The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Being ready for Jesus to come again
Jesus’s disciples knew that someday, after He returned to His Father, Jesus would come back to earth. They asked Him how they would know when He was going to come back. They wanted to be ready for Him. To answer them, Jesus told a parable.
In the parable, ten women were going to a wedding. The wedding was at night, so the women had to take lamps filled with oil to light their way. Five of the women were wise and brought plenty of oil. The other five were foolish and did not bring enough oil.
The women had to wait for the groom and his wedding party to come. But the groom took a long time. While they waited, they all fell asleep.
At midnight, someone cried out that the groom was finally coming! It was time for the women to join him at the wedding party.
All of the women held up their lamps to light their way. But the five women who did not bring enough oil did not have any light. Their oil had been used up while they were waiting for the groom.
The five women without oil asked the others to share theirs. But there was not enough oil to share. The five women without oil quickly went to buy more.
While they were gone, the groom came! The five women who were ready went with him to the wedding.
When the other women came back, the door was closed. They knocked on the door and asked the groom to let them in. But it was too late. They could not come into the wedding.
Jesus is like the groom in the parable. No one knows when He will come again. Only Heavenly Father knows that. So Jesus told His followers to be ready like the five women who had enough oil. People who obey the Lord’s commandments and follow the Spirit will be ready when Jesus Christ comes again.