Awaiting the Bridegroom's Return

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Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus, Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

As I reflect on today’s entry in The Grand Miracle Advent reflections, I can’t help but marvel at the way Matthew recalls the prophecy:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel” (which means “God with us”) (Matthew 1:22-23).

Of course this was all to fulfill what Isaiah said nearly 800 years before, don’t you remember? What else would you have been waiting for but a baby, born of a virgin?

For the Jews that Jesus was born to, waiting was the norm. God’s people once again found themselves in captivity–with many still living in their promised land but under a Roman rule that would take quite a strong Messiah and a large army to depose. All were waiting for a Messiah in some way, hoping in who they thought he would be. But were they preparing for him? 

As John the Baptist would proclaim, the people of Israel were not preparing but were waiting in slumber. In our contemporary culture of immediacy where Christmas is marked by free two-day shipping and the ability to find any version of any carol at the click of a button, I don’t think we would be even as good at waiting for the birth of the Messiah as those in first century Judea. 

But how should we Christians, on this side of Christ’s Incarnation, live as a people awaiting his return?

Mary was preparing for something else when she was greeted by the angel. In her day betrothal was not a loose arrangement but a formal pledge to marry another. A divorce was required to end a betrothal, meaning the betrothal was not to be broken except in the worst of circumstances. Essentially, Mary and Joseph were already, but not yet, married. 

To become betrothed a man would visit a woman’s family and give her father a gift of value. This was not just to show his ability to provide for her, but was a promise that he would return after he had prepared a home for her within his father’s house. The bride then spent the length of the betrothal in her family’s home preparing for the groom’s celebratory return; perhaps it would be in a year, perhaps at any time. There was much to prepare for: the wedding feast, the new home, and becoming the wife of him whom she was bound to. He would surely come, and she must be prepared.

The faithful few–Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, the shepherds and wisemen–were those who waited upon the Lord like a girl readying herself to meet her betrothed. Their hearts were open to God’s long-promised surprise. Though they had never seen their Savior, they earnestly prepared for his arrival and recognized him when he came. By grace they believed what was revealed to them–that the baby Jesus was who they would hope in, even if he was not what they had hoped for. 

Let us who have now seen his glory likewise prepare for his second advent. With these and with the wise virgins, let us awake and trim our candles. Light the way of the Lord. Seek to know him in whom you hope. Listen and prepare for that promised midnight call: “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” (Matthew 25:6).

Melody Belk is the Editorial Coordinator of Christian History. She received her B.A. in History from Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College.

For more on Advent and Christmas, read The Grand Miracle and issue #103 Christmas: The Wonder of the Season.