In the parable, Jesus tells of ten virgins who were awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. When a couple was engaged to be married, the bride-to-be would stay with her parents while the groom prepared a house for them to live in. The groom could come for his bride at any time, day or night, so the bride had to be ready at literally any time. The engagement could be as short as six months or as long as two years. 

Jesus used this image to show that His return could also come at literally any time, day or night. Our responsibility is to be ready at any time. In Acts 1:6, the disciples asked Jesus if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel. They wanted to know if Jesus’ reign on earth would begin immediately. Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). If we are ready for His Second Coming, then we don’t need to concern ourselves so much with the timing. We can make sure that others are ready by sharing our faith and helping people find salvation in Christ.

In Matthew 25:9 the bridegroom arrives, but five of the virgins are not ready because they don’t have enough oil and their lamps are going out. In verses 3 and 4, Jesus said that the foolish virgins didn’t bring any oil with them, whereas the prudent ones did. The result was that the foolish virgins were gone when the bridegroom arrived, so they missed out on the wedding feast and were not permitted to participate. While there is a window of opportunity for people to come to know Christ, that window will not stay open forever.  Isaiah 55:6 illustrates the same point, saying, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near” (italics mine). 

Jesus gives another picture of the kingdom of heaven in verses 14-30, in the parable of the talents. The master was gone for a period of time and entrusted sums of money to his servants. Three servants were given different amounts, each according to his ability (Matthew 25:15). One was given five talents, another two talents, and one talent went to the last servant. Those servants who were given five and two talents used the money that had been entrusted to them, and when the master returned, they had twice as much as they started with. The servant who had been given one talent hid the money in the ground. So the money was not used for anything at all.

The servants who had been entrusted with five talents and two talents were praised by the master and rewarded. The servant who had hid the talent in the ground was severely punished by the master. The servant said that he knew the master to be a hard man, reaping where he had not sown and gathering where he had not scattered any seed (verse 24). This is definitely not a picture of what God is like, and it is certainly possible that the master in the parable was not like that, either. The master is not pictured as being a hard man, considering that he rewarded the other two servants for wisely using what was entrusted to them. Not only this, but the foolish servant even says that his master reaps where he had not sown and gathers where he had not scattered any seed. Not only is he wrongly saying that his master is unfair, he is accusing him of stealing other peoples’ crops! Considering the situation this servant is in, that’s generally not a wise idea!

The master rebukes the servant for not even putting the money in the bank to earn interest. The servant denied the master even that meager profit by hiding the money in the ground. The issue here is not how much the person is entrusted with, but rather what they do with the resources that are entrusted to them. Jesus certainly isn’t teaching salvation by works here, either. Ephesians 2:8,9 clearly states that our salvation is a gift from God and not something that we can earn.