The Bride, the Lamb's wide

The Bible often uses marriage as a figure to teach us; for example God told the Israelites that he was their husband (Is.54:5). In Jeremiah 3 and Ezekiel 23 he shocked them by saying that when they forsook him they were acting like a prostitute. In the New Testament John described Jesus as the bridegroom (Jn.3:28-30) and Jesus used the same figure about himself (Mt.9:14-15). In the parable of the ten virgins (bridesmaids), teaching the need to be ready for his return, he pictured himself as the bridegroom (Mt.25:1-13). To warn the Jews that the Gentiles could go into the kingdom instead of them we have the parable of the wedding, where again Jesus is the bridegroom (Mt.22:1-14).

Are we so used to this figure that we fail to grasp its true meaning? Marriage is the closest human relationship; God himself told Adam and Eve in the beginning that ‘a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.’ (Gen.2:24)

Jesus confirmed that this applies now (Mt.19:5). So we, all the believers together, the church – you, me, that sister you don’t like, that brother whose interpretation of prophecy contradicts yours – we all are the bride. Paul told the Corinthians ‘I betrothed you to Christ...’ (1Cor.11:2). Do we really long for Jesus like a bride longs to be with the man she loves? Do we love him more than anyone else, like a faithful wife?

Well, certainly we would want to say “yes” but it isn’t easy to love someone we’ve never seen, so we need to look for him in the Scriptures. There, as we read, we can learn about his character by noticing how he treated people. From his words and actions it is clear that he did everything because he really, truly loves us. No-one can be indifferent to someone who loves us so much that he gave his life for us. That doesn’t just mean that he died for us; his whole life was dedicated to us. He always put his Father’s will above his own natural desires, giving us a good example to follow. We really must try to serve each other as he served us.

When Paul gave advice to married couples about how they should behave, he said it was a figure, which sets a high ideal which they should be striving to live up to:

‘There is hidden here a great truth, which I take to refer to Christ and to the church.’ (Eph.5:32)

But notice what an extraordinary husband this is, who ‘loved the church and gave himself up for it, to consecrate and cleanse it by water and word so that he might present the church to himself all glorious ... holy and without blemish.’ (v.25-27) Usually a bride gets herself ready for the wedding, but the church can’t do that. So our part is to submit to Christ so that he can make us holy and save us. (v.22-23). For us as individuals that means that we have to accept the difficulties and sufferings of life in the right spirit, acknowledging that such experiences can improve our characters. We have to learn not to complain, not to react with bitter thoughts; instead we should ask ourselves “What does God want me to learn from this?”

However, Paul’s main message in this letter is about the church, the brothers and sisters. He is saying that we must become ‘holy and without blemish.’ The theme of the letter is the unity of the believers, even between Jews and Gentiles, whom Jesus has ‘made ... one ... broken down the barrier of enmity ... so as to create out of the two a single new humanity in himself ...’ (2:14-18). There cannot be any division between true brothers and sisters. A bride is one person, one body; those baptised into Christ are united, made holy and forgiven.

‘There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female; for you are all one person in Christ Jesus.’ (Gal.3:28)

Paul considers this unity so important that he says ‘I implore you then ... live up to your calling. Be humble always and gentle, and patient too, putting up with one another’s failings in the spirit of love. Spare no effort to make fast ... the unity which the Spirit gives’ (Eph.4:1-3).

Why? Because ‘There is one body ... one Spirit ... one hope ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all ...’ (v.4-6).

But notice that in this unity there is a great diversity of gifts (capabilities), from apostles to teachers (v.11). Why? ‘... for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity inherent in our faith ... to mature manhood, measured by ... the full stature of Christ.’ (v.12-13) The church can only be united in Christ, the head, if each of us tries to respect each other in a true spirit of love, acknowledging our different qualities and being ‘subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ (5:21) None of us is more important than the others because we all belong to Christ and he loves us. Paul describes that state as being ‘in the heavenly realms’ (1:3; 2:6) where Christ is now. Imagine! Belonging to Jesus we are ‘in heavenly realms’ with him. Do you say to yourself at the start of each day, “I belong to Jesus and he loves me!”?

That is the gift of God: by grace, and without any merit on our part, we are the bride, prepared and beautifully dressed for her husband. (Rev.21:2, 9)

Sis Jean Field (Kendal UK)