John was the friend of the bridegroom:
John 3 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.
http://members.aol.com/zimlechem/Friend.html Like all of Jewish culture, the wedding is loaded with prophetic teaching. It came in two stages: the betrothal (not an engagement; it required a divorce to break) and, an unspecified amount of time later, the full marriage. At the first ceremony, the groom would tell the bride, "I am going to prepare a place for you, then I will come again for you." The second ceremony was at his father's house. Jesus said these same words (to US) at the Passover supper the night before His death! (Jn. 14) But the wedding feast, which came after their 7-day honeymoon, took place in the bride's home; we'll come back to earth after that "week", to reign with Him.
There were two witnesses at the wedding. One brought the bride ( KD could be the Holy Spirit); the other, "the friend of the bridegroom", listened at the bedroom door for the groom's shout that the wedding was completed. John was this friend (Jn. 3:29). When he asked Jesus, "Are You the one to come, or should we expect another?" (Lk. 7:19ff), he wasn't doubting He was the Messiah, but like many honest contemporaries, he couldn't see how Messiah could both die and reign forever.. Some thought there might be two Messiahs. Jesus' answer cited ways He was fulfilling prophecies about the "second" messiah (especially raising the dead). "Blessed is he who doesn't stumble because of Me" is a reference to the final judgment. If a man divorced his wife after living together, they could never remarry (Deut. 24), but if the divorce came in the first stage, he could take her back. Hosea 5:15-6:2 tells how God would withdraw from His betrothed, Israel, then return to regather her with deep, eternal affection.
Kevin Deegan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Was moses sold out?Was he a Christian?John the Baptist heralded the Messiah to Israel, not to the Church.He was a saint of God, was blessed of God. Christians are not the only saints. There are OT Saints and there will be saints that go thru the tribulation. While the Church is at the wedding feast as the bride and all the friends (OT saints) will be there too.The TRIB saints who were slain, will be crying out from where?Upon his death John the Baptist went to ABRAHAMS bosom, till Christ was crucified and led captivity captive.For you LDS out there notice he was a BAPTIST : )
Terry Clifton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Kevin Deegan wrote:
> Christians are refered to as the bride, here John identifies himself
> as the Friend of the Bridegroom, not the bride. Christians first show
> up (acts 10) way after the time of John's death. He is in the same
> group as the OT saints who were obviously not Christians.
> =================================================================
Though the word Christian was not coined until the book of Acts, there
can be no question that John was a sold out servant of Jesus Christ. In
my book, he was a Christian before there were Christians.
That may not make sense to some, but it does to me, considering what a
Christian is and does.
Terry
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"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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