When World War II ended, rationing did not stop because people suddenly became careless or selfish. It ended because the conditions that required restraint had fundamentally changed. The practices of wartime no longer fit peacetime life. As William Manchester describes, the postwar world erupted in joy, prosperity, and a sense that history itself had turned a corner (William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream [New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1974]). Jesus announces a far greater turning point. The arrival of the Bridegroom means the age of waiting has given way to the age of fulfillment. With Jesus, the world has entered a new era, and the fitting response is not dour restraint but grateful rejoicing.
