Interpreting parable of the 10 virgins

By Dan Delzell, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, April 12, 2025

During the Lord’s earthly ministry, Jesus often spoke in parables, which were earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. And the Parable of the Ten Virgins is among the most memorable (see Matthew 25:1-13). The cultural setting for this parable is a first-century Jewish wedding, and it points to the need to be prepared for the second coming of Christ.

In the parable, Jesus taught that “the kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps” (Matthew 25:1-4).

The ten virgins are ten bridesmaids. And while all 10 of them were planning to attend the wedding banquet, only the five wise virgins were allowed to enter the banquet when the bridegroom finally arrived. The meaning? Proper preparation is needed in order to enter Heaven when Jesus Christ returns, while those without any “oil” will be barred from entering.

Oil is mentioned more than 200 times in the Bible, and it often represents the Holy Spirit, who is the Third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside your body (your “jar” and “lamp”) the moment you are born again through faith in Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote to believers, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The Gospel message which Jesus delivered was “first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). Christ ministered among both Jews and Gentiles and He wanted all of them to be saved (see John 11:25-26; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Those who receive Jesus the Messiah as Savior (see John 1:12) have plenty of oil in their jars and lamps, like the five wise virgins. Believers in Jesus are saved, redeemed, forgiven, justified and born again on the front end of their relationship with God.

The clearest teaching in the Bible about being born again involves a discussion Jesus had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was “a member of the Jewish ruling council” (John 3:1) called the Sanhedrin. Interestingly, the man’s religious credentials were not enough to produce even a drop of oil in his lamp. You see, Nicodemus needed what every Jew and Gentile needs, namely, “new birth” (1 Peter 1:3).

Jesus told him, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Apart from new birth through faith in Christ, a religious person remains like the five foolish virgins who had no oil when the bridegroom returned.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins applies equally to Jews and Gentiles. Regardless of whether or not you currently participate in a church or synagogue, there is no oil for your jar and lamp apart from the Third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit enters your body when you repent of your sins and trust the Second Person of the Trinity (Jesus) to forgive you and save your soul. And once you are saved through faith in Christ alone, you have God’s oil within your body and soul.

You won’t fully appreciate and comprehend this parable, or any of the Savior’s parables for that matter, until you receive God’s oil the moment you are converted (see John 3:6; 1 Cor. 2:14). Apart from spiritual conversion, you will be like the five foolish virgins who were prevented from entering the wedding banquet. “And the door was shut … ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said, ‘Open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you'” (Matthew 25:10-12).

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14). Sadly, multitudes of Jews and Gentiles today do not know Jesus. Nevertheless, quite a few of them cling to the erroneous notion that their religious pedigree or pious rituals will gain them access to the eternal wedding banquet. But they are tragically mistaken.

Those who live and die without God’s oil will have the door shut on them as they are sent away to pay for their sins in Hell. Jesus concluded this famous parable with a critical directive: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:13).

In other words, get ready because Christ, the Bridegroom, could return any day! Repent and believe the good news of the Gospel because it is the only way to be prepared. There is absolutely no other way to have oil in your jar and lamp. And without God’s oil, you will miss out on the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25:1).

In the parable, the five foolish virgins implored the five wise virgins, “Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out” (v. 8). The five wise virgins told them, “Go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves” (v. 9). “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived” (v. 10).

Jesus was not suggesting that a person can pay for the Holy Spirit or purchase the forgiveness of sins. The prophet Isaiah used similar language: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isaiah 55:1).

The application? Anyone who is thirsty for salvation can come today and “buy” from the Lord. If you are currently procrastinating like the foolish virgins, then stop putting it off because you may very well run out of time. Prepare to meet your Maker! Come to Christ immediately in repentance and faith to be forgiven of your sins.

One of the last verses in the Bible emphasizes this open invitation to Jews and Gentiles alike: “The (Holy) Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free give of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).

Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.