8. The Cry at Midnight

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Matthew 25:6

Up until this point we have identified people, places, and things in the parable. We said that the subjects of the parable are the ten virgins while the focus of the parable is the bridegroom. There remains one final element within the parable we must establish before we go further. That is the time which the virgins are waiting for. The time is the central theme of chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew. The time of the bridegroom’s coming! The time of the coming of the Son of Man! When will He come? In the center of the parable, we read at midnight there was a cry…

In the previous chapter the Lord had said, watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come… (24:42). Like the thief in the night, the shout of the Lord, the voice of the archangel, the sounding of the trumpet of the Lord, so will the coming of the Lord be (I Thessalonians 4:16). A cry will go out at midnight! The cry at midnight is the picture in the parable of the return of Christ. This is in line with the whole context – when will the Son of Man return? Whenever that time is, a cry will go out. When the cry goes out, the time to prepare for the feast will be finished, the end of all things will be at hand, the bridegroom will come, the feast is prepared! The cry at midnight is the day of the Lord’s return.

Well then, what should we learn about this time? Is God telling us what the time will be like so that we can review the newspaper and decipher a code in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Joel to know just which month or decade it will be? Consider the timing of this parable in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was two days from the feast of Passover where He will be delivered at the hands of wicked men to be crucified (26:1). In His preparation to go to the cross to fulfill all righteousness, to do the will of the Father, to reconcile God and man, to atone for the sins of all the elect, to wash us with His blood, He wanted His disciples and all believers to watch for His return – Watch Therefore!

The purpose of a Biblical eschatology is not to win debates, make youtube videos, or move to Israel. The purpose of Biblical eschatology is to know the Lord and the power of His resurrection. He who rose from the dead told us He would return from glory where He ascended and until He does it (at any moment, in any hour) we are to watch! Now is the time to flee from the wrath of God to come. Repent therefore and be reconciled to God that your sins might be blotted out.

May the Lord give to us great anticipation and joy as we wait to see Him face to face; May He give us great urgency in prayer for ourselves, for the lost, Thy Kingdom come; May He give us great strength to walk not as the foolish virgins but as the wise so that we may hear the Words of Jesus at that great day, “Come, ye, blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

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