I am reading this parable in particular mindfulness of the surrounding passages in Matthew including; The Parable of the Talents (25:14-30), The Parable of the Wise or the Wicked Servant (24: 45-51), The Sheep and the Goats (25:31-46), The Plot against Jesus (26:1-5), The Anointing at Bethany (26:6-13), Gethsemane and the Arrest of Jesus (26: 6-56) and in Luke, Woe to you Pharisees (Lk 11:39-54), The Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk 12:13-21), and the Watchfulness passage (Lk 12:35-48).
Oh, the foolish, foolish girls. Fools do not understand God’s will (Eph 5:15-17), indeed, they say in their hearts that there is no God (Psalm 14:1). They are slow to believe in what Christ has done (Luke 24:25) and they fall asleep when they are meant to watch. What kind of disciples sleep when they have been asked to stay awake and pray (Matt 26:36-46)? What kind of disciples are not then prepared for what they have to do next (Matt 26:56b)? They disappoint the bridegroom just exactly when the bridegroom needs them. And so the Bridegroom shuts the door and shouts out from the other side, ‘I do not know you!’ because fools must be disgraced (Pr 3:35). Yet, later, when the doors are locked, does he not appear amongst them and say ‘Peace be with you!’ (John 20:19)? Because has he not chosen the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:27)?
Yes, for they are strong, those wise girls. They know better than to share their oil or their lamps. They know not to lavishly pour their oily perfume away to reveal the bridegroom for who he really is (Matt 26:7-12; 1 Sam 16:13), for without the oil for their lamps how will they see him? They do not wish to share their oil, as a woman once did for Elijah (1 Kings 17:16), nor hand over their vessels, as a community once did for a widow so she could save her children from slavery (2 Kings 4:1-7). No they do not believe in the miracle of sharing (John 6:9). How wise.
But God has made foolish the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 1: 20). The wisdom that says, ‘For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (Matt 25:29), and God has made foolish the wisdom of those who ‘store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God’ (Luke 12: 21). For is it wise to beat your slaves and treat them cruelly just because your master is delayed in returning (Luke 12:45)? And is it wise to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets if it means depriving widows of their houses (Mark 12:38-40)? What use are the show of long prayers then? Does God’s wisdom not say that such powerfully unjust leaders will receive the greater condemnation (Mark 12: 40)? That those who are aware of their wrong-doing will be punished most severely (Luke 12:42-47) but those who do not know what they are doing (ie. the foolish ones) will be punished only lightly (Luke 12:48). When it comes down to it though, what is their punishment? For even the holy, exploiting, knowing ones are also sadly confused and at the end of the day there is a cry of forgiveness for all of them because, ‘they do not know what they are doing’ (Luke 23:34).
Even so, we are left with many questions. If most is demanded from those to whom much has been entrusted (like the well educated, well fed scribes), why is the man with the least talents so cruelly punished? Could it be that the master in this parable, a hard, unjust man who gathers where he did not sow, is not the hero of the story, but rather the hero is the brave, uncompromising slave (Matt 25:24)? Could it be that the man who cuts people into pieces and beats them with many blows (Lk 12:46-47) is the enemy of the man who serves his slaves (Luke 12:37) and heals the violent foolishness of his disciples (Matt 26: 52)? And is the enemy listening as these stories are told about them, they who have read proverbs and know that to show a fool up you answer them according to their own folly (Pr 26:5) and they have been seen. But they do not heed, rather they decide to raise their sword once again, to cut to pieces the man who spouts such foolishness (Matt 26:3-4).
So, those silly girls are not so silly after all perhaps. For those who do not do the will of God (yes even those who did many deeds of power in his name) will be told ‘I never knew you’ (Matt 7:21-23). And just at the moment the Bridegroom says ‘I never knew you’ to the foolish girls, they realize they’ve got the wrong guy. How very foolish of them! In fact, they begin to recall all that they have heard from the one they are really looking for: ‘Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions’ (Luke 12:15) and the girls think of those five wise, stingy girls. ‘Sell your possessions, and give alms’ he said (Luke 12:33) and they spot an old lady in the distance in need of oil so they give away all they have just bought. Feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, tend to the sick, and visit the imprisoned (Matt 25:35-40) he said. And they remember that they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light (Rev 22:5) so they make their way through the town visiting everyone else who found themselves unwelcome at the posh wedding on the hill, all the time keeping watch.
Becky Worthley
