Jesus tells His Father in John 17,
“I desire that they whom you gave me may be with me where I am.” One of the few
times Jesus speaks of His desire, it is that we be joined with Him. He’s
thinking of it as He institutes communion, when He says, I will not drink of
the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
Jesus our bridegroom, longs for the wedding day. Hasten as a bride to meet Him.
We speak of justification as God accepting us, and that is true but it is a
major understatement. God so loved the world, He made rejoining with Him
possible at the cross. The father of the prodigal son does not just accept him
when he returns repentant. He runs to embrace him, and throws him a feast. A
groom does not just accept a bride. He longs for her to be with him. The rabbis
told stories in Jesus’ day of an engaged young man who had to build his house
before he could get married. His father would give him the green light when it
was done. And every day the son would say, is it good enough, can we have the
wedding now? But it’s only half done. One day while the young man is furiously
building, the rabbi walks past and asks, son, when is your wedding? And he
throws down his hammer and says, No one knows the day or the hour, not the son,
not even the angels in heaven, only my father. We are united with Christ now,
by the Spirit, and He renews that union as we eat and drink here. But Jesus longs
for that union to be complete. Do you long for that day, as He does? We long
for Him as He does for us.
3/27/11
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