Author: Gary Witcher

Parables Ten

Toward the end of His stay on earth, Jesus is walking through the temple area with His followers.  Like too many people even today, these disciples are more impressed by the fancy ornaments on the buildings than by the spiritual lessons that the Master is trying to teach.
"As for these things which you are looking at,"  Jesus comments in Luke 21:6, "the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down."
"When will this happen?" the disciples reply.
Jesus then explains to them about the end of the Jewish system and about the destruction of Jerusalem.   This discussion is recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke chapters 17 and 21.
"Behold the fig tree, and all the trees,” Jesus notes in Luke 21:29-32, "as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that the summer is now near.
"Even so you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place."
It is simple for us to tell when spring is arriving.  The grass begins to turn green and the leaves start to appear on the trees.
For years the Jews listened to prophecies about the coming Messiah. But when He came they refused to acknowledge His arrival.  They could read the signs of the physical seasons, but they refused to recognize the spiritual seasons.
Some religious groups today claim that Jesus came to establish an earthly kingdom but was thwarted by the Jews and His crucifixion. According to these groups, Jesus was forced to set up the church as a temporary measure until He could return another time to complete His mission.
This theory is extremely un-scriptural for many reasons, not the least of which is the point that Jesus makes in this parable.  What Jesus is saying is that everything is going according to schedule.	There are even signs that point to the things that will happen.  As surely as it is God's plan that summer follow spring, it is His will that the Jewish system be replaced by the church.
In John chapter seven the brothers of Jesus try to get Him to put on a big show in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles.
"My time is not yet at hand," the Lord responds.
In verse 30 of the same chapter the Jewish leaders are seeking to seize Jesus.
"And no man laid his hand on Him," the verse says, "because His hour had not come yet."  The same statement is repeated in John 8:20 and 10:39. In Luke 4:30 and John 8:59 Jesus simply walks away as they are preparing to kill Him.
After His entry into Jerusalem just before the Passover, Jesus has a different story to tell.
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified," He states in John 12:23.
"These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you," Jesus informs His followers in Luke 24:44,  "that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
The Jews had no excuse.  The signs were there, but they refused to recognize them.
What about us today?  A large number of passages such as Acts 20:28-30, Romans 16:17-18, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 2 Peter 2:1-22 and the book of Jude warn that there will be many false teachers in the church.  We recognize that buds are followed by leaves, but do we realize that false teaching is followed by false religion and condemnation?  Are we guilty of believing that one religious doctrine is as good as another?
Once we accept the fact that apples are not figs and one religion is not the same as another, are we able to recognize the church that Jesus established according to God's eternal plan?  Will this church follow a complex set of practices and guidelines worked out by men over decades and centuries, or will it abide by the simple pattern revealed in the New Testament?
"By this all men will know that you are My disciples," Jesus says in John 13:35, "if you have love for one another."
"By this we know that we love the children of God," John adds in 1 John 5:2, "when we love God and observe His commandments."
"You are My friends," Jesus notes in John 15:14, "if you do what I command you."
"If you abide in My word," the Master instructs in John 8:31,  "then you are truly disciples of Mine."
We are quick to notice how foolish the Jews were because they could not read the signs and accept what God was trying to show them.   Are we any better?  Are WE able to read the signs?

Following His discussion of the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, Jesus tells a parable to warn the people to be ready for whatever comes.
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins,” the Master says in Matthew 25:1-4, "who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.
"And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps."
According to the rest of the parable, the bridegroom takes longer than expected to arrive.  He finally comes along at midnight, but the five foolish virgins notice that their lamps are ready to go out.  They ask the other five for some oil, but the latter answer that they have only enough for themselves.  They suggest that the others go to the dealers and buy more oil.
After taking the time required for the purchase, however, the five foolish virgins find that the door to the wedding feast is locked and they are not allowed to enter.
The message of the parable is obviously one of preparation.  And the first application is to the Jews who need to be ready when the kingdom arrives.  Unfortunately, many do not heed the warning and are left out of the kingdom.
According to the custom of Jesus' day, a couple entered a marriage contract from the time of their engagement or betrothal.   Breaking this contract was similar to a divorce.  But the two did not live together as man and wife until after the marriage feast, conducted about a year after the engagement.  At the end of the engagement period, the groom usually led a procession to the house of the woman’s family.   They all then proceeded to the couple's new home where a wedding feast was held.
Many invited guests would join the procession as it moved toward the house of the bride's family, but they could not join the group or enter the couple's new home without a torch or lamp.
The relationship between Christ and the church is often compared to a bride and groom.  The parable in the first part of Matthew 22, for example, compares the kingdom to a wedding feast.  Ephesians 5:22-33 makes this application, as we learn in verse 32.  Revelation chapter 21 uses the same figure.
How can we apply this parable to ourselves?  There are a number of mistakes that we might make in regard to our preparing for the return of Christ to claim His bride, the church.
First of all, we might make the mistake of not being ready at all. Most people would probably fall into this category.  In 2 Peter 3 we learn about a group of mockers who claim that the Lord will never return.
"Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way,” 2 Peter 3:11,12 notes following a discussion of the destruction of the world, "what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat."
The second mistake we can make is to think that the Lord’s return will be a long time off.  This idea makes us believe that we can do anything we want to today.   After all, we still have tomorrow to straighten things out.  The Lord may not return for 1000 years, but not a one of us has more than one lifetime between himself and the Judgment Day.  And, as we all know, that lifetime may last only another moment or two.
Luke 12:36-48 contains a parable that discusses people in these first two groups.
The third danger is to be scandalized when Jesus does not return as soon as we think He should.  Attempts to predict the Lord’s return are wrong because the Bible says they are wrong.  But one problem caused by failed predictions is that many people loose their faith in God.   What they should loose is faith in false teachers.
Paul's letters to the church in Thessalonica deal with problems that arise when the Lord doesn't return as soon as the people think He will.
Hopefully, none of us fall into any of these categories.  If we do, we had better be doing something about it.
The Lord is coming back.  We must be ready.  A lamp generally has one of two meanings in the Bible.  In passages such as Matthew 5:14-16 it stands for the things we do in obedience to God.  Five of the ten virgins in the parable come up short.  How do we measure up?
In Scriptures such as Psalm 119:105 a lamp stands for the word of God, the truth.  Five of the ten virgins do not have enough truth to get them where they are going.  The Holy Spirit calls them foolish.   The parable says they are locked out of the kingdom.  How much truth do we have in our lamps?
If we don't have enough we will find ourselves in darkness just when we need light the most.  If we fill our lamps with the truth, we will have light and be free to spend eternity with the Lord.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."