Daily Devotional For Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Good day Southside. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew and today we come to the parable of Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Because of the length of this passage, we are going to take several days to look it:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (2) Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. (3) For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, (4) but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. (5) Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. (6) But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ (7) Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. (8) The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ (9) But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ (10) And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. (11) Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ (12) But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ (13) Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
If you have ever seen the TV series “Star Trek,” when the starship Enterprise comes under attack, Captain Kirk shouts out, “Shields up. Red alert.” In the background you see this red light blinking and this alarm blaring warning the whole crew they are about to get attacked. In this parable of a wedding, while wedding customs could vary from village to village in Israel, one custom remained in all – the processional of the bridegroom to the bride’s family home.
A wedding was an all day event spent celebrating and dancing, concluding with a wedding feast at dusk. So, in this parable we have 10 virgin bridesmaids going with the bridegroom to the bride’s family home with their lamps. “Virgin” – this is the Greek New Testament word [παρθένος; parthenos]. This does not just denote their non-sexual activity, but it denotes their close intimate relationship with the bride. What we will see is there are two groups of five. Each one is described exactly the same except in their preparation.
The Greek New Testament word is [λαμπάς; lampas], where we get our English word “lamp.” In all likelihood, this refers to lit torches since they did not have street lights like we do today. In first century Israel, everyone was required to carry his or her own torch. If you did not, you were considered to be a party crasher – someone who had not been invited to the wedding.
Five bridesmaids were foolish and did not bring any oil with them to relight their torches if they burned out. The other five bridesmaids brought oil with them just in case their torches burned out on the way. Meaning – five came unprepared and five came prepared. There were five foolish bridesmaids and five wise bridesmaids. Jesus’ point is in the end there will be only two groups: one group who believes and receives Him as King and another group that does not. There will be no middle group.
When we read verses 5-7, we should not condemn the bridesmaids for falling asleep because both groups did because the wait was long. Jesus’ point is that His delay in returning will be long and it will be longer than people expect. The difference is that one group made preparations early and the other group made preparations at the last minute and then it was too late. So, when it comes to getting prepared, we must not be misinformed with misconceptions. For example, author Angus Konstam writes this:
“Each summer we turn to books and movies of adventure. Pirates regularly appear in such fare, but fictional reports, alas, are riddled with inaccuracies. In the interest of accuracy, let us correct some common misconceptions about pirates. First, there is no record that pirates ever forced prisoners to “walk the plank.” Pirates are cruel, but in other ways. Second, pirates rarely buried their treasure. They were too quick to waste it on wine, women, and gambling. Third, they rarely kept parrots; parrots are messy and, when supplies run low, all too edible. Finally, pirates still roam the seas, with hundreds of attacks annually in recent years” (Source: Angus Konstam, The History of Pirates).
New Testament scholar Daniel M. Doriani picking up on this, writes this:
“Christians suffer from misconceptions on topics more serious than pirate culture, of course. A fair sample of our spiritual language—some of it mere jargon—is based on tradition, not Scripture. For example, Scripture never tells us to “invite Jesus into our heart,” in so many words. It tells us to repent, believe, and trust Him. When we do, He dwells in us. But no passage tells us to “invite” Jesus to do anything (only Revelation 3:20 comes close). Jesus does not need invitations. He is Lord and does as He wills. A study of Matthew 25 shows that some of our ideas about the future owe more to tradition and popular teachers of the past than to the Bible” (Source: Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary, “Matthew,” Vol. 2, p. 386-387).
Reflection Assignment: Are you roaming the seas of life, or are you prepared if Jesus returned any day now? How do you think you should be getting ready to be prepared for Jesus’ return?
Scripture To Meditate On: Act 1:11, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way You saw Him go!” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, I have to admit. I prepare for most things, but not for Your return. I believe You are going to return. I do not want my life to govern my misconceptions on this. I ask that Your Holy Spirit help me to get prepared and to help others get prepared as well. Thank You Jesus. I asked this in Your name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly