This is the 18th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

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There are well over a hundred parables in the Bible, but the most beloved are the 30-plus parables Jesus shares with us. While he’s not the first to use this form of teaching, Jesus endows his parables with unparalleled originality and spiritual depth. In fact, more than one-third of all his recorded sayings are parables.

Several of Jesus’ parables address the suddenness of his future return in glory. One of these is the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.

The central theme of this parable is readiness for the return of Christ. Like the bridegroom in first-century Galilean society, Jesus most assuredly is coming, but he’s coming suddenly and catches the unprepared by surprise.

The central character in this parable is the bridegroom (Christ), who is delayed in coming for his bride (the church). Scripture often refers to the church as the bride and Christ as the bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29).    Believers are “betrothed” to Jesus, who promises to come one day and take them to his Father’s house (John 14:1-3).

A general understanding of first-century Jewish wedding customs is helpful in navigating this parable. 

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