47 - Matthew 25:12

’Verily I say unto you, I know you not.’ -Matthew 25:12. This parable of the ten virgins is in unbroken connection with the discourse contained in the previous chapter, and is in fact a part of Christ’s reply to the question regarding the overthrow of the temple and the second advent. From Matthew 24:42 onward the object of the address is to show the absolute necessity of watchfulness as a proof of discipleship. It is conceded that there will be very much to induce unwatchfulness; the course of things will be so very different from the anticipations of Christians that there will be a tendency on their part to relax their vigilance; they will have been so often confidently looking for the Lord of glory, and will so often have found their calculations illusory; there will be so much to make it appear that a good while must elapse before that glorious appearing, that it will be a marvel truly if faith endures the strain, and any maintain the attitude of thorough preparedness unto the end. He seeks to impress upon his disciples that they must not rely upon any external signs of the immediate coming of the Son of man to give them a timely alarm. Signs there shall be, but only they who are in the state of watchfulness shall discern them. The hour shall come as a thief in the night to those who are not children of the day, invested with the armour of light.

Immediately after the parable of the servants of the absent lord, comes this parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise, and made preparations that lasted till the coming of the bridegroom; five were foolish, in that they prepared for a limited period only, and when this was spent were found unprepared These correspond to the stony-ground hearers which have no root in themselves, and when the sun ariseth wither away. It is a very trifling incident that is taken to illustrate a truth of infinite moment. A bridegroom has gone to bring his bride from another place, or is coming to this place to find her; it is not certain when he may arrive, but when he does, the marriage procession must be formed at once; everything must be in a state of perfect preparation. The young women who are to take part in the festivity go to some house or garden in the outskirts of the town to wait for him. There is nothing to hinder their lying down to rest, if they first make all the necessary arrangements, and secure that there shall be nothing to be attended to when the bridegroom actually arrives. The best thing they can do is to sleep now, as there will be no time for it after the festivities commence. Watchmen are set to raise the cry the moment the bridegroom appears. The wise virgins were not unwise in sleeping; the foolish ones were foolish in doing so, because they had not made the necessary provision for delay. The one point which the incident is specially intended to illustrate is obvious. The delay in the coming of Christ will throw men off their guard, and multitudes of those who profess to be his will be found without faith when he appears. As we have already shown, those only are truly looking and waiting for him who are now vigilantly seeking to please him, and striving to manifest him, and who have the accounts of their stewardship brought constantly up to date.

"Verily I know you not." ’I do not recognise in you the lineaments of my disciples. You have not learned of me. You have not been led by the Spirit. You have not had my word abiding in you. You thought you were of mine on the strength of a certain outward conformity to the ways of my people. My name, my words, my promises have been upon your lips, but the reality of love was not in your heart. You were the more easily deceived because your number was legion, and that of my genuine disciples was small. Easily and delightedly do I recognise, amidst manifold imperfections, the feeblest faith that is genuine, for this is that which endures and expands and triumphs, in its season. Not in vain does a penitent thief cry to me from the cross. But as for you, I know you not. If there were in you true faith, it would be manifested. Your heart has not been cleansed and moulded by my words. It is not my teaching that has had power over you. To whom have you been looking for guidance? Of whom have you been inquiring the way of life? Under whose direction have you been taking the steps of your Christian life? When I said, A hundred measures of wheat, you turned to another who said, Sit down, take thy bill and write four-score; when I said, A hundred measures of oil, you preferred to learn your indebtedness from one who said, Fifty will suffice. When I said, Except a man forsake all that he hath he cannot be my disciple, you thought good to turn to a preacher who said, It is not necessary to forsake all in these days; give something to show your interest in what is good, and keep the rest; put on so much of religion as shall not prejudice your credit to any great extent with your fellow-men; the way is by no means so narrow as it once was; Christ will accept of a reasonable tribute. When I said, Come out from the world and be separate, you were not content till you had found a path-smoothing commentator (you had not far to seek) who toned this down into a very moderate requirement. My sheep know me, and the voice of a stranger will they not hear; they know me, and I know them; but as for you, I know you not. You have not on the wedding garment of preparation.’ The same distinction of the wise and the foolish that is made in this parable is made at the close of the Sermon on the Mount. The wise man’s house is builded on a rock, and stands unshaken when the flood and the tempest burst upon it; that of the foolish man, built upon the sand, is swept away. The wise man heard and did the sayings of Christ; the foolish heard but did them not. To the latter Christ says "in that day," "I never knew you, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." They who profess to be Christ’s, and obey him not, are working iniquity; their influence is terribly disastrous; they calumniate the character of Christ, misrepresent the way of salvation, and obscure the light of life which shines in the Gospel.