St. Johnstide
John 3: 22-36
After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of
Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at
Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and
people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.
Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John
and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to
him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness –
here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual
power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You
yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent
before him.’
“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But
the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled
with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must
increase, but I must decrease.
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| Gerhard Wagner |
He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all
who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of
the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his
testimony.
But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to
this: that God is true [truth] [that there is
no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with
the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not
according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens
in man.
The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love,
and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son
within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.
Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within
will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world
must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”
4th St.
Johnstide
John 3: 22-36
“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But
the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled
with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full.” John 3: 29
John refers to Christ as the Bridegroom, and himself as the bridegroom’s
friend. If John is the bridegroom’s best man, who then is the bride?
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| Balduino |
The bride is the soul of humanity. She is that greater entity made up of
all human souls; those now living on earth, those yet to be born, those who
have died. The greater Soul of Humanity yearns for her Bridegroom, just as the
individual soul yearns for union with its higher self.
Every married couple, rising to a new day, reaffirms their union once
again. Day by day, this affirming, this saying yes to each other, this offering
of self to the other, creates a stronger and stronger bond.
Every time we celebrate the Act of Consecration of Man, we are
re-celebrating, reaffirming the union of the Soul of Humanity with her
Bridegroom. The souls of all on earth, the souls of those not yet born, the
souls of all who have died, are invited to join with us. And at this time of
the year, we also acknowledge the presence at the altar of John, the friend of
the Bridegroom, he who stands by and listens. For he is the witness of the
affirming of our union. We ask him to look upon this deed, to witness and
strengthen the union of mankind’s Soul with Christ, her Bridegroom.
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