Even though I grew up in a Christian home, I admit I never really gave much thought about being part of the bride of Christ. I knew it was important but didn’t know why. I found the answers in a documentary concerning the rapture*.
Even though we know who we are in Christ, and we know He is returning for us, I didn’t understand why we were called the Bride of Christ. Let’s admit it; in today’s world we don’t seem to hold marriage as sacred as it was meant to be. But Jesus connected the Galilean marriage customs to foretell His return and how important it was for us to be ready.
It is important to remember that two-thirds of the gospel took place in Galilee. While reading, keep in mind the words of Jesus and all He said about the bride of Christ and His second coming. The wedding customs of ancient Galilee align perfectly with the second coming of Christ to receive His bride.
What we first must understand is Jesus and His disciples were from Galilee. Two-thirds of Jesus’ ministry took place near the sea of Galilee. It had its own culture with its own customs and traditions just as we do today. So, a Galilean wedding was unique to its people. Anyone in the region knew the importance of a wedding. It was an event for which the whole community rejoiced. In fact, Jesus’ first miracle took place at a wedding feast.
On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told Him ‘They don’t have any wine.’ … Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. – John 2:1-8
Notice this miracle took place on the third day. The third day is extremely significant in the gospels. Jesus promised to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. It was on the third day that Jesus arose from the dead. On that third day, He fulfilled God’s word and made those who accepted Him to be a part of Him ... to be His bride.
When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from – though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of His signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:9-11
The wine which Jesus changed from water was superior to that which was served first. The quality couldn’t compare. As with the wine, Jesus wants the absolute best for His children. In this same way, He shed His blood on a cross for payment of our sins; only the best would do. He does not give as the world gives, but from His storehouses of love and grace. We see the joyous celebration of this wedding at its conclusion. However, we didn’t see the whole of the marriage. The beginning, the initial betrothal, was even more important and sacred than the feast itself.
When a man decided to marry, he first discussed the matter with his father. If his father approved, the first place to go was the city gate. The city gate wasn’t just a passageway into a village or city: it acted as town hall and courthouse. It was where important things happened … it was where life happened. As the prospective groom strode toward the gate with his father, others saw and followed to witness this sacred act. As he approached, he would see his prospective bride and her father. This wasn’t a diamond ring and champagne proposal; this was a sacred covenant between a man and woman that was not to be broken.
The groom would bring his written proposal which outlined what was expected of him and his family, and what was expected of his bride and her family. When they reached the gate, the groom’s father read the conditions for marriage aloud so the people and his bride could hear. All present would be witnesses of this sacred covenant.
Now the intake of breath as even the breeze seemed to stop to watch the scene. Would she accept? After all, the bride had the ultimate say. With nervous hands, the groom took a pitcher of wine which he had brought, the diamond ring, and carefully poured it into a very special cup … the cup of joy. If she rejected the cup of wine, there would be no wedding.
As he put his hands around the cup, he passed it respectfully, lovingly, to her. What would her answer be? This was the moment in which the crowd held its collective breath. In this ceremonial offering, the woman had the full power to govern her life. If she pushes it away, there would be no covenant nor marriage. The bride looked into the cup’s depth and drank, passing it back to the groom so that he, too, drank. What rejoicing! The groom says to his bride, “You are now consecrated to me by the laws of Moses, and I will not drink of this cup again until I drink it anew with you in my father’s house.”
Wait … What? Did he just say what I thought he said? … During the last supper Jesus told His disciples (and all His followers),
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:24-25
In this culture, the act of eating the same bread and drinking from the same cup is the act of what is in you is also in me. It is a common union – communion; we are no longer two, but one. We are one with Christ. It is for this reason the disciples didn’t question this strange promise; they only asked when … when would this marriage take place?
Wow! I don’t know about you, but that gives me glory bumps! But that’s just the beginning of joys to come. The betrothal was only the first step in a year-long journey.
With many congratulations, gifts were exchanged with the most extravagant going to the bride. The groom gave the bride money, not as a bride purchase, but as insurance in the event something happened to him. In this proposal, the bride was cherished most of all. This was not just a promise – it was a holy covenant between the two parties. The conditions of the covenant were to be followed exactly as proposed. Now, the preparations could begin.
For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. – Isaiah 62:5
The groom left his betrothed to prepare a place in his father’s home. …Aw, that, too, is promised in the gospels.
“In my Father’s house are many room. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” John 14:2
In fact, the groom is responsible for all the wedding preparations. He acquires all the materials needed to build a room onto his father’s home along with crafting furniture such as tables, stools and beds. He will also buy oil lamps, rugs and dishes to be used in the wedding feast that will take place in this home he has built for his bride.
While the groom is busy with building a home, the bride, along with her bridesmaids, is busy preparing her wedding dress. She will buy or weave cloth to make her elaborate gown. Her bridesmaids also make their dresses and will stay with the bride until the groom comes for them all. The bride remains vigilant to make sure she is ready for her groom. Since she does not know the hour when the groom will come, she wears her gown each night so she will be ready at a moment’s notice.
Typically, all the preparations will take one year. However, neither the groom nor the bride knew when the actual wedding would take place. No one knew but the father of the groom. He alone knew the day and hour his son could take his bride into his home for the wedding feast. … Sound familiar?
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.’ When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master; master; open up for us!’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’ Therefore be alert, because you don’t know whether the day or the hour. Matt 25:1-13
The bride and her bridesmaids (virgins) would need lamps to light their way since the wedding feast took place in the darkness of night. They eagerly awaited the night when the groom would come for his bride. Only the people with an active role in the wedding would need to be constantly vigilant. While the bridal party waited with oil in their lamps, we, too, should be waiting with the Holy Spirit in our hearts for Jesus’ return at any moment. Only the father can make the decision when the hour came to tell his son it was time to retrieve his bride. He awakens him and tells him, ‘It’s time’.
Now concerning that day or hour no one knows – neither the angels in heaven nor the Son – but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming. Mark 13:32-33
The son leapt to his feet while the shofar trumpet sounded to wake the village, the bride and her family. She would arise with her lamp full of oil to be ready for her groom.
Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” – Revelation 19:6-8
What a procession to the bride’s home! People rose in excitement, ready to be a part of the wedding feast. They joined the groom in jubilation as he ran through the streets to meet his bride. She is waiting for him, glowing with joy. Oh, how sweet that moment would be! After a year of preparing and waiting, the moment came when they are reunited as one! The bride would be borne high into a litter and carried to the father’s house into the room carefully prepared for her by the groom.
Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
The wedding feast is finally happening! All those called who were ready and awake enter into the marriage supper with the happy couple. Everyone piles into the father’s house for the feast and the door is shut behind them. No one would be admitted after the door was shut.
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city. “Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,[c] and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This illustration of a Galilean wedding is a mirror image of the marriage of Jesus Christ and His church. When He told the parable of the ten virgins, the disciples understood perfectly. This illustration is so important for us, as believers. The Galilean wedding is a microcosm of what is yet to be fulfilled in heaven when Jesus returns for us.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. – Isaiah 61:10
Do not be deceived; Jesus is returning at any moment. Are you ready?
* Before the Wrath, 2020 available on Prime Video
