From today's readings: "For Jews
demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are
called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God.... The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.... "
Parables are, by their nature, allegorical, and
not meant to be interpreted literally. Furthermore, the central point is often
supported by casual details that are not intended to be scrutinized for
objections.
So, for example, the parable of the ten virgins
(which, incidentally, only occurs in Matthew), emphasizes the need to be
vigilant for the coming of Christ, the Bridegroom. Certain elements of the
parable appear awkward and out-of-place, even in the context of an ancient
Jewish wedding. First of all, there is curiously no mention of the bride! There
was a custom for the bride to be escorted by her bridesmaids in a torchlight
procession to the home of the groom, but that's not exactly what is described
here.
We also note that both the foolish and wise
maidens fell asleep, although at the end, Jesus emphasizes that the moral is to
"stay awake." Also, the wise virgins come across as selfish for
refusing to share their oil, and their suggestion for the others to buy some
would have been impractical at that late hour. Finally, the groom's reply to
the foolish virgins locked out is cruelly cold-hearted.
But all those disconcerting details don't
detract from the parable's point; rather, their intrinsic improbability helps
the listeners and readers to ignore them as inconsequential, precisely in order
to focus more on the central theme! Similarly, a painter might purposely
portray a fuzzy, incongruent background in order to introduced some contrast
with the sharp lifelike details of the picture's subject. Just as the blurred
background thus enhances the portrait, so the maladroit particulars of the
parable cleverly make it more memorable.