The Bride Awaits

 

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “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,1 bright and clean, was given her to wear.” Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

—Revelation 19:6-9

Recently I received a thank-you note from a young bride for whose wedding I played the organ. She commented that everyone kept saying what a dramatic entrance she had made at the wedding. Truthfully, I did nothing out of the ordinary for her. I always prepare the bridal processional with a fanfare and with loud flourishes.

Yet, her note has me thinking about the great Wedding Supper of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation 19:6-9, from which I quoted at the beginning of this blog post.

Many times in Scripture, the Bride is regarded as the Body of Christ—the Church—prepared for her groom, Christ Himself. Such a fuss over the bride! It would seem that with Christ as the groom, the focus should be on Him. Yet here, Scripture says that she has made herself ready in fine linen, bright and clean. Nothing is spoken here about the Groom.

Psalm 45 is a wedding song. In verse 15, the bride is described as wearing gold and embroidered garments. She and her companions are:

“…led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king.”

The Prophet Isaiah refers to the Bride in Isaiah 62:5:

“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

Something of the symbolism of Christ and His church seems to have become lost in modern wedding ceremonies. In fact, like in the wedding ceremony I referred to earlier, there was neither any prayer nor mention of Christ. No wonder this young bride was a bit surprised at her role in the wedding drama.

Oh yes, people spend the money and time to assure that the dreaming young girls expend on that perfect setting, perfect flowers, perfect decorations, perfect food and drink, and perfect bridal dress does still exist. But, the real meaning of such a wedding dress, and all the related wedding accoutrements, seems to have been lost.

Not long ago, I read of the Greek Orthodox wedding tradition that calls for the use of crowns. One of the elements of the service involves the “crowning.” During this portion of the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom receive crowns united by a ribbon. This represents their union in Christ. The priest says aloud, “Crown them with Glory and Honor.”

The crowns also symbolize the heavenly crowns we will receive when we enter paradise. The crowns serve as a reminder that marriage involves “dying to self” in the same way that we die to self so that Christ can live in us.

After the marriage ceremony, the crowns are typically displayed in a glass case mounted above the couple’s bed. This serves as a constant reminder of the holy state of marriage.

The Apostle Paul also speaks of the symbolism found in marriage. In his letter to the Christians gathered at Ephesus, Paul writes in Ephesians 5:25-28:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.”

Yes, Christ has chosen to put the emphasis on the Bride. He chose her, bought her with His own blood, brought her to a relationship with Himself, and waits to present her to the Heavenly Hosts and all creation.

I wonder what the music will sound like when we are presented to Him in the Heavenly Kingdom? Will it be a dramatic processional? I would imagine it will!

God is preparing to meet us. Have we prepared to meet Him?

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1 Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.