Who is the bride of Jesus?

Who is the Bride of Christ (Messiah)? Let's see what the Bible has to say about the matter. All biblical text is King James Version unless specifically noted otherwise. Matthew 25:1-13 (Red Lettered Text) is what Jesus (Yeshua) gave to the church regarding the bride. This parable from Jesus represents the Christian Church. Jesus calls them virgins. He sees the Christian Church as virgins (purity). The bride is a small portion of the Christians. The wise, faithful virgins. The wise virgins live a life of righteousness before the Lord God. The foolish virgins, are still Christians, but they do not live a life pleasing unto Jesus and will not go to heaven with the wise virgins, but instead will enter into the tribulation judgments that come upon the earth after the wise virgins have been taken away to heaven.

Matthew 25 textual review: Matthew 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Notice the word “Then”. This denotes time. A certain place in time (history) that “this” event will take place. There is importance to the reference of “kingdom of heaven”. Notice that in Matthew 6:10 it is written, “Thy kingdom come.” It’s the same Kingdom. It's the Father's heavenly Kingdom. It is a coming kingdom that Jesus will establish on earth (after) the completion of the great tribulation period. Jesus will then establish His 1,000 year reign as King on the Earth. Notice what Jesus says about the ten virgins: the 10 virgins “did something”; in their actions they “took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom”.

Matthew 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Notice that they are all considered virgins. Some were wise, some were foolish. In this scriptural reference we see half were wise and half were foolish. Is this an exact figure of 50% each or is it something else? I believe the wise are more like 5% of the total Christians.

Matthew 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: Jesus describes the foolish virgins first. The foolish virgins took lamps. They all had lamps and they all took their lamps with them. They did not take enough oil with them to sustain a light in their lamps.

Matthew 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Notice that both groups are virgins and had lamps. However, only the wise virgins took oil “in their vessels” with their lamps. So what do we have here? We have foolish virgins with lamps and no additional oil. The wise virgins had lamps and vessels with oil for the lamps.

Matthew 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Here we have a bridegroom presented. Notice the focus is no longer on the virgins, but the bridegroom. Who is this bridegroom?

Matthew 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him. At midnight a cry was made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him. This cry could be in a number of forms. Since the bible discusses a trumpet in various places, let's say that it is a trumpet that is heard. All the virgins hear the trumpet call. They all are summoned to go out and meet the bridegroom.

Matthew 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. The virgins all arose and trimmed their lamps. All the lamps had enough oil to trim or light their lamps.

Matthew 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. It appears that all the virgins were able to start a light in their lamps. However, the foolish virgins were not able to sustain a lighted lamp, because of a lack of oil for the lamp. The foolish virgins recognized that the wise virgins brought a vessel of oil for their lamps along with their lamps. The foolish virgins asked (maybe even demanded) the wise virgins give them oil for their lamps.

Matthew 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Remember, they are all virgins! All had lamps. Yet only the wise had oil available to them in their vessels. They all have some oil within their lamps. What is this lamp? It is my opinion that the lamp represents being born again, walking with Jesus daily and having faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior of their soul/spirit. The lamp is the place where the light shines forth to the darkened world. It's possible it represents the lamp of God within the individual? What is this oil? I say it is the Holy Spirit. So then, what does this mean? I say it is this. Everyone that is 'born again' John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The oil may be the measure of faith (Romans 12:3) written about in the New Testament. There are those who have matured in the Truth of the Lord and there are those who remain babies. In Matthew 25:14-30 is the parable of the talents. You may say it is a parable of riches, you know money. I say it is a parable describing faith. I say it reveals how the Lord deals with faith in the believer. You can see that all have faith. The Lord gives that measure of faith to everyone at birth. He then allows the individual to either use the faith given to them for Godly use or worldly use. To those who have demonstrated kingdom faith, more is added to their faith as demonstrated within the parable. So where is this additional faith coming from? The answer is within the parable itself. The last guy (a believer) failed to do anything with his money/faith. He ended up being cast into outer darkness and his money/faith given to the one with ten talents. This, of course, becomes problematic for many. If indeed faith is received from God to all at conception, and if it is not used properly, it can be taken away from he/she who receives that faith, and then given to another? If so, then that means all have been given that measure of faith unto salvation. That means that the faith given by God to all is unto salvation. If that faith is misused; it is given to those who desire greater faith. That's how their (Christian) faith grows. Those who have their faith taken away from them through their own denial of Jesus as God and Savior; are left to be cast into the pit, hell, lake of fire, outer darkness, etc. Now, back to the wise virgins rejecting the foolish virgins request for oil. The wise virgins figured out a long time ago in their walk with the Lord that there are ravenous wolves in the world ready to gobble them up. These wolves don't speak any truth, or at least they don't speak all of the truth. Faith may not be properly developed. Therefore vessels cannot store up enough oil. There were many who were born again but did not develop properly in the Lord. Their eyes got off of Jesus and went to someone else, or something else, or to the world. They became foolish virgins. The wise virgins knowing that they needed vessels full of oil were unwilling to give any of their oil to the others. They knew they needed all their oil to enter into the kingdom of God as a bride. Please read the parable of the sower. Matt 13:1-23 and Mark 4:1-20.

Matthew 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Well, now we know Who the bridegroom Is. It's Jesus! Now we also know why the wise virgins were not going to give up any of their oil to the foolish virgins. They may not have had enough oil left for them to enter into the marriage. Notice the bridegroom came and only the wise virgins were ready to enter into the marriage and were allowed in. It is she who sits on Jesus' throne (Revelation 3:21) with Him.

Matthew 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying Lord, Lord, open to us. How sad! The foolish virgins weren't ready. They were still virgins, but they were not ready. No mention is made about them being able to obtain the necessary oil for their lamps. Maybe the oil takes a while to collect? The foolish virgins seem to recognize that the bridegroom is Jesus. They call to Him for entrance into the marriage.

Matthew 25:12 But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Well, this is the saddest yet. He recognized them all right. But recognition is not the same as knowing. They never seemed to have developed a love and closeness to Jesus that is a requirement of the bride. Read Matthew 7:21-23. It reveals the Christian Church and how they (the foolish virgins) lived their life to please themselves, not Jesus. He rejected them in the end.

Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Watch! Another requirement of the bride is to watch for the coming of the bridegroom. Few it appears await His coming. Most apparently are captured by fleshly, worldly or other pleasures; not waiting and watching for the Lord. We don't know exactly when He is coming. We do know the times and the seasons, if indeed we want to know. It does state that He is coming for His bride. Come Lord Jesus. May the reader be blessed.