Preached by Michael Cheuk
November 9, 2008, Twenty Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
Matthew 25:1-13
Weddings. Now I’m sure that we’ve been to many weddings before in our lives, and we’ve seen some weird and wacky stuff. We’ve all heard stories of “bridezillas” who act like monsters during their own weddings, of mothers of the bride who go berserk over the wedding preparations, of ministers who mispronounce the bride’s name, of drunk groomsmen and no-show bridegrooms. But have you ever heard of a wedding story like this parable that Jesus told of ten virgins or bridesmaids who waited for a tardy bridegroom late into the night, only to have five of them refused entrance into the wedding feast because they were out getting oil for their lamps when the bridegroom finally arrived? Who has ever heard of a bridegroom shutting out a portion of his wedding party just because they were late, when he himself was late to his own wedding? Doesn’t that seem unreasonable and harsh? And even more disturbingly, what does this have to do with the kingdom of heaven?
Well, this parable is a part of a series of parables that Jesus told about a future day of judgment upon the second coming of Christ. And while I must confess that I would much rather dwell on God’s grace rather than God’s judgment, there’s no denying the fact that Jesus preached and painted pictures of a future day of judgment. And in this parable, Jesus uses a common place event-a Jewish wedding-to paint a picture of what the future day of judgment in the kingdom of heaven will be like. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Michael 