Fell asleep? The 10 virgins and the return of Jesus
On the topic of “The Return of Jesus” I would like to discuss a well-known text from the “Little Apocalypse” (Matthew 24+25).
Apocalypse (Greek apokalyptein: “to uncover”) promises revelation. I would like to limit myself to one pericope from this section: The parable of the ten virgins from Matthew 25:1-13:
1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
6 But at midnight there was a cry, "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him."
7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."
9 But the wise answered, saying, "Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves."
10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us."
12 But he answered, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you."
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:1-13 (ESV)
In this text, three signs of Jesus' return are addressed, not expressly, but packaged in a three-part parody of the end-time church.
- Parody of church sleep
- Parody of the holiness movement
- Parody of the Pentecostal movement
Parody in the Bible? What's that supposed to mean? In terms of the Greek meaning of the word, it means "driving next to the road." The Duden calls a parody "a humorous reinterpretation of a serious story." Should Jesus really have used this genre? The fact that Jesus spoke in parables clearly indicates this, because a parable, a parable, is related to parody and means "toss, swipe"
Autor: Dr. Paul Schmidgall
Pictures: https://pixabay.com/de/
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