Preparing To Receive the Messiah

July 24, 2015

Preparing To Receive the Messiah

“Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked” (Matthew 25:10b).

Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids - Matthew 25: 1-13

In the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, Jesus was speaking to the people of Israel about their need to prepare to receive their Messiah. In this parable, Jesus used the typical wedding customs in their culture as a backdrop for his story to contrast the wisdom and foolishness of different people in preparing to receive the Messiah.

 

I have a friend who grew up in a very strict church. His church took just about everything in the Bible literally and developed a long list of things not to do, such as don’t go to movies, no dancing, no drinking, etc.  My friend said every time he left the house he could remember his mother saying, “Be careful what you do. If Jesus comes tonight you don’t want him to catch you at the movie theater.” I don’t believe that is Jesus’ point in this parable; however Jesus’ final words to the foolish bridesmaids echo his words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven… But I will reply, ‘I never knew you” (Matthew 7: 21-23). Obviously Jesus wants us to take him seriously. What then is his point in this parable? I believe there are two points.

First and foremost, this is an advent parable. It is a parable about the coming of God’s Kingdom. When Jesus comes again in final victory to establish God’s Kingdom on earth, no one will have the excuse, “I didn’t know!” Each individual’s decision to enter into the Kingdom will be honored by God.

Secondly, for those who have said yes to Jesus’ invitation to enter into a right relationship with God, this parable is about the importance of being prepared to live as his faithful disciples. This is not a parable about whether I can lose my right standing with God. This parable is a reminder that Jesus’ invitation to come into the Kingdom of God is an invitation to willingly submit to the rule of God in my life, each and every day. As was the case with my friend’s church, some people resort to coercion and condemnation to motivate people to obey Jesus. Some people design a doctrine of either/or: either you obey each and every command of Jesus, to the fullest, or you are out of his Kingdom. Once we have committed our life to Christ, we do not drift in and out of God’s realm depending on what kind of day we’ve had.

However, we do drift in and out of a state of readiness to witness for Christ. When we’ve gone slack, when we procrastinate, we’ll miss opportunities to help Christ save souls, relieve suffering and seek justice. As we let those opportunities pass by, they are gone forever; but if we’ll heed this parable and strive to be prepared, other opportunities are on their way to us.

The bottom line for me is that I want to authentically affirm with the Apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful” (2 Timothy 4: 6-8).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.