Jesus and His bride. Advent 2. 7/12/03am WBC
Mt 22:1-13, 1 Thess 4:16-18, Rev 19:6-9
Topic chosen because
- Advent: look at return of Christ
- Alpha: looked at church. Not a building but described as: ¡¥family of God¡¦, ¡¥body of Christ¡¦ and ¡¥bride of Christ¡¦
o Realised there¡¦s just SO much in that last term to encourage us
THE WOOING
God has always loved His creation and creatures
- unlike Enuma Elish. ¡¥gods¡¦ hate man.
- In Bible- God walks with man in the garden. Protected environment
But ¡¥man¡¦ goes astray- and the OT is filled with the lover trying to woo back the straying be-loved
- ¡¥Adam, where ARE you¡¦?
- Hosea: told to marry a loose woman¡K then forgive and take her back when she strayed- as it¡¦s an image of God¡¦s love for people
o His specific people¡K the Jews at that point
You see- in days when people worshipped many ¡¥gods¡¦ and did all kinds of horrible things like sacrifice children
- God found a man with a heart for Him: Abraham
o Left ¡¥polytheism¡¦ and practices of Ur (Babylon)
- God set His heart on reaching ALL people through THESE people
o Made a covenant with them. Not unlike our marriage vows
But even then- the wooer was snubbed so often. Heart broken.
Jer 2:2 " `I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
The language of lover, wo-er is used.
- Other language is used, as well- of Father¡¦s concern for wayward son, mother¡¦s love for baby at breast, righteous king¡¦s concern for silly subjects
And there¡¦s the promise of closer relationship- that of right marriage:
HOS 2:14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
HOS 2:15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
HOS 2:16 "In that day," declares the LORD,
"you will call me `my husband’;
you will no longer call me `my master. ’
The promise of it moving from head to heart, religion more into relationship¡K along with a growing expectancy that someone special, the Messiah, is coming to bring about this new era
Regarding the old Jewish way of doing marriage I am told that the whole process started with debate and negotiation
- sometimes it would start with the groom (to be) asking his father to ¡¥get that one for me! We like each other¡¦
- most often- the Father¡¦s would negotiate over what was best for their children
o groom¡¦s father would go to bride¡¦s father¡K and the process would start
„X often a year before wedding itself
„X sometimes more (if children)
„X sometimes they wouldn¡¦t (fully) meet until married
Here- God the Father seeks out a bride for His Son. The process of wooing and debate takes aeons.
- At least 200 years between Abraham & Jesus
- 10¡¦s of thousands of years since ¡¥man¡¦ became a ¡¥living, spiritual being¡¦
THE ENGAGEMENT
After debate, the two Father¡¦s would agree, and the couple would, ¡¥officially¡¦ be ¡¥engaged¡¦. Married in spirit.
- their word= betrothed
- = stronger than our engagement
- sometimes even referred to as ¡¥wife¡¦
The groom¡¦s Father would pay a ¡¥bride price¡¦
- and would also, often, lavish gifts on the bride (to be)
This was a ¡¥downpayment¡¦.,.. a promise¡K of what was to come
- this gave both parties the security, stability that was needed before they moved to the next phase
Infidelity during this phase was seen as adultery
- can understand Joseph¡¦s nerves!
The Father paid the price for us. The bride price has been paid
- the cost was his own Son¡K the groom!
And we are told that the Holy Spirit is the downpayment, deposit (lit ¡¥engagement ring!) guaranteeing what is to come
- our marriage to the Lord
Eph 1:13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of his glory.
- it¡¦s a SURE THING.
And the Father has lavished us with gifts.
- poured out the gift of the HS, and the GIFTS of the HS
You can see the picture developing of Jesus and His love, plan, for His bride, eh?
- can understand why, when we go after ¡¥other lovers¡¦ in our lives James (as we¡¦ve studied) calls us ¡¥adulterers.
- We¡¦re betrothed to Jesus
But actually- THIS is not the point that we are at in Salvation-history
THE DEPARTURE, PREPARATION
The next phase in old Jewish marriage tradition is that the groom¡¦s father¡K and the groom depart
- to prepare the place where the bride is going to live
o (a room in His Father¡¦s house, usually)
- and the bride is left to prepare herself
o spend a year making herself beautiful
o (anticipation or what!)
At this point the first invites to the coming wedding would be sent out¡K and accepted
- (hence craziness in saying ¡¥can¡¦t come¡¦ in Mt22- had already said yes!)
- but nobody would know when the actual wedding would be
- sometimes anticipation would be heightened by repeated invites!
Doesn¡¦t this shine a new light on Jesus¡¦ words before his departure?
JN 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."
And so- here the bride waits
- like the 10 virgins in Mt 25 (
- never knowing when the wedding will be
Here she gets herself ready
- Phil 2:2 ¡V works out her salvation with fear and trembling
- Gets bigger! Grows. More beautiful
o His bride¡K the church¡K is always seen as a diverse thing
REV 7:9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
No tatty-ratbag homogeneous group for Him. Every tribe and tongue and nation!
- I believe in the church¡K the diverse body¡K fat bride
o Not fragmentation!
So- the bridegroom departs¡K ascends to heaven
- goes to prepare our place where WE will be with Him
- meanwhile- we WAIT and prepare¡K spread the news
o because the next phase won¡¦t happen until
Mt 24:4 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
SING: Jesus loves the church
THE ARRIVAL.. RETURN
The next phase in old Jewish marriage tradition is this
The bridegroom comes back. Unexpectedly. Suddenly.
- He goes to the bride¡¦s house (usually with his mates) and calls her with a shout and the rams horn (shofar)
o ¡§behold, the bride-groom comes!¡¨
„X makes sense of the 1 Thess reading, eh?
The bride comes out, with her happy friends
They go to the groom¡¦s house
- and there the wedding ceremony takes place
Jesus will return. The groom will return for His bride
- time will stop. Eternity will join us. And we will be caught up in the air to meet Him
o and to go to ¡¥His place!¡¦
There will be no more tears, suffering. Evil will be wiped out. God¡¦s plans fulfilled
- and I don¡¦t know much about how, what exactly, and how we¡¦ll be ¡¥beamed up¡¦
o but I know it will be HOME. Great.
„X And that¡¦s the main point!
SING: Sing a song of celebration
THE CONSUMMATION¡KWEDDING
Bu that¡¦s not the final stage. They¡¦ve had the wedding ceremony
- now there¡¦s the fun bit. The consummation
- ¡K and 7 days of partying with all your friends
o 7 days surely signifies ¡¥eternity¡¦
Will everyone be there?
-everyone who wants to be
The Mat 22 passage describes how those who were originally invited¡K and said ¡¥yes¡¦
- didn¡¦t want to go when the groom actually came
o refused the messiah they¡¦d been waiting for
And so, by God¡¦s foreknowledge and planning¡K the invite went out to anyone and everyone. All!
- must have been last minute because it was the ¡¥the groom¡¦s here, come now to the banquet¡¦ invitation that most of the Jews refused
o and it is ¡¥last minute¡¦ because these are the ¡¥last days¡¦ ¡V and the time is short
„X Jesus could return any time
„X in earth years this is 11.59!
Oh! How painful! It was considered an insult to refuse an invitation
- horrendous to say ¡¥yes¡¦ and then not go
But the banquet is open to all
-who want
- who don¡¦t exclude themselves
- love the groom!
What about this garment business?
- people getting chucked out in Mt22¡K being given a robe in Rev 19
o well- tradition is ¡¥party¡¦- but with certain requirements
o the garment is the robe of righteousness of Christ
„X and there¡¦s no getting to the party without his bloodstained¡K white¡K robe of forgiveness around you
o you may not have long to prepare yourself¡K may even die imperfect (!!!)-
„X well- Augustine, and rev 19, tells that the robes will be given you- only must see your need for them
Sing: The church¡¦s one foundation. ?(there¡¦s a place?)
