Introduction
Weddings are usually special occasions, creating positive memories, with hopes of a long and happy marriage. We see this picture in the slew of recent popular wedding movies.
Jesus attended a wedding in Galilee, and turned it into quite a party (cf. John 2). No surprise. Marriage is God’s idea, instituted all the way back in the Garden of Eden (cf. Genesis 2).
It has theological significance. According to the Apostle Paul, the union of a man and wife in marriage pictures the relationship between Christ and the Church (cf. Ephesians 5:30-31).
The Church is depicted as the Bride, and Jesus as the Bridegroom (cf. Ephesians 5:21ff.; Mark 2:19). This symbolism draws upon the OT imagery of Israel as the bride of Yahweh (Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; Jeremiah 31:32).
This marriage imagery reflects three important truths about the believer’s relationship with the Triune God.
It pictures divine grace
In today’s world we have both parent-arranged and partner-agreed marriages. In the Scriptures we have some combination of the two.
Jesus remained single throughout His earthly life, but in John’s Gospel, we see Jesus portrayed as a bridegroom choosing a surprising bride-to-be.
In John 2:9-10, Jesus fulfills the role of the bridegroom when he provides wine from water at the wedding in Cana, and in John 3:29 John the Baptist identifies Jesus explicitly as the “bridegroom”. In John 4, this ‘Bridegroom’ has an encounter with a woman at a well.
Significantly, this encounter is introduced with the words, ‘Now (Jesus) had to go through Samaria’ (cf. John 4:4). It was not the geography that dictated this route, but a divinely appointed encounter.
Jesus meets an unnamed Samaritan woman at a well twice identified as ‘Jacob’s well’ (cf. John 4:6, 12). In the OT, the patriarch Jacob’s name is linked to another well. Isaac sends his son, Jacob, off to Paddam Aram, to the house of his mother’s father to find a wife because he does not want Jacob to marry a Canaanite woman (cf. Genesis 28:1-2). In due course, at a well, Jacob meets his future wife, Rachel (Genesis 29:1ff.).
Significantly, during this encounter, Jesus raises the topic of marriage, and the whole conversation revolves around the woman’s husband, or rather her lack of a husband; this is emphasized in their conversation:
John 4:16–18 NIV
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
Jesus knows her marital status. No surprise that she is currently unmarried. Who would want to marry a woman who has had 5 husbands (cf. online dating profile: ‘previously loved’)? Chances are good your marriage would not end well, for you at least. Yet Jesus, knowing her history, offers her living water (John 4:10). In effect, Jesus is saying to her, no one wants to marry you, but I do!
So Jesus is pictured here as a prospective bridegroom seeking out his future bride. She is a very unlikely candidate both because of her ethnicity - she was a despised Samaritan - and her unenviable marital track-record.
This narrative paints a striking picture of divine grace, Jesus choosing a ceremonially ‘unclean’ bride for His Bride!
This picture contrasts with the ways of the world where the bold and beautiful and the strong and successful are chosen. No one wants to be the last one left when you are picking sides to play a game. The implication is obvious. No one really wants you.
Perhaps your dream of getting married never materialised. Nobody has chosen you. But the same is not true if you are a believer. Jesus graciously chooses you to be His bride.
It pictures divine love
When we think about a wedding, invariably what comes to mind is the bride clothed in a beautiful dress (No one asks, ‘What was the groom wearing?’), and the bridal couple pledging undying love for one another.
This reflects the Biblical pattern, but Paul specifically lays the onus of this love on the husband. In Ephesians 5:25-27, the apostle advocates a particular type of love. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church by sacrificially laying down His own life for her! The purpose? To make her holy and presentable on her wedding day, ‘a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless’ (Ephesians 5:27).
According to these verses, Jesus’ death was designed not onto save but also sanctify His bride! This process of purification of the Church is reminiscent of the OT account in which Esther and the other maidens underwent the twelve months of beautifying before being brought in to the king (cf. Esther 2:12).
So the imagery of this blameless radiant Bride of Christ on her wedding day reflects the fruit of the Bridegroom’s sacrificial love for His people, and, as such, is evidence of His love.
The current divorce statistics suggests that for many who get married, their vows to love one another turn out to be quite hollow and meaningless with the passage of time.
Even for those couples who stay together, love can be a distant memory, with their relationship characterised by selfishness rather than sacrifice.
Simply put, our marriages would be perfect if it wasn’t for our spouse!
Not so Jesus’ love for His Bride. It is constant and unconditional expressed in his literal sacrifice of His life on a humiliating cross at Calvary when we were still sinners and indeed His enemies (cf. Romans 5).
We may sometimes wonder: would my husband or wife still love me if they knew what I was really like in my thought-life? Jesus knows us at our worse, and still loves us! Calvary is proof of that (cf. Romans 5).
Whether or not you feel it, as a believer, you are dearly loved as the Bride of Christ with a forever love like no other!
It pictures divine faithfulness
Husbands and wives also pledge faithfulness to one another on their wedding day. God joins the bridal couple together spiritually into ‘one flesh’, with the command that ‘what God has joined together, let no one separate’ (cf. Matthew 19:6).
But alas, with time these vows often also prove to be hollow. The same is not true for the Bride of Christ.
At present, the marriage of the Church to Christ has not been consummated. Paul describes the Church as a ‘pure virgin’ betrothed to her future husband, Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2).
The union of Christ and the church finds its consummation in the wedding of the Lamb when Christ returns in glory (NIVBTSBN): Revelation 21:2: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” What a day of rejoicing that will be!
And so like any earthly wedding, the Bride of Christ is eagerly awaiting her wedding day as she echoes the last prayer of the Bible: “And the Spirit and the bride say [to Jesus], Come!… Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:17, 20). (WBE)
Weddings can be stressful. Runaway Bride? But no panic here; Jesus is the wedding planner!
So this marriage will be consummated - the union is spiritual not physical - and the Bride of Christ will reign with her Husband ‘forever and ever’ (cf. Revelation 22:5). (WBE)
This pictures an enduring marriage where the spouses - a perfected Bride, now ‘holy and blameless’ (cf. Ephesians 5:27), and a perfect Groom - remain faithful to each other forever. Good news for believers who have experienced the agony of a failed marriage.
They truly do live happily ever after. If Christ’s wedding were a movie, it would end with the words, ‘The Beginning’!
Reflections
This picture of the Church as the ‘Bride of Christ’ is a rich and encouraging metaphor. It depicts ‘a match made in heaven’!
Unlike earthly marriages, the honeymoon will never end; their mutual love will never wane; there will never be any infidelity, miscommunication, abuse or disappointments.
It will be free of sin! It will be eternal bliss! What a glorious future awaits the Bride of Christ (cf. Revelation 21:4: no more tears, death or pain!).
This eternal union with Christ will meet all your human needs of acceptance (by grace), significance (truly loved) and security (truly faithful)!
But, as with marriage vows today, you must say ‘I do!’ to enjoy the blessings of this marriage. No vows, no wedding, no marital blessings.
Jesus taught the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The setting is Jesus’ wedding day. This parable stresses the fact that the day and the hour of Jesus’ coming is unknown (Matthew 24:36; 25:1–13), therefore, we need to be ready at all times. Be wise, not foolish; get ready for the Bridegroom’s arrival; don’t delay! Say ‘I do!’ to the Bridegroom! Say ‘I do!’ to the Gospel, and eternal bliss awaits you!
