Rejoice,
Rejoice, Believers
Matthew 25:1–6; Revelation 5:11–14; Malachi 4:2;
Matthew 13:35–37
(Lutheran Service Book 515)
Text: Laurentius Laurenti (1660-1722)
Rejoice,
rejoice, believers,
And let your lights appear;
The
evening is advancing,
And darker night is near.
The
Bridegroom is arising
And soon is drawing nigh.
Up,
pray and watch and wrestle;
At midnight comes the cry.
The
watchers on the mountain
Proclaim the Bridegroom near;
Go
forth as He approaches
With alleluias clear.
The
marriage feast is waiting;
The gates wide open stand.
Arise,
O heirs of glory;
The Bridegroom is at hand.
The
saints, who here in patience
Their cross and suff’rings bore,
Shall
live and reign forever
When sorrow is no more.
Around
the throne of glory
The Lamb they shall behold;
In
triumph cast before Him
Their diadems of gold.
Our
hope and expectation,
O Jesus, now appear;
Arise,
O Sun so longed for,
O’er this benighted sphere.
With
hearts and hands uplifted,
We plead, O Lord, to see
The
day of earth’s redemption
That sets Your people free!
“Rejoice,
Rejoice, Believers” was in The Lutheran Hymnal, omitted from Lutheran
Worship, and returned to us in the Lutheran Service Book. It was
composed by Laurentius Laurenti, a German Lutheran with Pietistic leanings. The
man worked in church music all his life and composed 148 hymns. This is the
only one in our hymnal, which is actually paired down from the original ten
verses.
For
those who don’t know, “Pietism” has a bad reputation in the LC-MS. That is
because, as a movement, it tended to take our eyes off the objective work of
Christ and turn our attention onto ourselves for assurance of salvation.
Nonetheless here we have a hymn, written by a Pietist, in our hymnal. Why? The
answer is simple: the words are solid. What a blessing for us that our
denomination has a strong history of judging music based on the merits of the
individual piece, and not based on the comprehensive beliefs of the writer
(which may be deeply flawed). While many have strong negative feelings about
Contemporary Christian Music (i.e. pop Christian music), we should strive to
evaluate the songs of that genre based on the merits of the words and music,
and not the comprehensive beliefs of the writers or personal emotional
reactions we might have to specific music styles. I have often encouraged writers
of CCM to “up their game” when it comes to their lyrics. I also encourage those
of us who love hymns to remember they too were once CCM. Listen to the words
before rejecting the song. If you don’t have time to attend to the words,
withhold your opinion about the song. And now, on with the Bible study based on
the words of a Pietist hymn writer.
In
Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus tells a parable about being ready for his return. In the
parable, there is a bridegroom who is coming for his wedding party. The
bridegroom corresponds to Jesus. The wedding corresponds to heaven. The arrival
of the bridegroom corresponds to the Second Coming. In the parable there are
ten virgins who are waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. The number ten
often represents completeness. Women are often used symbolically in the Bible for
the people of God (Jeremiah 2:32; Isaiah 62:5; Revelation 19:7; etc.). The
virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to welcome him and accompany him to the
wedding.
The
bridegroom is delayed. This corresponds to the time between the first advent of
Jesus and the second advent of our Lord. During this delay the virgins become
drowsy and fall asleep. At midnight they are startled awake with the call, “Here
is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” As the coming of the bridegroom was
delayed longer than expected, five of the virgins were running out of oil for
their lamps. As they hurried away to look for more oil, the bridegroom arrives
and the party starts. The five virgins who were ready entered the party, but the
“foolish” virgins do not gain entrance.
There
are many interpretations for the oil. We need to remember that the key to being
ready for the arrival of the bridegroom for these virgins was having oil. How
are we ready for the Second Coming of Jesus? We are ready by grace through
faith in Jesus. This Holy Spirit created faith is engendered in us through the
Means of Grace, the word and sacraments. So, while understanding the oil as the
Holy Spirit or the Means of Grace, might be okay, the best understanding is
faith in Jesus. The light cast by the oil lamps can be understood as the fruits
of our faith, our good works. We have light because we have oil, not the other
way around.
All
ten virgins were sleeping on the job. All ten seek to relight their lamps. Some
have faith (oil) and are able to relight their lamps. Others lack faith (oil)
and therefore cannot relight their lamps. The fact that all ten virgins fell
asleep indicates that even Christians with a strong faith can get “spiritually
drowsy.” Jesus wraps up the
parable with the main point, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor
the hour” (Matthew 25:13). So, while we don’t’ know when Jesus will return
(though the timing will be surprising, “midnight”), we are to be prepared by
keeping our faith (oil). Clinging to the Gospel makes us ready. This is done
for us by the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace. So we attend
worship regularly in a church that properly divides the word of truth (2
Timothy 2:15; Colossians 1:5; Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 4:2; etc.),
administers the Lord’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew
26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11; etc.), and baptizes in the name of the Triune God
(Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 3:21; etc.).
This
parable is the main background for the hymn Rejoice,
Rejoice, Believers. “Let your lights appear” refers to the effort to
relight the lamps. “The evening is advancing, and darker night is near,”
reminds us that we must pass through many hours of “night” before it is
“midnight” and the bridegroom appears. “Up, pray and watch and wrestle” reminds
us that we must be diligent as we await our Lord’s return. There are many
things that can lull us to sleep.
In
Revelation, John also uses the bride/bridegroom image to reflect Jesus and his
Church (Revelation 19:7; 21:2; 22:17). (The Old Testament tends to use the
image of wife/husband while the New Testament tends to use the image of
bride/bridegroom.) Another common image for Jesus in Revelation is that of a
Lamb. The Lamb is the Bridegroom. In Revelation 5:11-14, John sees everyone in
heaven worshiping Jesus.
11 Then I looked, and
I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of
many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying
with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and
blessing!”
13 And I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all
that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and
glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living
creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
The
third verse of our hymn picks up this image, “Around the throne of glory The
Lamb they shall behold; In triumph cast before Him Their diadems of gold.” The
idea of casting our golden crowns (diadems) before the Lord as part of our
worship comes from Revelation 4. Christ is worthy of our worship because he was
slain for our sins (Revelation 5:12).
In
verse four of our hymn we sing, “Arise, O Sun so longed for.” This image is
drawn from Malachi 4:2.
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with
healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
This
is a play on words by Laurenti (Sun/Son). The faithful have looked for God’s
sun from of old, the sun that brings light into the world of darkness, sin and
death. The Son comes with “healing in his wings.” This thought of healing being
brought by the longed for Messiah is found also in Isaiah.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our
iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are
healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
The
ultimate healing comes at the Second Coming, when the bridegroom arrives to
take his bride into the eternal wedding feast of heaven. Then we will dwell in
glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:43).
As
the story of the ten virgins which inspired our hymn demonstrates, Jesus often
taught through parables. Jesus explained his reason for this in Matthew.
35 This was to fulfill
what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what
has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
36 Then he left the
crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain
to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “The
one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. (Matthew 13:35–37)
Many
in Jesus’ day categorically rejected the teaching of Jesus. This has ever been
the case. Today many still reject the teaching of Jesus. However the disciples
truly sought to understand. So we see in the Matthew reference the disciples
asking Jesus just what the parable of the weeds in the field meant (Matthew 13:24-30).
Jesus clearly says he is the one who sows the good seed. As we go on with his
explanation we discover that the good seed produces good plants and those good
plants are believers in Jesus. The weed seed has been planted by Satan. They
are those who reject Christ. On the Last Day Christ will return with his
heavenly hosts and the “harvest” will be gathered. Those who reject Jesus are
thrown “into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth” (42). On the other hand, “the righteous will shine like the
sun in the kingdom of their Father” (4.).
As
the “Bridegroom” draws near, we are encouraged to arise, and look forward in
great anticipation, to the Day of Judgment where we will shine like the sun.
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