By St. John of Kronstadt
You
have just heard, beloved, a touching hymn: “Behold the bridegroom comes
in the middle of the night,” which is sung at Matins in the first three
days of Holy Week. In order that it may be comprehensible to all, and
that it may be of the desired benefit to all, let me offer an
explanation of it to your love. The hymn: "Behold, the bridegroom comes
in the middle of the night" reminds us of the parable of the Savior, in
which He likens the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins, who, according to
ancient custom, took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
The compiler of the hymn had this parable in mind. We will present it here and explain it briefly.
"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins," says the Savior, "who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."
Explanation
of the parable: the ten virgins – the five wise and the five fools –
signify us Christians. Some of us are wise because of our faith, our
virtuous life, and because we are prepared for our death; others are
foolish due to their unbelief or cold indifference to the faith, their
impure carnal life, and their being unprepared for their death and the
judgment that will immediately follow it, "for it is appointed for men
to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27). The foolish ones,
it is said, took their lamps but did not take oil with them. What do the
lamps and the oil for the lamps mean? The the Saviors words: "the lamp
of the body is the eye" (Matt 6:22), by “eye” He means the heart of man,
or soul. The oil symbolizes alms, according to St John Chrysostom’s
interpretation, or good deeds in general. Therefore, the foolish
Christians, going out to meet the bridegroom, did not prepare for their
souls good deeds, which could have supported their spiritual life. The
wise ones, it is said, took oil in their vessels with their lamps,
meaning that they stocked up on good deeds in order to worthily meet the
bridegroom. Who is the bridegroom? Jesus Christ. When and how do we go
out to meet Him? Our entire lives must be since their beginning a
preparation for our personal meeting with Him, because every soul after
its death must appear and answer before Him, as to the Author of our
life. Throughout our lives we must take care to acquire and preserve in
our hearts a living faith and an ardent love for God, so that after our
deaths standing before the terrible throne of the Lord of glory will
neither be shameful nor to our condemnation. We will go out for the
general meeting with Him during our resurrection from the dead, when all
who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who
have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done
evil, to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28–29). The
bridegroom, that is, Jesus Christ, is in no hurry to cut our lives short
with death, not willing that any should perish but that all should come
to repentance (2 Pet 3:9), and is equally delaying His glorious, and
dreadful, second coming so that the sons of the kingdom may multiply
more and more.
Meanwhile,
people, temporarily seduced by the sweetness of sin, by its impunity,
and seeing that the world remains stable, think it will remain as such
forever, and they themselves, enjoying robust health and other material
goods, immerse themselves in spiritual slumber, not caring for their
correction, and thus sleep the sleep of sin. However, precisely at the
midnight of their sinful sleep, when none among the sinners thinks about
the grave dangers in which they find themselves, a loud voice is heard:
"Behold, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet Him!" Then all will
tremble and light their lamps, that is, will exert spiritual attention.
At that time it will be good for the wise Christians: their souls will
ignite with the sweetest love for God; but for the foolish, it will be
bad. Their souls, like lamps without oil, will die out, that is, they
will grow dark and cold from the lack of love for God, the source of
love, and will start to taste the torments of hell. They will ask the
wise Christians for oil, that is, for good deeds, but those will not
give it to them, so that they also may not be opportunities to do them,
however, precisely at this time when they wish to do good deeds, the
bridegroom will come, death will catch them by surprise, and will place
them before the heavenly Judge without any virtues whatsoever, reeking
of the filth of their own lawlessness. They will desire to go inside the
bridal chamber of the heavenly kingdom, which all of us from birth are
destined to enter, the reason for which we live. Their Lord will not
allow them to enter, and will say to them: "I do not know you." Watch
therefore, the Lord concludes the parable, for you know neither the day
nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Now
all of us understand the church hymn: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes in
the middle of the night, and blessed is that servant,” that is, every
Christian, “whom He shall find watching, and again, unworthy is the
servant whom He shall find heedless (sleeping the sleep of sin). Beware,
therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep (that is, do
not be weighed down with the sleep of sin), lest you be given up to
(eternal) death, and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse
yourself crying: Holy, holy, holy, are You our God, through the
Theotokos have mercy on us.” Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.