Wednesday after Last Sunday - A Devotion
Devotion for Wednesday after Last Sunday
Daniel 5:1-30 Revelation 21:9-27
Have you ever been to a wedding? One of the highlights is to see the bride and marvel at the glorious dress she is wearing, at Christian weddings it is to be white. In the US, it is usually delicate and beautiful. Oftentimes, people are excited to see the bride. They want to get a look at her. They want to see the dress – ooos and ahhhhs abound when she appears.
John is taken aside in this first verse of the New Testament lesson above reads: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Who is the bride? That’s the first question many people ask. The bride is the people of God. Throughout the Old Testament, we read about how God considered the people Israel his bride – and He the bridegroom. When the Israelites worshiped other gods with the only True God, the Lord their God called it adultery – they were whoring after other gods. Neither outright paganism nor syncretism were acceptable to God! When the Israelites tried to worship the Lord God in place or the manner that pagans worshiped their gods, God called it adultery. The glory due to the only True God, He will not share with another.
Throughout the Old Testament, we are given the constant picture of the bride being the church and God Himself being the bridegroom. As God enfleshed, Jesus helps to focus this picture for us, He explains that He specifically is the bridegroom. Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom. In Matthew we read this account. Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matthew 9:14-15)
Another question many ask when they read our text is, “Who is the Lamb?” The Lamb is Christ, very God of very God. The Lamb is the Son of God who took on human flesh, the One to whom John the baptizer pointed and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” This agrees with what Jesus said to the Pharisees when He called Himself the Bridegroom.
So, why are we given a glimpse of the bride in this book of Revelation?
1) Persecution is going on.
A) People dying for their faith, some in a rather gruesome manner.
B) Some suffering in other manners - economic stranglehold, imprisonment.
2) Entire book of Revelation is a picture of constant struggle.
A) World is enemy of church.
B) Satan is enemy of Church and uses many means to attach the faithful
i) sometimes in the church
ii) sometimes outside the church
3) God is the one who has defeated Satan and the World and gives to His bride, the Victory.
That is what this vision given to John is all about. This revelation reveals the truth of the Gospel. Christ has won the victory over the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
The greatest question that mankind asks is this, “What is life all about? I see people dying all around me. What is after this life? Is there something to look forward to?”
You and I look around and it appears that the world is winning. Decadence and moral decay are everywhere we look. Things were not much different in John’s day. In fact, if we were to look at the immorality of the Roman Empire at that day, we might see a mirror image of the United States today. Great nation, mighty and powerful. Both nations morally bankrupt and corrupt. Rome fell, it was destroyed. Is there a lesson we could learn? I’d say so.
What God revealed to John was a message of hope. While the world may assail you, I have already won the victory. There is something better coming, it is yours, and it will be glorious.
Who is the bride? Christ’s Church! What glory does she have? Is it her own, or is it the glory of her husband.
Listen to what Paul has to say. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Come see the Bride. The bride is Christ’s church. The bride shines forth the glory of God, pure and blameless.
There are none who enter heaven with any impurity or sin. Heaven, God’s domain will not allow them entrance.
Come see the bride. You dear friends are the bride of Christ. You are holy and blameless. You will shine for all eternity with the glory of God for you have been forgiven and redeemed. Those who have died before us, they are now enjoying the wedding feast with the Lamb in His kingdom which shall never end.
In the meantime, today, Christ is loving the church for which He died. Today, He is sanctifying her. Having cleansed her by the washing of water, He continues to cleanse her with His word. This task He continues that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Daniel 5:1-30 Revelation 21:9-27
Have you ever been to a wedding? One of the highlights is to see the bride and marvel at the glorious dress she is wearing, at Christian weddings it is to be white. In the US, it is usually delicate and beautiful. Oftentimes, people are excited to see the bride. They want to get a look at her. They want to see the dress – ooos and ahhhhs abound when she appears.
John is taken aside in this first verse of the New Testament lesson above reads: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Who is the bride? That’s the first question many people ask. The bride is the people of God. Throughout the Old Testament, we read about how God considered the people Israel his bride – and He the bridegroom. When the Israelites worshiped other gods with the only True God, the Lord their God called it adultery – they were whoring after other gods. Neither outright paganism nor syncretism were acceptable to God! When the Israelites tried to worship the Lord God in place or the manner that pagans worshiped their gods, God called it adultery. The glory due to the only True God, He will not share with another.
Throughout the Old Testament, we are given the constant picture of the bride being the church and God Himself being the bridegroom. As God enfleshed, Jesus helps to focus this picture for us, He explains that He specifically is the bridegroom. Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom. In Matthew we read this account. Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matthew 9:14-15)
Another question many ask when they read our text is, “Who is the Lamb?” The Lamb is Christ, very God of very God. The Lamb is the Son of God who took on human flesh, the One to whom John the baptizer pointed and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” This agrees with what Jesus said to the Pharisees when He called Himself the Bridegroom.
So, why are we given a glimpse of the bride in this book of Revelation?
1) Persecution is going on.
A) People dying for their faith, some in a rather gruesome manner.
B) Some suffering in other manners - economic stranglehold, imprisonment.
2) Entire book of Revelation is a picture of constant struggle.
A) World is enemy of church.
B) Satan is enemy of Church and uses many means to attach the faithful
i) sometimes in the church
ii) sometimes outside the church
3) God is the one who has defeated Satan and the World and gives to His bride, the Victory.
That is what this vision given to John is all about. This revelation reveals the truth of the Gospel. Christ has won the victory over the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
The greatest question that mankind asks is this, “What is life all about? I see people dying all around me. What is after this life? Is there something to look forward to?”
You and I look around and it appears that the world is winning. Decadence and moral decay are everywhere we look. Things were not much different in John’s day. In fact, if we were to look at the immorality of the Roman Empire at that day, we might see a mirror image of the United States today. Great nation, mighty and powerful. Both nations morally bankrupt and corrupt. Rome fell, it was destroyed. Is there a lesson we could learn? I’d say so.
What God revealed to John was a message of hope. While the world may assail you, I have already won the victory. There is something better coming, it is yours, and it will be glorious.
Who is the bride? Christ’s Church! What glory does she have? Is it her own, or is it the glory of her husband.
Listen to what Paul has to say. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Come see the Bride. The bride is Christ’s church. The bride shines forth the glory of God, pure and blameless.
There are none who enter heaven with any impurity or sin. Heaven, God’s domain will not allow them entrance.
Come see the bride. You dear friends are the bride of Christ. You are holy and blameless. You will shine for all eternity with the glory of God for you have been forgiven and redeemed. Those who have died before us, they are now enjoying the wedding feast with the Lamb in His kingdom which shall never end.
In the meantime, today, Christ is loving the church for which He died. Today, He is sanctifying her. Having cleansed her by the washing of water, He continues to cleanse her with His word. This task He continues that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Every time you gather for the
Divine Service you participate in the great mysteries of God by which Christ
Himself prepares you to be His bride - holy and blameless for all eternity –
you partake of the Holy Things of God which cleanse and purify you. When you kneel
at the altar, you receive a foretaste of the wedding feast which those who have
gone before us, enjoy even with us. Doing so, you are made holy and blameless,
the wife of the Lamb. See you on Sunday as you come to see the bride.
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