Read
1Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." 9But the wise answered, saying, "Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves." 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us." 12But he answered, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you." 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1–13, ESV)
Reflect
Listen to this excerpt from the sermon "True Faith" by Ray Cortese.
Lord Jesus, long before the Day you’ll wipe away our tears, you wept many of your own. You grieve the way we look for peace in all the wrong places.
The tears you shed coming into an externally religious, internally unbelieving, Jerusalem, underscore the mercy and magnificence of these words from the Apostle Paul: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).
Jesus, Paul was writing about us, in this Scripture. We count ourselves among the powerless, self-seeking sinners for whom you gave your life. We weren’t impassioned seekers or misguided “good” people. We were self-centered rebels, and indifferent malcontents, when we received the free gift of eternal life (Rom. 5:10).
The only reason we have peace with God is because our heavenly Father made peace with us through you. It wasn’t about us “turning over a new leaf.” We needed to become a whole new tree. We didn’t need a new start; we needed a new heart. We were dead when you gave us life.
We’d still be looking for peace everywhere else—in people and sex, money and power—if you hadn’t opened our eyes to see the depth of our need, and the riches of your grace. Easter celebrates what we could never do for ourselves, you’ve done for us once and for all.
We long for the Day when we won’t even be tempted to look for peace, life, and joy anywhere else but in you, Jesus. Until that Day, we trust you to be our contentment and satisfaction, our righteousness and our inheritance. So very Amen we pray with gratitude and adoration, in your wonderful and merciful name.
