Thought for the Month

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." (Rev.19:7)

Summertime in Britain is a popular time to plan to have a wedding. The British weather is usually warmer making being outside pleasurable and the days longer. In fact there are about 250,000 weddings per year in the U.K. They are often the culmination of the hopes of young men and women as well as the start of a new partnership that will build a life together sharing skills and talents for the benefit of the couple and any family members or subsequent children. It was and is a commonplace event that the people of Galilee and Judah would understand. Hence Jesus used it in parables.

However the first mention of a wedding in the four gospels was the wedding at Cana in John 2. In the account Jesus’ mother brought to Jesus’ attention that there was no wine for it had run out toward the end of the day. Mary tells the servants to do whatever her son says. Jesus miraculously changes water into wine. Not only that it was the best wine, but also better than had been brought out first at the wedding, which would usually be the best. (To this we have to understand wine in Mediterranean countries was made by all rural households at a time when it was not so easy to provide safe drinks. In Britain beer was made for similar reasons.) This miracle, his first miracle was witnessed by his disciples and meant they believed on him when they saw his power.

Matthew in the twenty‑second chapter records a parable Jesus gave set at a wedding. Here a king sends his servants to bid the guests to come. But the guests either showed no interest, badly treated or killed the servants. This was to show that Israel especially the chief priests and Pharisees, would reject the invitation by God through Jesus. Observe how John the Baptist was killed. Then the king sent out the servants again to the roads and junctions to bid them to the wedding. Here showing how the invite was sent to the poor as well as the Gentiles to illustrate "many are called, but few are chosen."

In the fourteenth chapter of his gospel Luke records another parable set at a wedding. He advises you should not go and sit in the places of honour at a wedding but go to the lowest places. The lesson is those that humble themselves will be exalted. (1 Pet.5:6)

The "bride" is an expression to describe those of the body of Christ. (In one picture we describe it as "the bride and groom" or the other is "the head and body of Christ.") The marriage of the Lamb is a major event at the culmination of this present age when those overcomers will have become "partakers of the divine nature." (2 Pet.1:4) It describes the desire of the Christian to go and live with Christ on the heavenly plane and the moment of joy it brings when the longed‑for hope becomes a reality. But it is also a beginning like any wedding; it’s the start of a partnership and a 1,000 year reign when Christ and his bride bring the world back into harmony with God.