But he said in reply, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” Matthew 25:12 NABRE
Jesus shares a parable that is like the kingdom of heaven which begins with ten virgins attending a wedding feast, five foolish and five wise. They bring oil lamps, the wise ones also bring flasks with oil and the foolish ones do not. The bridegroom is delayed and when his arrival is announced the foolish virgins don’t’ have enough oil to light their lamps. They run off to a merchant to buy oil, and it is in this moment the bridegroom arrives and the doors are locked for the feast. When the five foolish virgins return they cannot get in and cry out to the Lord to open the door and He replies, I do not know you. It is a parable about being ready, Jesus closes the parable by saying “stay awake.” A key moment in the parable is the message from inside the feast that the five foolish virgins are unknown. It seems a strange message from Jesus but it is not the first time we hear these words, Jesus tells someone they are not known because they have not done the will of the Father (Matthew 7:23) Here oil is entry into the feast, it is a symbol for doing the Father’s will. If we do good we are welcome, if we have not done good we are not known. In order to be known we must do good, and be a person of righteousness. By doing these things we essentially accumulate oil, which will allow our light to shine!
Jesus is teaching that the more good we do the more we are helping Him and connecting with Him. We become known by Jesus, by our deeds, and our righteousness. If we live life foolishly in the eyes of God, we will not be known by Jesus and the kingdom will not be available to us, we will be calling out to join to no avail.
Do you do what you can to get in Jesus’ line of sight? How well do you want to be known by Jesus?
We become known by Jesus, by our deeds, and our righteousness. If we live life foolishly in the eyes of God, we will not be known by Jesus and the kingdom will not be available to us, we will be calling out to join to no avail. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #oil #deeds #Matthew #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways