But as they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and the [ones that were] ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
The foolish are still away buying oil when the Bridegroom arrives. In a moment it is settled: some go in, the door shuts, and it never opens again.
Is this the Judge arriving? One commentator says no, and sets this shut door beside an open one in Revelation.
The coming of the bridegroom (v.10) is plainly not His coming in judgment, but His coming to take home to His presence His redeemed saints. Being ready, they go in with Him to the marriage. About this occasion we read of "a door standing open in heaven" (Rev. 4:1). In our present chapter, "the door was shut." No true believer will be missing, but others will be shut out.
So who counts as "ready"? One commentator points to the anointing of the Spirit, which the foolish had no share in.
Here the parable takes up the constant expectation of those who took the place of entering into the interests of His love. It also gives the outcome at the end for those who were "foolish" and had no share in the anointing of the Spirit. This anointing alone could enable anyone to be "ready" to go in with Christ to the marriage.
Another writer splits readiness into two things that must both be true of a person, one done for them and one done in them.
First, we must be "ready" in title; and, secondly, we must be "ready" in our moral state — ready in conscience, and ready in heart. The one is founded on the work of Christ for us; the other is connected with the work of the Spirit in us. If we are resting by faith on the finished work of Christ — leaning only on what He has done and what He is — then we are truly ready in title. We may be sure of being with Him when He comes.
The foolish had gone to get oil from someone else. The same writer lists every substitute people lean on.
No one can give of his oil to another. Each has just enough for himself. A man can give light, but he cannot give oil. The latter is the gift of God alone... It is no use looking to Christian friends to help us or prop us up. No use flying here and there for someone to lean on — some holy man, or some eminent teacher — no use building on our church, our creed, or our sacraments. We want oil. We cannot do without it. Where are we to get it? Not from man, not from the church, not from the saints, not from the fathers. We must get it from God; and He, blessed be His name, gives freely.
They did not go in to a reward. They went in with the Bridegroom, and that sets the character of the scene.
And what is its character morally? Is it the display of righteousness? Certainly not, but of grace. So it is not at all a question of showing faithfulness to the world. It is simply the intimate privilege of being with the Bridegroom. It is not the virgins appearing with Him; for they are not shown that way. It is an inner scene. They go out to meet the Bridegroom; the Bridegroom comes; and they go in with Him to the marriage.
Who shut the door? One writer points back to an earlier door that the Lord Himself closed.
The wise virgins, true Christians, will go in with Christ to the marriage, and the door will be shut. But, like the door of the ark, it will now be shut by the hand of the Lord, and none can open it. Against all who refused to enter in while it stood open, it will be closed for ever... The scene is too awful to think about. But the Lord has said enough to convince us of what will then be, and to warn us while the door still stands wide open.
So who is shut out? One writer draws a line between two kinds of people.
Those who have life in Christ, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, will be ready. But the mere professor will be shut out. He has truth in the head and on the lip, but not in the heart. He has the lamp of profession, but not the Spirit of life in Christ.
- The oil is the difference. Only a share in the anointing of the Spirit could make anyone ready to go in with Christ. Lamps and profession could not.
- The oil is a gift. A person can give light, but no one can give oil. It comes from God alone — never from friends, teachers, church, creed or sacrament.
- Ready means two things. Ready in title, resting on the finished work of Christ for us; and ready in state, through the work of the Spirit in us.
- The reward is His company. This is not a display of righteousness but of grace. It is the intimate privilege of going in with the Bridegroom.
- The door is His to close. Like the door of the ark, the Lord's own hand shuts it, and none can open it. Right now it still stands wide open.
Afterwards come also the rest of the virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us;
The parable's final scene turns on a single word: "afterward." Five virgins reach the marriage with the right words and nothing else, and the question is whether a late cry can open a door that is already shut.
They did go for the oil. What ruined them was when they went.
The Bridegroom's feet were faster than these foolish virgins imagined. While they went to get the oil for their vessels, He came. Those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage, and THE DOOR WAS SHUT. It was too late then for them to buy the oil or to enter the door, and their knocking was in vain. The Bridegroom knew only those who had the oil, and only those He knew went in with Him to the marriage feast.
Their words sound like faith. What drives them is something else.
Afterwards the foolish virgins come. Now they cry, but with horror and despair. Their religious energy belongs to the old nature. In agony they say, "Lord, Lord, open to us." But the Lord of peace, the Giver of life and glory, can only tell them, "I know you not." He does not say this to faulty believers. He says it to the foolish virgins who had no oil — to those who bore the name of the Lord, but did not have the Spirit of Christ.
Some read the two groups as devoted Christians versus careless ones. The Lord's own reply tests that reading, and it tests the reader too.
They come afterwards and say, "Lord, Lord, open to us." What does He say? "I used to know you, but now I have forgotten you"? "I do know you, but I am not going to admit that I know you until you reform and behave better"? That would suit some theories. But He said, "I know you not." Another verse says, "The Lord knows those who are His." So these virgins stand for those who are not His. There is a vast amount of mere pretension with no matching reality... You may appeal to outward things, but nothing merely outward will stand in the presence of God.
Another writer draws the same conclusion straight from the Bridegroom's words:
I will add that I do not think the foolish virgins were saved souls. The Bridegroom says to them, "I know you not" — something Jesus could hardly say to those who were His own.
So which door is shut? The answer decides who could get in at all.
Even the professing Christian world was not converted as a whole when the Bridegroom personally returned... The door is shut — the door, not of conversion, but into the marriage supper. Only those already converted — only those who had taken oil in their vessels — were ready to go in through this door.
Who is left outside, and whose hand shut the door? An older picture stands behind the answer — the door of Noah's ark.
All who have heard the gospel of the grace of God, all who have been invited to come to Jesus, and above all those who heard the midnight cry and still kept on in unbelief, will then be judged by the Lord as unworthy of what they have despised. The wise virgins, true Christians, will go in with Christ to the marriage, and the door will be shut. But, like the door of the ark, it will now be shut by the hand of the Lord, and no one can open it. It will stay closed for ever against all who refused to enter while it stood open. The awakening will now be terrible, but too late.
The verse gives no sentence and no punishment scene. The title the Lord carries here explains that silence.
Here our Lord appears in grace toward His saints. That is one reason why you get no description of the judgment about to fall on the foolish virgins. An open display of divine vengeance would not fit His title of Bridegroom. The door is shut even here, and when the foolish virgins ask Him to open it, our Lord tells them, "I know you not." But He at once turns that fact to the spiritual good of His disciples: "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
- Afterward. One word carries the verse. They went, they cried, they knocked — and all of it came after the Bridegroom had gone in.
- Oil. They carried the name of the Lord without the Spirit of Christ. Nothing merely outward stands in the presence of God.
- Words. "Lord, Lord" is a cry of the lips. His answer, "I know you not," shows they were never His, not His once and disowned later.
- Door. This is not the door of conversion but the door into the marriage. The Lord shut it with His own hand, as with the door of the ark, and no one can open it.
- Watch. The Lord does not dwell on their doom. He comes here as Bridegroom, and He turns the shut door into a word for His own: watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
but he answering said, Verily I say unto you, I do not know you.
Five women set out to meet the bridegroom. They reach the door and hear one sentence that ends everything for them. It is short, but it raises the parable's hardest question: who are these five, and what did the other five have that they did not?
Many take the parable as a contrast between two kinds of Christians. One writer tests that idea against the words the Bridegroom uses.
Someone will say, "Isn't this meant to teach us how the Lord tells apart the faithful of His people and the less faithful? Isn't it a picture of the devoted Christian on one side and the worldly one on the other?" My answer is a firm "No." My reason is the answer the Lord Himself gives the foolish virgins in verse 12. They come afterwards and say, "Lord, Lord, open to us." What does He say? "I used to know you, but now I have forgotten you"? "I do know you, but I will not own that I know you until you reform"? That would suit some theories, but He said, "I know you not." Another verse says, "The Lord knows those who are His," so these represent those who are not His... Inward reality and faithfulness are the two things the Lord Jesus will own when He comes again.
Another writer draws the same conclusion from that one sentence.
I will add that I do not think the foolish virgins were saved souls. The Bridegroom says to them, "I know you not" — something Jesus could hardly say to those who were His own.
All ten carried lamps. One writer explains what the oil pictures, and why the five who lacked it never felt the danger.
The ten virgins vividly represent the Christian profession. All took their torches and went out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming again. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. The anointing of the Holy One is essential. Having it, pictured by oil, depends on faith in Christ and His work. The foolish never knew their ruin; they were content with ceremonies and rites and their own attention to them. Being born again, receiving forgiveness of sins through Christ's blood, being sealed with the Spirit — these were foreign to them. Jews or pagans might need such things; but they had every privilege in their religion, the Christian religion, and saw no cause for alarm. Such was their self-deception.
One writer sets the two verdicts side by side: what Christ says of His own, and what He will say to the rest.
Of the faithful He says, "I know them." But to the faithless ones He will say, as to the foolish virgins, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12). And to many who have prophesied and cast out demons and done many mighty works in His name, He will declare, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" (Matthew 7:22-23).
One writer compares this shutting to another door that God Himself closed.
The Lord will then judge all who have heard the gospel of the grace of God, all whom He has invited to come to Jesus, and above all those who heard the midnight cry and still went on in unbelief. He will judge them as unworthy of what they despised. Then He will close the door of mercy against them for ever. The wise virgins, true Christians, will go in with Christ to the marriage, and the door will be shut. But, like the door of the ark, it will now be shut by the hand of the Lord, and no one can open it. Against all who refused to enter while it stood open, it will be closed for ever. The awakening will be terrible, but too late.
One writer turns the verse into a question for the reader.
The foolish are the mere professors. What was their folly? They took their lamps, but had no oil in their vessels: they had not received the Holy Spirit... The wise cared deeply about having the oil. The foolish only cared to have lamps — something to hold in their hand, to make other people think they were right, when all the while they were wrong. Are you a mere professor of Christianity, but unconverted? A church member, but unsaved? A poor foolish virgin, a lamp-holder without oil? If you would be wise, make sure you have the oil, the Holy Spirit.
- Known or not known. The Bridegroom does not list their failures. He says He does not know them, and that settles it.
- Known by oil. What separated the two groups was the oil — the Holy Spirit. A lamp on its own only made other people think they were right.
- Known, not merely unfaithful. These are not weak believers under discipline. "I do not know you" is the exact reverse of "The Lord knows those who are His."
- Known before the door shuts. This is settled while the door stands open. Once the Lord shuts it, as He shut the door of the ark, no one can open it.
- Known now. The test is not what you hold in your hand. It is whether the Spirit is really yours today.