“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. (Matt 25:1-7)

The cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom” will have its ultimate eschatological fulfillment on that “great and terrible day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5), but before that day comes we may still behold our Bridegroom in the Holy Scripture, in worship, in the sacraments, in one another, and sometimes He may call us to “come out to meet him.”  Jan and I were given this opportunity when we took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  This Photo-Journal records our “coming out to meet” the Bridegroom.  This pilgrimage and the preparation of this Photo-Journal has been an experience of meeting Him, and in seeing Him our hope is that we, as part of His Bride, will become more like Him (1John 3:2).  We are sharing this Photo-Journal with you with this same hope that this blesses you as we all wait, with lamps trimmed, for the return of the Bridegroom.

28a. Introduction: The Betrothal of the Bride and the Lamb