A lamp on a shelf, since some are very beautiful, is without doubt a decorative element in the house; but that is not the purpose for which the potter made it. It was created to be a seat of light, although it will not illuminate if it is not filled with oil. In the same way, neither will the Lamp of the Scripture fulfill its true purpose without God’s oil inside of it. Sure it is commandments and letter of God, but these are not the ones that shine. They offer knowledge, giving “natural light” to the intellectual understanding, but that is not enough for who needs to get out of spiritual darkness.

In the Greek language, the term “word” had two different expressions, “Logos” and “Rhema”, depending on what wanted to be emphasized. When “Logos” was said, it meant the common words used every day. Also the Holy Scripture is “logos”, because it is the Word of God. And when “Rhema” was pronounced, which is being translated as “living word” or “shed word”, a word was meant which in itself has power to work in the heart that opens up to it. It is a word that does not consist of only sounds or letters, but that contains within itself the power to fulfill the will of the One who emitted it, which is God. Because the “Rhema”, only He can pronounce.

The oil is related to this, because there is a quality inside of that liquid. It is the one that allows it to burn when fire sets upon it. What happens when the fire sets on it is that the oil takes hold of it; it does not let it go, nor allows it to diminish.

It has within its constitution the elements to be so. The flame of fire which came from outside and was used to lighten the oil is welcomed, and the oil gives it all it needs to remain burning. The oil has the quality of accepting the fire and of accepting to give itself up, knowing that it will be consumed. It accepts to disappear, allowing the fire, allowing the fire to shine with all its glory. The oil allows the fire to sit on it and to exist on it. It does not oppose it, nor does it make an effort to bear it; it just surrenders to it, giving up to the fire. The fire that lit it will continue burning because the oil denies itself of its own existence. That is exactly the virtue that makes it apt: that it is totally dispossessed of itself. If the fire sets upon it, it will use it to burn, and the oil will be consumed; but it knows it.

The Lamp is His Word, believed and tried; what is the oil?

In the Israel of the Scriptures the oil was obtained from the olives and was commonly used to cook and also as a medical ointment, or as a perfume when mixed with aromatic spices. Another special and sacred oil was used for the religious office, for the liturgy. But the one used in the lamps was a common one for the lighting. It was obtained pressing the olives between two huge and heavy stones that squeezed the juice from the pulp.

In the times of Jesus this job was not done any more by each family for themselves, but there were milling shops that would press the olives to obtain their oil, and the people bought it from them. As the parable also mentions: “go ye rather to them that sell.”

When God instructed Moses about the furniture and accessories of the Tabernacle He ordered to be built because He wanted to dwell amidst of His people, He said about the oil for the lamps: “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.” The pressing of the olive in the milling shop is a figure of the work God made upon His own Son. Jesus is that olive given into the hands of the miller.

And that oil is His Holy Spirit.

The Word of God is the lamp, and the oil is figure of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, filling the heart of the one accepting His Word.

That virtue of the oil of allowing to be consumed is not in us, but it is in Him. That is why He says: “Abide in me, and I in you” and “for without me ye can do nothing”.

Jesus is that pressed olive that has within itself the virtue of accepting the fire to come on Him and consume Him, so that the light of God could shine upon men and withdraw them from the darkness. That Spirit of denying Himself for love of man, that Spirit ready to loose it all so that the light could be, that is the spirit symbolized by the oil. Jesus made of the Mount of Olives and of the Garden of Gethsemane (which in aramee means “olive-press”) his place of prayer.

His fellowship with the Father was many times in this place. His Spirit was willing; He had accepted to be consumed by the fire God had lit, to allow the fruit of Life.

The new covenant that Jesus initiated consists, among many other things, in a work God performs inside of man: “I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them”.

These virtues are in Jesus, “they live in the oil”, they are from the oil. They are not from the lamp, because the lamp does not ignite, but from the oil. The Lamp the Potter made, He made it under the heat because a solid thing is needed which will not admit changes, but the oil that flows into it has a different nature. It is so denied to itself, that it takes the form of the lamp.

The oil is the Spirit of the Lord.

To give light, the lamp needs oil; without it, it won’t be more than an ornament. And just as no light can come out of a lamp without oil, there can also be no spiritual light if the Spirit of the Lord is not in His Word. It is through this Spirit that the blessing for others will come; just because there is a pressed olive it is that light which helps and guides in this way will come. Against its power darkness does not prevail.

The oil is important. And yet, although being so important, maybe the most important of the whole assembly, this oil will not only take the form of the lamp, it will not only give itself up till it be completely consumed, but during all the time it is being used, it will remain hidden inside the lamp. It isn’t even noticed that it is there; it is never seen. The results are thanks to it, but nobody will know that it is through it. It has an humbleness in itself that gives others the place of glory. It will impregnate the wick through which the fire and the light will flow, yet the oil will remain covered and hidden, as if saying: “It is not necessary for me to be seen”.

And the most marvelous of its essence is not only that it remains hidden, but that it dies hidden. That is not mentioned to anybody, from nobody is compassion being expected. Nobody sees that it is dying. The oil has a “spirit of denial”. The spirit of denying itself is in it, because the oil knows that it is being consumed, but it also knows that it is for the blessing of many. Between taking care of itself or surrendering itself, it chooses to surrender. Between him and others, it chooses others. And it gets consumed. We say: “it consumes”, but we do not say: “it gets lost”. It is not lost, because it has fulfilled the purpose of its existence. We do not say: “it finishes”; we say: “the lamp is burning out” or “it is almost empty”. And the same happens with the Spirit of God inside of us. Jesus, from within our lighted being, extends Himself and blesses all He can around us.

The oil of the Spirit of Life that will illuminate men will always be found only inside a lamp formed by the clay of His Word, and the light of God that throws away the darkness of man will never be found separated from His Word. He only flows in what is His own nature.

The light that will shine the way of the virgins of our XXth century towards the Bridegroom will come from lamps, which we without doubt can say it is the Bible, but they will illuminate only if God spills His divine oil into these words. For the Word to become the light to guide men towards the Saviour, that oil of His Holy Spirit must be inside of the Word. That “something” must be there, which makes any biblical portion to be more than a simple text and become what expels the spiritual darkness:

The Spirit of Jesus Christ.