Home » Programs » I Tell You The Truth » I Don't Know You

I Don't Know You

Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus told an evocative little story.  It’s one which is easy to visualize and so is popular in Bible story books and popular as a subject for artistic renderings.  

“...The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.  The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.  The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.  "At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’  "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’  "‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’  "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.  "Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’  "But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’  "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.  (Matthew 25:1-13 NIV)

Simply put, the five virgins who were unprepared were shut out.  What’s more, in response to their plea to be allowed in, they were told “I tell you truth, I don’t know you.”  In our time and place, we would call these “wedding crashers.”  It seemed they had some inside information about when and where the wedding would occur.  They wanted to attend.  They had come to the right place at the right time.  But, in fact, they were not friends of the bridegroom, even though they tried to pass themselves off as such.  They did so much right, but they overlooked one key thing.  They weren’t prepared and so missed the window of opportunity. 

What jumps out at me today is the concept of preparation.  It’s rather like being physically fit.  It’s an ongoing thing.  When I visit my doctor, who raises issues of diet and exercise, he is quite unimpressed when I tell him how fit and trim I was as a teenager.  That really has nothing to do with my current condition.  He is concerned with my level of fitness today.

This parable drives home the point that to have had a spiritual experience in the past is not sufficient to qualify you as one of the Lord’s own.  Having followed Jesus during some earlier period in your life does not qualify you as a follower now.  Some give false assurance that as long as you once had your spiritual lamp lit, you are “good to go.”  Make no mistake, it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved.  (Matthew 24:13)

In this declaration of truth, Jesus reminds us vividly, that it is possible to look like one of His own, to gather with them, to be aware of His coming and so on and still hear those grim words “I tell you truth, I don’t know you.”   The intent of the parable is unquestionable.  Those who are prepared for the Jesus’ return will enter heaven with Him, those who are scurrying around at the last minute doing what they should have done earlier will be left out.   Are you among the prepared, or among those whose frantic attempts to get right with God after Jesus comes will prove to be ill-timed and insufficient?