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
+
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.
Recent
Archive
2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak TruthEnduring Nation
March
A RemnantA Deaf People, a Faithful GodFlee to the StrongholdCut Down to Be HealedNo Superficial PeaceStand at the CrossroadsRefined by Fire, Redeemed by the CrossTrust in the Lord, Not in Your HandsHe Flipped TablesPoured Out on JesusYou Are His PeopleTruth Has RisenSilence in the CitiesWhat Have I Done?Not a Bone Shall Be BrokenWhen Wisdom Becomes FoolishnessBitter MedicineThe Hiss of Judgment, the Promise of the CrossThe Wound of Sin and the Healing of ChristIs There No Balm?Truth at the CrossRefined by the LordScatteredRuinedDeath Has ComeBoast In The LordLike ScarecrowsNone Like Our GodGods That PerishWounded, Yet Not ForsakenDisciplined, Not Destroyed