February 28 - Jesus & His Bride

February 28 - Jesus & His Bride

One of the great images in the Old Testament that is used to describe God's relationship to Israel is that of the bride and groom.

In Jeremiah 2:2, we find the words that God asked Jeremiah to proclaim to Jerusalem, "I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown." Further on, in Jeremiah 3:6-9, the Lord tells Jeremiah that Israel has been faithless and by going after other gods she has become nothing more than a prostitute and an adulteress.

Ezekiel 16 uses very explicit words to speak of Israel's desertion, calling her a harlot and a whore. Hosea experienced God's pain with a faithless wife, but was given a vision of the future when Israel would return to the Lord.

By the time we get to the New Testament, Christ becomes the image of the bridegroom. Paul uses the relationship of Christ and his church in his discussion of a marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33 and in 2 Cor. 11:2-3, Paul says that he promised the church "to one husband - to Christ, so that he might present the church as a pure virgin to him."

John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as the bridegroom in John 3:27-30. He saw himself as the best man to Jesus' groom. He was there to make the wedding arrangements, but the Messiah would come to claim His Bride.

Before we get to the actual wedding, I want you to think about the best wedding you have ever attended. It might be your own. There was giddy anticipation. Preparations had been going on for months, sometimes years, in advance of this day. (I'll be honest - mine was less than a month ... oh well ... we were still pretty excited!) The bride is terrified that something will go wrong or that she might have forgotten something. The groom, by this point, probably just wants it to be over with so that he can get on with the marriage, but he's fooling no one ... he's just as excited to be marrying the woman of his dreams as she is!

The woman of his dreams - his bride. As she walks down the aisle, all he can see is her beauty. Everything that he has waited for is coming closer to him, dressed in white ... the scene is glorious!

Do you think that Jesus is any less excited about the wedding supper and the anticipation of His Bride coming into sight before Him?

Everything that has happened in history points to that moment. Revelation 21:1-4. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

The mansion has been constructed, the home is prepared. She is clothed in beauty and the bridegroom has gone to great lengths to ensure her safety. At the moment that she comes forth, the marriage is set into place. All of the past is gone away, the covenant between God and his people culminates in this glorious event.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who ears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (Rev. 22:17)

Come! Behold the Bridegroom - the Lamb.

"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."

"Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper fo the Lamb! ... These are the true words of God." (Revelation 19:6b-9)