Skip to main content

PARABLE: the wise and foolish bridesmaids

 {PARABLE} the wise and foolish bridesmaids_ 

Matthew 24:36 – 25:13 

 
It is the classic love story... The bridegroom is called away from the bride, the love of his life. He asks her to wait for him. He asks her to believe he will come back for her no matter how long it takes. He asks her to trust that he will come back because of his great love and devotion. The bride is grief-stricken but promises that she will wait for him and not give up hope. But the years pass and the hope fades. She begins to question his promise. She begins to distrust his love. Until one day she realises that she is no longer waiting for him. 

 
[Group discussion starter] Think of an example of when you waited a long time for someone or something important to you. What was the waiting like? What helped you maintain hope? 

 

In the series of short parables that Jesus presents in this text, he calls us to not give up hope. He calls us to trust his love and his promise that he will come for us one day. He calls us to wait in expectation for his return... 

 
[Read Matthew 24:36 – 25:13] 

 
List the parables Jesus uses here. How do they compare and contrast? 
 

 
Put yourself in each parable. How would is change the picture if you, as the character, were waiting with expectation for “the coming of the Son of Man”? 

 
In Matthew 24:36-41, how will the coming of the Son of Man be similar to the days of Noah? 
 

 
Christ’s main point wasn’t to warn against “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage”. So what is he emphasising? 
 

 
[Activity] Jesus compares his coming to a thief breaking into a house (24:42-44) and a master returning home (24:45-51). What does each story emphasise about; 
(a) the nature of the Lord’s return_ 
 

(b) our responsibility_ 
 

 
In Matthew 24:45-46, if the Lord returned today, what would he hope to find us doing? 
 

 
In the verses we’ve just focused on (24:36-51), would you say Christ’s illustrations about his coming were joyful or fearful events? Explain. 
 

 
In biblical times the bridegroom would come to the bride’s home, after dark, where the bridesmaids (virgins) were also waiting, and then would take her (and them) in procession to his home for the wedding feast. In Matthew 25:1-5, what are the similarities between the wise and foolish bridesmaids? 
 
 

 
In 25:6-12, how did the bridegroom’s long delay reveal differences between the wise and foolish bridesmaids? 
 

 
According to this parable, what constitutes wisdom in relation to Christ’s return? 
 

 
It has been more than two thousand years since Jesus promised to return. 
What negative effects might this have on us? 
 

 
What can we do to overcome these negative effects and wait with expectation and hope for his return? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Disciple: Judas

  {Disciples} JUDAS ISCARIOT_   Turning away     The most notorious of al the disciples – and the one universally scorned – is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. His name appears in every list of the disciples (except in Acts 1), and it always appears last.   The other eleven are an encouragement to us because they show how common people can be used by God, even with all their faults and failures, to do remarkable things.   Judas, on the other hand, stands as a warning about the power of spiritual carelessness and pride, which can drag us away from loyalty to Christ.   Judas lived in close proximity to Jesus for three years.   He heard every teaching; he saw every miracle.   But in all that time his heart only grew harder.   The other disciples were being transformed, by Jesus, into passionate followers; Judas was being changed too...     [Group discussion starter] Have you ever had a friend or colleague that appeared to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9

  [Grace and Peace] EPHESIANS_   [Activity] Spend some time exploring the logical flow of Ephesians 5:21-6:9…   [Read Ephesians 5:21]   Paul addresses different relationship types (marriage, family, co-workers) when he writes to the Ephesians. Before he gets specific in his instructions, he gives a general one. What attitude are we supposed to have towards others?     What should submission look like in daily life?     [Read Ephesians 5:22-33]   In verses 22-24, why does Paul tell wives to submit to their husbands?     How does remembering that a wife is really submitting to the Lord affect submission to a husband?     In verses 25-33, how are husbands, in turn, to treat their wives?     How does comparing a husband’s love for his wife to how the Messiah loves the church remove any danger of the husband abusing the wife’s submission?       What ...
Post a Comment
Read more

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

  {SEVEN LETTERS}    The Attractiveness of Suffering_   Revelation 2:8-11     In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman  bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecuti on subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the  martyrs...   We  can’t  even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the  magnitude  of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the ble ssed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming  at them, punching them, dragging them through the stre...
Post a Comment
Read more