Bride of Christ

How the Jewish Wedding custom
paints a picture of
Jesus as the Bridegroom
and the church as His Bride

Jesus referred to Himself as the Bridegroom:
And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. "(Matthew 9:15)

1
The prospective bridegroom took the initiative and traveled from his father’s house to the home of the prospective bride.

Christ left His Father’s house and came to earth to gain
a Bride for Himself. (Ephesians 5: 25-28)

2
The young man prepared a Ketubah, or marriage contract (or covenant) which he presented to the intended bride and her father, which included the negotiated “Bride Price” which was deemed appropriate to compensate the young woman's parents for the cost of raising her, as well as being an expression of the man’s love for his intended.

Christ paid the price for His Bride with His own blood.
(I Corinthians 6: 19-20)

3
If the proposal was accepted, the woman would drink wine from a cup (representing a blood covenant) offered by the young man, and they would be betrothed. The betrothal was binding and could only be undone by a divorce with proper grounds, such as the bride being found not to be a virgin.

God made a covenant like a marriage covenant with his people. Isaiah and Hosea both portray the unfaithfulness of an adulterous people

(sin and idolatry), but the faithfulness of God.
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the Lord, your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54: 5-8)
God offered Israel a formal, written marriage contract - the Torah. The contract was a blood covenant (bride price ) in the blood of the Passover lamb, when God took Israel out of Egypt to be his own. (Exodus 12: 13-14) Israel accepted this proposal, saying "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." (Exodus 19: 7-8) The first cup of Passover, the cup of Sanctification is an acceptance of God’s proposal, signifying that those who call upon Him are set apart exclusively for Him.The believer in Christ has been declared sanctified as the Bride of Christ. (Ephesians 5: 25-27)The third cup of Passover, the cup of Redemption is the “Communion” cup in which believers partake to honor our Lord, and signify our devotion to Him until He returns.

(I Corinthians 11:25)

4
The young man would then give gifts to his beloved, and then take his leave. The young woman would have to wait for him to return and collect her. Before leaving the young man would announce, " I am going to prepare a place for you" and "I will return for you when it is ready". The usual practice was for the young man to return to his father's house and build a honeymoon room there. This is what is symbolized by the chuppah or canopy which is characteristic of Jewish weddings. He was not allowed to skimp on the work and had to get his father's approval before he could consider it ready for his bride. If asked the date of his wedding he would have to reply, "Only my father knows."

Christ returned to His Father’s house following the payment for His Bride. (John 6:62)
At the end of the Passover meal, the one Jesus so earnestly desired to eat with His disciples, Messiah washed their feet, and then told them he was to be betrayed, die, and go where they could not follow. Then He had to tell Peter that he would deny Christ three times.

But then, Jesus spoke these comforting words:
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14: 1-3)
What beautiful words of comfort! The Bridegroom was leaving, but only for a little while! Earlier Jesus had told them: "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24: 36-37)

5
During the period of separation and waiting, the bride would be making herself ready so that she would be pure and beautiful for her bridegroom. During this time she would wear a veil when she went out to show she was spoken for (she has been bought with a price). It was the custom for a bride to keep a lamp, her veil and her other things beside her bed. Her bridesmaids were also waiting and had to have oil ready for their lamps.

The parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins in Matthew 25 quickly follows Jesus explanation that no one knows the day or hour of His coming. Since this was the wedding custom of the day, the relevance was perfectly clear to all who would have heard it.

6
When the time was ready, the groom, best man, and other male escorts traveled to the waiting bride’s house. It was not uncommon for this to be a torch-light procession at night. (Thus a reason for there to be oil in the virgin’s lamps for the journey to the groom’s). The procession would blow a shofar when they were a certain distance away so the bride and her maids could be ready by the time the party arrived. Then they would return to the groom’s father’s house for the wedding celebration.

Christ will come from His Father’s house in Heaven accompanied by an angelic host. (John 14:3) His return will be preceded by a shofar blast, and the Bride will be caught up with the Lord to be with Him forever.

(I Thessalonians 4: 16-17)

7
After the ceremony, the couple would retire to the privacy of the wedding chambers. The groom’s best friend would wait outside until the groom told him that the marriage had been consummated. The proof of this was the bed-sheet bearing the blood shed by the bride as a result of her first sexual intercourse. This is notable for two reasons. It speaks of purity before marriage, but it also shows a blood covenant (the most solemn and binding kind) such as God's covenant with his people. Then, the wedding feast would begin and last for seven days!

Christ’s union with the church will take place in Heaven for all eternity.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; (Revelation 19:7)
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. (Revelation 21: 2, 9)
Matthew 22: 1-14 is the parable of the wedding feast. It describes the feast that was the custom of the day.

It ends with “many are called, but few are chosen” (v. 14)
And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." (Revelation 19: 9)

The “Best Man”

John the Baptist declared, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. (John 3: 27-29) This could seem to indicate John the Baptist is like unto the best man. In the Passover seder, the door is opened to look for Elijah, for whom there is an empty place at the table.

Elijah, who did not see death, but was swept to Heaven by a great whirlwind in a chariot of fire, was expected at Passover to announce Messiah, Son of David.

We who know Messiah know Elijah did indeed come!

Zacharias, a priest, was serving in the temple at the altar of incense, when an angel of the Lord appeared before him and foretold the birth of his son, who was to be called John... "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:17)

Yeshua said: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matthew 11: 13-14)

This John declared:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.”

(John 1: 29)