Hi kids! This week we will be learning about the parable of the 10 Bridesmaids. You can find the Parable in your Bibles, in Matthew Chapter 25.

One day Jesus and his disciples were sitting up on the Mount of Olives talking about the signs and wonders that would appear at the time just before He would return to Earth the second time. He was explaining all these things so that we could be prepared for His Second Coming. Jesus wants all of us in heaven with him and doesn’t want anybody to miss out! Let’s keep reading to see how we can make sure we’re prepared to meet Jesus when he comes to take us home.

Jesus liked to speak in parables to His disciples – Parables are stories which seem simple but have a deeper meaning and lesson. One of the parables that Jesus told to the disciples was about the 10 Bridesmaids.

He told the disciples that the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 bridesmaids who took their lamps and waited to meet the groom. In those days, the Groom would come collect the Bride and her bridesmaids from the home of the Bride and then they would all travel together to the Groom’s father’s house to celebrate! They would walk in procession almost like a parade, with their lamps shining brightly during the night. The most common type of lamp was the oil lamp. It was important that you had enough oil, otherwise it would burn out and not provide any light. The bride and her bridesmaids never knew the exact time of his arrival so when he was near someone would shout to let the bride and bridesmaids know he would be there soon.

There were 10 bridesmaids in Jesus’ parable; 5 that were wise and 5 that were foolish. The foolish bridesmaids brought their lamps with them to wait for the groom but no extra oil. The wise bridesmaids brought along extra oil in jars as well as their lamps.

The ladies were very excited to get celebrate with their friends at the groom’s father’s house and they were waiting very patiently. They waited and waited and waited some more. The groom seemed to be taking his time and they were starting to feel very tired. After waiting a little more, they all fell asleep! All 10, both the wise and the foolish!

Then at midnight someone shouted – “He’s almost here, come out and meet him!” The bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps – trimming the wick and making sure that there was enough oil.

The 5 foolish bridesmaids noticed that their lamps were not burning very brightly and were feeling worried that their lights might burn out. They didn’t bring any extra oil with them like the wise bridesmaids did, so they said to the wise bridesmaids “Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out!”

The wise bridesmaids only brought enough oil for themselves so they replied “No, there may not be enough for both us and you. Go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” So off they went to go and buy some oil for themselves. They hurried so they wouldn’t miss out on the Wedding Celebration.

While they were on their way to buy the oil, the groom arrived and the wise bridesmaids who were ready went with him to the Wedding Banquet. After the groom arrived at his father’s house with the wise bridesmaids the door was shut.

Later, the foolish bridesmaids arrived. They were calling out to the groom to let them in. “Open the door for us!” they cried. But the groom replied “Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.”.

Jesus finished His parable, he warned the disciples – “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”.

Jesus wants all of us to be ready for Him when He returns. We need to make sure we have enough oil in our lamps to keep shining for Jesus! Jesus will help us to keep watch every day as we wait for Him to take us home – all we need to do is ask and by His grace He will do the rest, Praise God! All of Jesus’ parables are rich with many lessons. If you want to dig deeper into this parable, ask  someone to help you do a Bible Study.

We have word-find activity available to download this week, enjoy!