Matthew 25:5 Commentary and Bible Study

All ten bridesmaids sat about and dozed. For five of them it was peaceful sleep, but for others it was a stupor of delusion. Those without oil should have been agitated, concerned. We go through life cool, calm, collected about what is happening to us. What are they doing there if not to light the way with their lamps? Have they forgotten they have no oil? No, they are just unconcerned, unthinking, or they come up with some other reason why it will not matter, but it will. It is the reason they have been invited. As should have been predicted, the bridegroom was delayed and the night grew late and both the wise and the foolish virgins became sleepy and finally fell fast asleep. There is no particular significance to this falling asleep as if it was a fault on the part of these young women, for the hour was late in an age when people tended to rise at dawn and sleep when it became dark. The bridegroom did not find fault with them for being asleep. It is simply a device in the parable to create a situation in which no further opportunity for preparation is possible. What mattered was whether they were prepared for such a delay. In this and other parables, Christ warned that the second coming would be after a long time, and that men must be prepared whenever he comes.