Neither Foolish nor Wise
Commentary on the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids
I wonder: What was the mistake of the foolish bridesmaids? It is given later in the parable, it was because they were not awake. Did all not fall asleep, even the ones labelled wise right from the start?
But wait, what could have happened if the ‘foolish’ bridesmaids had waited after their lamps dwindled into the darkness of the night? This was their blunder. They should have stayed, but they left.
The bridal couple would have undoubtedly been happy just to see their friends waiting for them regardless of their lamps. What would it have taken for these bridesmaids, to wait in fragility and faith?
The second bothersome piece in this parable is: How come those wise ones couldn’t spare some oil for the others? Unwilling to be generous with what they have, they are willing to break up the bridal party. They have no qualms in sending their friends away to beg and bang on doors of shopkeepers in the middle of the night aware that they could miss the celebration.
Yet, we glorify the wise ones, the haves who decline to share with the have-nots. We praise the very behaviour that runs counter to the key message of Jesus: radical compassion and inclusivity.
Finally, we see a strangely unempathetic behaviour from the bridegroom who tells the foolish bridesmaids to go away. It is so different to Jesus, the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to search for the lost one, the woman who pulls out all stops for a lost coin.
The Parable of Talents and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats follow this parable and complete the chapter of Matthew 25. All three parables speak about the wise and the ones not so wise.
And at the end of the chapter and almost as if it were the summation of all what he had said before, Jesus remarks that nothing is more important than how we feed the poor, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. And the sick and imprisoned could be me when my oil runs out.
For Reflection and Sharing
How do each of the three characters speak to my present state of being?
