In ancient Hebrew culture, marriages were arranged by the parents of young women and men; often, these arrangements were made before the couple reached the age when they could marry. When the young man and woman reached an appropriate age, a wedding feast was planned. On the day of the wedding feast, the young man would travel to the home of his betrothed’s family. He would escort her from her family’s home to the house he shared with his parents and siblings; the wedding feast would begin upon his arrival. 

The delay in the groom’s arrival mentioned in the parable in today’s Gospel reading was probably not an unusual occurrence. A father of the bride who was dissatisfied with the dowry being offered for his daughter might well attempt to negotiate a higher sum when the groom arrived to bring her to his home. In the parable, the negotiations delayed the groom for quite a while. 

The young women in the parable would have been relatives of the bride, her sisters and/or cousins. It was their responsibility to remind the groom and his family how fortunate they were to have their relative as a bride. Five of these young women were described as wise because they anticipated the possibility of a delayed arrival of the groom. The other five were described as foolish because they were not prepared for the possibility of delay. 

Because these young women were relatives of the bride, they might not have been known to the groom and his family. They would have been recognized as official representatives of the bride’s family, but only in their capacity as the welcoming party, that is, with lamps lit and burning brightly. It is understandable, then, that when the five foolish young women went to buy more oil for their lamps, they were excluded from the celebration either because the groom did not recognize them or because he felt slighted that they arrived late to the feast. 

The Gospel author placed this parable near the end of Jesus’ ministry because it serves as a summary of his preaching and refers the reader back to the beginning of his ministry. 

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ ministry begins with the long discourse called the Sermon on the Mount. In that long speech, Jesus instructs his hearers that they should seek God’s will with all their hearts. He explained that God’s will for all people is repentance from self-serving behavior and mercy shown to those in need. 

The wise young women in the parable represent those who heard Jesus’ teaching and put it into practice by being merciful, humble, faithful, and just. The foolish young women represent those who were aware of God’s will but failed to accomplish it. 

This parable reminded me of a cartoon I saw in the newspaper recently. The cartoon depicted a long line of people waiting to get to a computer terminal at the gates of heaven. St. Peter, seated behind the table where the computer terminal was set up, was reminding people that they needed to type in the correct password in order to be admitted to heaven.  

That’s a lot of pressure, isn’t it? How can one be certain to get the password correct under those conditions? 

Fortunately, that isn’t how admittance to God’s kingdom works. Admittance to God’s kingdom is guaranteed to those who spend their lives working to accomplish God’s will as it is described in Jesus’ preaching. Like the wise young women in the parable, those who are recognized by God will be admitted to the kingdom, and being recognized by God is simply a matter of living in a way that makes one recognizable as a disciple of Jesus. To this wise, this makes perfect sense: we will find ourselves in the eternal company of the one whose company we sought in this life. 

The Gospel’s message about preparedness is rather straightforward: to be found in Jesus’ company forever, one must be in his company today by repentance and a merciful life.