The Bridegroom Has Come
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 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. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:14–17
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The Bridegroom Has Come
The Christian faith is not an attempt to patch up the old life with a little religion. Jesus does not come merely to make sinners slightly better versions of themselves. He brings something entirely new: forgiveness, life, and salvation. Jesus’ reference to the bridegroom points to Himself and to the joy of His saving presence. Yet the Bridegroom’s joy would lead Him to the cross. There, Christ would be taken away from His disciples, not because He had failed, but because He was bearing the sins of His Bride, the Church. This is why the Gospel cannot simply be added to our works, traditions, or attempts at righteousness. The old garment of our sinful nature cannot be repaired. The old wineskins of self-righteousness cannot contain the new wine of Christ’s grace. At the cross, Jesus gives us what we cannot produce: His righteousness, purchased with His blood and delivered through Word and Sacrament.
Matthew 9:14–17
+
The Bridegroom Has Come
The Christian faith is not an attempt to patch up the old life with a little religion. Jesus does not come merely to make sinners slightly better versions of themselves. He brings something entirely new: forgiveness, life, and salvation. Jesus’ reference to the bridegroom points to Himself and to the joy of His saving presence. Yet the Bridegroom’s joy would lead Him to the cross. There, Christ would be taken away from His disciples, not because He had failed, but because He was bearing the sins of His Bride, the Church. This is why the Gospel cannot simply be added to our works, traditions, or attempts at righteousness. The old garment of our sinful nature cannot be repaired. The old wineskins of self-righteousness cannot contain the new wine of Christ’s grace. At the cross, Jesus gives us what we cannot produce: His righteousness, purchased with His blood and delivered through Word and Sacrament.
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2026
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