When we think about our life this way, we realize that we have been waiting for something our whole life. We await school, studies, trade, first salary, wedding, vacation, or surgery. When we get old, we change the switches: we don’t ask what I’m waiting for, but what’s waiting for me. At the end of our life and the end of the history of salvation stands the glorified Christ. All the steps of our life are directed towards him when we hear: The bridegroom is here; go to meet him! However, we do not know when it will be. We do not know the day or the hour when everything will fall out of our hands – what we considered necessary – and when we will appear before the stern Judge, namely Christ the Lord. We must not miss that turning point, that critical moment. We must not fall asleep at that crucial moment. Otherwise, we will be like those foolish virgins, and we will not achieve the goal of our life.
The Gospel says that during the long wait, the foolish virgins and the prudent ones fell asleep. And the Lord Jesus does not blame them for it. He knows well that those who follow him must also rest. After all, we cannot pray all day and wait for the Lord to come. That would be absurd. The mother has to think about cooking, the student about his homework, the worker about his machine, and the manager about his computer to make everything work. We can peacefully sleep for eight hours, walk, and swim without engaging in religious thoughts. And so the prudent virgins acted. They cleaned their lamps and had them full of oil. Before falling asleep, they looked forward to the bridegroom taking them to the feast. They knew well that they would be closer to this great hour when they woke up. While the foolish virgins were disgusted with the long wait and so gave themselves up to sleep, thinking that the bridegroom would not come. They neither cleaned their lamps nor procured oil for them – and yet they could have done this while still expecting his arrival.
A person falls asleep when he stops waiting for God and focuses on other things: when he throws himself into business, when he listens to the radio every spare minute when he sits for hours watching television or the Internet and ignores what he is doing in the world and what awaits him at the end. And it will go so far that he lives thoughtlessly daily as if he fell asleep. However, one day, what the Gospel speaks about will happen. In the middle of the night, a cry goes out: The bridegroom is here; go quickly to meet him! And people will come out of their workshops, from their desks, computers, trains and cars, cinemas, bars and public houses, completely frightened. They did not expect this situation. The question of God and eternity was long ago put aside as superfluous junk. Hopefully, they will remember their baptism, Christmas, when they lit the candles on the tree and would like to get something out of it all. But the oil has long since been spent, and what once shone has turned into darkness. It was too late when the bridesmaids woke up the vendors and bought the oil. The door to the wedding reception has finally closed.
What does this mean for each of us? That means we only have one limited time. And when this time is over, our life will close forever. And then we won’t do anything. However, the gospel about the prudent and foolish virgins is a warning, caution, and joyful promise. At the end of life, we are not only faced with a “tooth and a scythe” or a bad fate, such as a myocardial infarction, a malignant neoplasm, or a fatal accident. At the end of life stands Jesus Christ – the one who was, who is, who will be forever. There’s no need to be afraid of him. Christ the Lord is a strict and just Judge and a merciful and gracious Savior who brings us joy. He comes as a bridegroom to usher us into the wedding feast. There will not be the usual yelling and screaming but the tender, intimate, and infinite love of God. Therefore, our last hour will be the most fantastic. It will fulfill what we have been waiting for all our lives – eternal life in perfect joy.
