called them the least of these, his little brothers and sisters—they are an ongoing revelation of the Jesus who walks among us, inviting our compassion and help. Perhaps the question for our faithful waiting isn’t, “Is this the Day of Judgement?” Our question is better phrased, “How will I see Jesus today? Will I be ready to serve him? Will my lamp be lit?”

I’m going to suggest three ways that we can keep our lamps lit in this waiting time. Are you ready?

We begin by spending daily time with Jesus. We place him at the center of our lives with a faithful pattern of prayer and devotion. We deepen our understanding through reading scripture and spiritual writing. We praise him through worship and song. Those daily attentions in this waiting time assure us that the Lord is always with us, if only we will attend.

We can also take the time to see the Jesus who is revealed in vulnerability in the world around us. We see him at the Food Pantry picking up his monthly box. She awaits our visit in the corridors of assisted living and nursing homes.  He’s learning about Jesus in Sunday School.  She looks out her window and watches us head to church, wondering if we will ever invite her to join us. The bridegroom is near if we will only have eyes to see him.

Jesus’s parable suggests that it is not enough for us to patiently wait. We also need to be prepared for action. The wise bridesmaids heard the cry and leapt up to trim their wicks, fill their lamps, and greet the bridegroom. Will we shine our light before others (Mt. 5:16)? Carla Works, a New Testament scholar at Wesley Theological Seminary, says that, “To live in vigilance means for disciples to do the tasks that they have been appointed in preparation for the Master’s coming.” We know what we are called to do, but will we do it? Will we feed hungry people? Will we visit those who need our love? Will we teach Sunday School? Will we invite a friend or neighbor to church? Are our lamps lit? How will we greet the bridegroom?

I suspect that even if we heed Jesus’s difficult teaching, we still won’t like waiting. We’ll still grow grouchy, frustrated, annoyed, and bored as we wait in line at the grocery store. That’s because researchers say that the human attention span is a whopping eight seconds, one second shorter than that of a goldfish. But our waiting can be transformed as we pray for others and take time to attend to the hidden Jesus who walks among us still. Perhaps this world can look a little more like the promised Kingdom of Heaven if we keep our lamps lit and shine that light before others.

Resources

“How Much Time of an Average Life Is Spent Waiting?” in Reference, Science and Technology, April 3, 2020. Accessed online at https://www.reference.com/science-technology/much-time-average-life-spent-waiting-7b315c05172d2b4d

John Anderer. “Hurry up! Modern patience thresholds lower than ever before, technology to blame” in Study Finds, Sept. 3, 2019. Accessed online at https://studyfinds.org/hurry-up-modern-patience-thresholds-lower-than-ever-before-survey-finds/

Carla Works, “Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13” in Preaching This Week, Nov. 6, 2023. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Dirk Lange, “Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13” in Preaching This Week, Nov. 9, 2008. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org. Greg Carey, “Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13” in Preaching This Week, Nov. 9, 2014. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Photo by Bhargava Marripati on Pexels.com