Friend of the Bridegroom

A dear friend asked me to be his Best Man at his wedding. So this past weekend, I flew out to California, and assisted him in whatever way I could on one of the most meaningful and marvellous days of his life. What a joy for me to behold. After the photos, I ran ahead of the new couple into the wedding reception hall and yelled at the top of my lungs, "I am the Friend of the Bridegroom! The Bridegroom is coming! Make straight the path for the Bridegroom and his Bride!"

I first met him in college some sixteen years ago. He didn't like me very much at the time. I thought (and still think) he's one of the most talented and capable men I've ever met. His life was far from Jesus, far from joyous, and far from fulfilled. Three years or so ago, the Lord left the proverbial 99 to rescue him and he came to me and chose me to help him. So I've had the humbling blessing of witnessing his road to redemption. He was surprised when I told him goodbye the night before his wedding. I knew that my role in his life was finished, at least on the level it had been. (I told him if he called a lot, I'd tell him to hang up and roll over and talk to his wife.)

I feel I understand John the Baptist's talk about how once the Bridegroom comes, the Bridegroom must increase and the Friend of the Bridegroom must decrease. The Lord has entered into his life in a special way through matrimony. Furthermore, he is joined to his bride's life as Christ is to the Church. All childish things are put away - and my friend is a man anew.

I am a blessed man to have experienced John the Baptist on the tiny level that I did.