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Portraits of
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It may be said that Bridegroom is one of Jesus' self-chosen titles. The setting for this description is found in several New Testament scriptures. In one, for example, the disciples of John the Baptist had come to Jesus asking why he and his disciples were not fasting. Jesus' answer was that the wedding guests could not fast as long as the bridegroom was with them. However, he went on to say that the days would come when the bridegroom would be taken away, and then they would fast (Matthew 9:14-15; Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33-35). There was is no doubt but that Jesus referring to himself as the bridegroom.
In another passage we have the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). The problem here was that the foolish virgins were unprepared for the coming of the bridegroom, and as their punishment they were shut out of the marriage feast and from his presence. This too is a reference to Jesus.
Even in the writings of the inspired apostles we find references to the bridegroom and his relationship to the bride, which is the church itself. Revelation speaks of the church as the Bride, the Lamb's wife (Revelation 21:9). Furthermore, we read of the marriage of the Lamb, a marriage by which the intimate and indissoluble union between Christ and his own takes place (Revelation 19:7). The apostle Paul speaks of his purpose for the church at Corinth by saying, "I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband," (2 Corinthians 11:2).
Behind these pictures of Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as the bride, is the rich tradition of the Jewish marriage customs. Only when we understand the context in which these examples are used can we come to fully appreciate their significance.
Edersheim writes: "In Judea there were at every marriage two groomsmen or friends of the bridegroom, one for the bridegroom and the other for the bride. Before marriage, they acted as a kind of intermediaries between the couple; at the wedding they offered gifts, waited upon the bride and bridegroom, and attended them to the bridal chamber, being also, as it were, guarantors of the bride's virgin chastity."
The apostle Paul thought of himself in this same manner, sort of an intermediary for the marriage between the church at Corinth and Christ. He knew that his task was to present that church in virgin purity and fidelity to Jesus Christ the Bridegroom. In Ephesians 5:22-23, Paul compares the marriage relationship to the relationship which must exist between Christ and the Church.
However, there is another important aspect to the relationship between the bridegroom and the bride. It was customary for Jewish weddings to be preceded by a rather lengthy period of what we would call an engagement. During this time the man and woman were not married, but were betrothed, or engaged to each other. But a betrothal in Jewish culture was completely different from the period of engagement in our culture. Our society views the engagement as simply a mere promise to marry, but in Jewish society the betrothal was such a solemn commitment that it took a writing of divorce, based on the unfaithfulness of one party or the other, to dissolve. During the betrothal, it was not uncommon for the two parties to be called husband and wife (Matthew 1:18-25), and certainly to be called the bridegroom and the bride. After the period of betrothal was over the marriage ceremony would take place, and the couple would then be bound together in marriage by the laws of God.
In the Old Testament we frequently see the idea expressed that the nation of Israel is the bride of God. Hosea hears God say to Israel, "I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love," (Hosea 2:19-20). Isaiah says, "Your Maker is your husband; the Lord of host is his name," (Isaiah 54:5). "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you," (Isaiah 62:5). With this understanding, it is easy for us to see why the nation of Israel was considered as playing the part of the harlot when she became disobedient and unfaithful, flirting with the worship of other gods, and ultimately becoming guilty of infidelity when she gave her love and loyalty to these same false deities (Jeremiah 3:1-10; Ezekiel 16:15).
It is also easy for us to understand the importance of God being a "jealous God" (Exodus 20:5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 5:9; 6:15). True love is always exclusive, and no one can be totally in love with two people at the same time - no lover can bear to share his loved one with someone else. To say that God is a jealous God, is to say that Jehovah loves the souls of men to the extent that he cannot tolerate even the thought of sharing that love with another.
To think of Jesus as the Bridegroom and God as the lover of the souls of mankind, sheds a flood of light on the entire relationship between God and man. It means that the relationship we sustain to God is not so much as a subject to the king, or of a servant to the master, but more so of one loved to the lover of our souls.
In this type of relationship there are certain essential elements.
First, there can be no such relationship without fidelity. God will never be unfaithful to us, and we must never be unfaithful to him. We need to realize that in this context our sins are not so much a breach of the law as they are a crime against love. The sinner does not break God's law so much as he breaks God's heart.
Secondly, there can be no such relationship without intimacy. There should be the same close oneness between Jesus and ourselves that also exists between the loving husband and the faithful wife.
Thirdly, there can be no such relationship without trust. We must trust the love of God as much as we would trust the love of someone nearest and dearest to us. And God expects that same kind of trust from us. Disloyalty to God and to Jesus Christ is something that should never cross our mind.
And finally, such a relationship is of necessity unbreakable and indissoluble. The marriage relationship was intended to last a lifetime. Our relationship with God and Jesus Christ should never be thought of as something that can be broken if for some reason it does not work out. It is to be considered a bond that will last throughout all eternity.
Therefore, when we see Jesus pictured as the Bridegroom and we are pictured as the Bride, we have before us one of the most loving and intensely beautiful portraits of all. |
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