This coming Sunday is the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle A. Our gospel is the parable of the Ten Virgins.

The gospel readings for the 29th through 31st Sundays in Lectionary Cycle A all describe a series of confrontations between Jesus and religious authorities of Jerusalem, namely the scribes and Pharisees. The reading for the 31st Sunday ends with Jesus warning the disciples to not become hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:12). It would seem like one more verse would have been a capstone to the warning: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites” (v.13)

And this was just the first of several “woes” cast upon the religious leaders. The “woe to you” verses continue unrelentingly through the end of Mt 23. The chapter’s penultimate end is the warning: “Amen, I say to you, all these things [the woes described] will come upon this generation.” The ultimate chapter-end are vv. 37-39, Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem with a denunciation of the current religious leadership. The verses also include a prophetic reference to the 70 AD Roman destructions of Jerusalem and the Temple: “Behold, your house will be abandoned, desolate.” (v.38) and the prophecy that after that event,  “I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” – repeating the Palm Sunday proclamation for the Messiah, pointing ahead to Jesus’ return.

While not a part of Ordinary Time readings, Chapter 24 continues this theme of imminent destruction and coming tribulation (Mt 24:1-28) 1 Jesus left the temple area and was going away, when his disciples approached him to point out the temple buildings. 2 He said to them in reply, “You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” 3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Mt 24:1-3). This apocalyptic chapter ends with a description of the coming of the Son of Man (Mt 24:29-31) and final warnings about not knowing the time or date of the return of the Master. It is at this point that we turn the page to encounter our Sunday gospel: The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13).

It is here in Matthew 25 that we will finish the final three Sundays of this cycle of Ordinary Time:

• 32nd Sunday: The Wise and Foolish Maidens (vv. 1-13)
• 33rd Sunday: The Parable of the Three Servants (vv. 14-30)
• Christ the King: The Great Judgment (vv. 31-46)

The biblical scholar R.T. France (2007, 889) calls these two chapters, “The End of the Old Order and the Reign of the Son of Man”

This final Matthean discourse focuses on the future, with emphasis especially on the theme of judgment. It takes its cue from the disciples’ question in 24:3, which combines two aspects of the future, the predicted destruction of the temple and Jesus’ “coming (parousia) and the end of the age”. With regard to the former the question is “When?,” with regard to the latter “What will be the sign?”  In either focus, they are precursors of judgment.

Image credit: Greek Fresco, “Bridal Chamber”, iconreader.wordpress.com, CC-BY