Lesson 25: Parable of the Ten Virgins

May 15, 2011 • 5:26 am 0

I Believe That Jesus Will Come Again

Susan L. Warner, “Sharing Time: I Believe That Jesus Will Come Again,” Friend, Sep 1995, 12

The Second Coming

I will come again (John 14:3).

When Jesus died and was resurrected, He promised that He would come again. Have you ever wondered what that will be like? Jesus could not tell us when He would come, but the scriptures tell us that it will be a glorious event. He will be our King and Ruler. It will be a heavenly, happy time for us if we are prepared to meet Him.

Because Jesus wanted us to know how important it is to be prepared, He told us a parable, or story. It is called the parable of the ten virgins, and it is recorded in Matthew 25:1–13. [Matt 25:1–13]

There were ten young women, or virgins, who were invited to a wedding supper. They had to wait for the bridegroom to let them in, but none of them knew when he would come to open the door.

The young women brought oil-burning lamps to give light so that they could see. Five of them were wise and not only filled their lamps with oil but also brought extra oil so that their lamps would burn for a long time. The other five young women were foolish. They did not bring enough oil.

Before the bridegroom finally came, the oil in all the lamps had burned away. The five wise women put their extra oil in their lamps and lit them. The five foolish women had to leave to buy more oil. By the time they returned, the bridegroom had opened the door, let the wise young women in, and closed the door again. So the five foolish young women could not go in to the wedding with the bridegroom.

Jesus is like the bridegroom. We do not know when He will come again. But if we prepare like the five wise women in the parable, we will be ready and happy to meet Him when He comes.

How can we prepare for the Savior’s coming? President Kimball taught, “In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, … control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 256.)

Instructions

1. Color the picture and the drops of oil on page 13. In the drops of oil, write what you can do to prepare to meet Jesus when He comes again.

2. Remove the page and mount it on lightweight cardboard, then cut out the picture and the drops of oil.

3. Cut slits on the broken lines, as indicated, and “fill” the lamp and the jar for extra oil by placing the drops of oil in the slits.

4. Use the picture to share what you have learned with someone in your family.

Sharing Time Ideas

1. Take a piece of string or yarn long enough to make a large circle, thread it through two empty spools, and tie the ends together. Have the children stand in a circle and hold on to the yarn. As the music is played, the children move the spools along the yarn. When the music stops, the two children who are holding the spools tell one way they can prepare for the time when Jesus comes again. Children can sing “When He Comes Again” (Children’s Songbook, p. 82) while the game is played. Play until every child has given a suggestion.

2. Divide the children into groups with a teacher or leader in each one. Read together the account of the Savior appearing to the Nephites in the Western Hemisphere (see 3 Ne. 11:7–17). Talk about when Jesus blessed the Nephite children (see 3 Ne. 17:11–13, 18–24), and about what it might be like when He comes again. Let the children share their ideas with the rest of the Primary in a news-interview format.

3. Using simple costumes, dramatize the parable of the ten virgins. Let the children who play the parts of the foolish virgins express their feelings about how it feels to be left out and about the importance of being prepared. Discuss how doing good things each day is like putting oil in our lamps.

4. Assign one part of the parable to each class, and have them illustrate it on a large piece of paper. Ask the children to stand in sequence, explain their picture, and tell their part of the parable. Invite a member of the bishopric to attend and respond.

5. Children could make small lamps out of play dough (see Primary 1, p. xv) and use them to tell the parable of the ten virgins. They could take the lamps home and share the parable and the present-day application at family home evening.

6. Have the children draw pictures to illustrate the following terms to add to their “My Articles of Faith Book” (see Sharing Time, Friend, January 1995, page 36): “Testimony—a special feeling that comes to me from the Holy Ghost”; “First Coming—the time from Jesus’ birth on earth until His crucifixion”; “Second Coming—the time when Jesus, our Savior, will come to earth again and reign as King.”

Filed under: Lesson 25: Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus is like the bridegroom, The Second Coming

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