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| Jesus' first miracle was at the wedding of Cana, John 2. |
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Groom and the Bride
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 309 O Jesus Blessed Lord
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Twentieth Sunday After Trinity
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The Groom and the Bride
KJV Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
This is a wonderful parable, so beautiful that most people overlook it and search for something more plain and simple. We have to start with the concept of marriage, the bride and groom. Inside this mysterious example is the major part of what the Word of God says, openly stated but a puzzle for most people.
First of all, we cannot forget that Jesus began His public ministry at a wedding where He, his disciples, and His mother were invited. Not only did Jesus honor marriage by being there, but He also performed His first miracle, turning water into wine without touching it. Nothing could be used to say it was a trick or an illusion based upon suggestion or illusions.
Marriage is so important that we celebrate and honor each anniversary. Today we have three anniversaries within a week, and we are a tiny congregation that stretches to Australia and the Philippines. A wedding feast is very special, though many overlook it today or downplay the event.
Two aspects of marriage are very clear. One is that love draws the two together, though in some countries, being in love is forbidden. In one part of India, the arrangement of a marriage was so strict that the couple could not give any indication of even liking the other. A glance and a smile could have doomed them - and they were Christians. The idea was that the union should grow and not start out based on emotions.
The second aspect is very clear, the two become one, no matter what happens in the future. This aspect is repeated throughout the Scriptures.
This passage could be called an allegory, because it is a story where each part has a greater meaning, hidden in the words used. The King is God the Father. The groom is His beloved Son, and the bride is the Church.
God here by our own lives and experiences will make known and reflect as in a mirror what we have in Christ; and also by the common state of marriage on earth, in which we were born and reared and now live, he delivers a daily sermon and admonition in order that we should remember and consider this great mystery (for so St. Paul calls it in Ephesians 5:32), that the conjugal life of a man and wife, instituted by God, should be a great, beautiful and wonderful sign, and a tangible, yet spiritual picture, that points out and explains something special, excellent and great, hidden to and inconceivable by the human reason, namely, Christ and his church.
As Luther points out in his second sermon, just as marriage itself transcends all matters, so it is that the relationship between Jesus Christ and each believer is unique, special, and bound up with Heaven itself. Some things about marriage generally true. Each person has strengths where the other is not so strong. Husband and wife usually have different birth orders in their family, like the first-born perfectionist marrying the lovable baby of the family. I gave a book to the baby of the family - she hugged herself because she loved presents. She also said she would probably not read it, more likely in the baby who is not the perfectionist. She had very good intuition about personal relationships. I guessed correctly that her husband was the perfectionist first-born. That reveals itself in almost every marriage and is widely confirmed by academics.
Just as we ignore the divine element in all of history, as if God was never in control of anything, so we have to give credit to God for the way we relate to each other, especially in marriage. That relationship is unlike any other, not like master and servant, not like boss and employee, but a relationship that is from Heaven itself, a mystery -
6. For this accompanies the marriage state, where it is worthy of the name and may be called a truly married life, where man and wife truly live together: firstly true heart-confidence each in each from both sides, as Solomon in Proverbs 31:11 among other virtues of a pious wife also praises this: “The heart of her husband trusteth in her;” that is, he entrusts to her his body and life, money, possessions and honor. Likewise on the other hand, the heart, of the wife clings to her husband, he is her highest, dearest treasure on earth; for she expects and has in him honor, protection and help in all times of her need. Such a completely harmonious, equal and eternal confidence and affection are not found among other persons and stations in life, for example between master and servant, mistress and maidservant, yea, not even between children and parents. For there the love is not thus alike, strong and perfect to one another, and an eternal union does not endure here as in the marriage state, instituted by God; as the text in Genesis 2:24 says: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Just as marriage itself is a unique relationship, so is our relationship with Christ. That is how this parable is developed. God is portrayed as saying, I will give believers grace, peace, and forgiveness of sin through the love of the Groom, Jesus. He will love, protect, and defend the fragile Bride, the Christian believers.
This he clearly shows us in his Word of the Gospel and by the Holy Spirit, whom he gives to his church; and prepares the glorious, joyful marriage feast, at which he is wedded to his bride and he takes her to himself, and, to speak in our childish and human way, leads his bride to the dance as with fife and drum, and takes her in his arm; again, he honors and adorns her with all his finery, that is with the blotting out and washing away of sins, with righteousness and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with his light, knowledge, strength and all the gifts which belong to that life. These are different chains, rings, velvet, silk, pearls, treasures and jewels from the earthly ones, which are only a dead picture of those heavenly treasures.
10. Therefore, wherever you see or hear bride and bridegroom, or the joy and beauty of a marriage feast, there open your eyes and heart, and behold what your loving Lord and Savior presents and shows to you, who prepares a glorious, royal marriage feast for you, his beloved bride, a living member if you believe in him. In that is eternal joy, good cheer, singing and springing, eternal ornaments, and all riches and the fullness of everything good.
As Luther writes, every marriage reminds us of the joy of that occasion, because the Lord Jesus Christ is not with us to scold, punish, and terrify, but to show us His love, kindness, and grace. I have a number of students who write about faith and salvation and then go back to sin and the Law. Everyone can draw up a long list, but the Savior is here to look for the lost sheep, to bring him home on his shoulders, rejoicing, and telling His neighbors.
The mistake of the false churches have been to throw burdens on the sinner and never let up, always applying the lash of the Law, never the Atonement. On the other hand, there are many today who say there is no Law at all, nothing but grace - as if God has not given us the Means (or Instruments) of that grace, the Word and the Sacraments.
One pastor claimed that Antinomianism and soon became an atheist, so quickly error turns into blasphemy. And yet daily people rejoice in the true Gospel and spread it various ways, enjoying the blessings.
The end
