NOTES for Mar 12:1-12

Today's parable belongs to the series of parables about spiritual readiness for the Last Judgment. The behavior of the young women who did not take oil with them gives us a very harsh and unsparing picture of overconfidence and foolishness. It was necessary to foresee the possibility that the bridegroom could be delayed, and that requires wisdom. You cannot be so sure that your own oil will certainly be enough; any overconfidence here is out of place.

Some interpreters try to find symbolic meaning in the fact that the parable speaks specifically about oil. In the Old Testament there is the phrase "oil of gladness" (see, for example, Ps 44:8). St. Macarius uses precisely this phrase in his interpretation of this passage. What gladness is meant? Surely the gladness of love for the Bridegroom, by whom, according to the symbolism of the Song of Songs, God is always understood. Christ Himself also calls Himself the Bridegroom. Remember the words: can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? So here the issue is the joy of pure love, clouded by nothing.