Today’s Gospel continues Matthew’s witness to the days leading up to the crucifixion. Now, Jesus has left the Temple Mount, crossed the Kidron Valley and is teaching his disciples on the Mount of Olives, which is a stunning location. It forms a ridge to the east of the Temple. The southern end of it is Jerusalem’s cemetery, and it also has olive groves on it – including the Garden of Gethsemane – and it overlooks the Temple Mount.

 From that spot, Jesus has been teaching them about the coming conflict, the destruction of the Temple down below, and the end times. All of this will come suddenly, and no one knows when. This Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids is the first of three he will share describing the coming of the Kingdom of God.

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J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are two of the great saints who were giants of English literature. Tolkien is best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and other works detailing the origins of the fictitious world they inhabit. Lewis is best known for his many books that explore and explain our Christian faith in our modern times, including Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia, which he wrote to impart Christian ideas to children so they would more easily recognize and grasp them as adults. After his death, his essays, sermons and personal letters were gathered into other books.

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Today’s Gospel continues where we left off last week, and where we have been for several Sundays. Jesus has come into Jerusalem as we celebrate on Palm Sunday. He has cleansed the Temple and has been teaching, preaching and healing there, and he has been confronted by the priests and elders, in essence the religious and civil authorities. This is his third parable in response to them, following the two sons and the bad tenants.

In order to grasp the weight of this parable, we need to focus on the main character. This isn’t a friend or a neighbor, a colleague or a client, or a distant relative. This is the king, which we need to understand in their context. A king was at the very apex of their social order. He was in charge, period. He had absolute authority, wealth, and an army.

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