This Joy of Mine Is Now Full
Meditation: Do you know the joy of the Lord? When some friends of John the Baptist complain that all the people are now going to Jesus, John in his characteristic humility exclaimed that he was not the Messiah but only the messenger sent to prepare his way. John describes the Messiah as the Bridegroom and himself as the friend of the Bridegroom. The image of the groom delighting in his bride and the joy of the wedding feast is used in the Bible as a sign or symbol of God’s covenant love and joy in being united with his people, whom he calls his bride. As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:5).
Through the gift of the Holy Spirit John recognized that Jesus was the anointed Messiah, sent from the Father in heaven to reunite his people to himself. John acted as the groom’s best man in arranging the marriage and in making preparations for the marriage feast. John and his disciples now rejoice that the Bridegroom has come to make his bride, the people of God, ready for the marriage feast. The New Testament tells us that Christ’s blood which was shed upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, seals us in a new covenant between God and his people. The Book of Revelation depicts the final fulfillment and consummation of this new covenant relationship at the marriage feast of the “Lamb and his Bride” in the New Jerusalem (see Revelations 21-22). Do you look with joyful anticipation to the consummation of God’s plan for his people at the end of the ages?
Lord Jesus, may I never forget the love you have poured out for me when you shed your blood upon the Cross of Calvary for my sins and for my salvation. May your love always grow in me and your hope fill me with joy as I wait for your return in glory when all of your people will be fully united with you at your heavenly banquet feast in the New Jerusalem.
Psalm 149:1-6,9
1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre!
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.
9b This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ is the husband of the church his bride, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
“This means he alone is the husband of the church (John 3:29), he is the expectation of the nations, and the prophets removed their sandals while offering to him a union of nuptial grace. He is the bridegroom; I am the friend of the bridegroom. I rejoice because he is coming, because I hear the nuptial chant, because now we do not hear the harsh penalties for sinners, the harsh torments of the law, but the forgiveness of offenses, the cry of joy, the sound of cheerfulness, the rejoicing of the nuptial feast.” (excerpt from ON THE PATRIARCHS 4.22)
copyright © 2021 Servants of the Word, source: dailyscripture.net, author Don Schwager.