The Bride

Read: John 14:1-3

[Jesus said,] “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” John 14:3

IN WORD

Jesus told His followers that He was leaving them to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. These are the same words a groom might speak to his intended bride, fitting the custom of the time, when a bride would leave her family and join her husband’s to live in a newly prepared add-on to the family’s home. This intimate image was a signal to the disciples that something greater than friendship would eventually be desired of them. In the divine plan, God wants His people as close to His heart as possible.

Earlier in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the bridegroom (3:29). It’s an image Jesus frequently used of Himself, both in parables and in pointed comments to those who fasted and mourned in His presence rather than rejoicing as if at a wedding. And it’s a stronger image of relationship than any other in Scripture. We aren’t just clay pots, sheep, or servants. Neither are we merely friends or children. We are all of these things and more. We are the beloved bride.

Let that soak in. God could have used plenty of other human relationships as an illustration of His love for us—and He often did—but He took it as far as we can imagine with this one. There is no greater level of intimacy and affection than this. When it comes to relating to those who love Him, God is a romantic at heart.

IN DEED

That thought unnerves a lot of people who want only the majesty and dignity of God and not the passion of knowing Him deeply. The truth is that both sides are true, and one without the other leads either to a cold and distant relationship or a sentimental, casual one. God wants both awe and intimacy, but the ultimate expression of His love is to relate to us as a bridegroom to a bride. We know that because Scripture ends with a wedding. The betrothal at Sinai (Jeremiah 2:2) is fulfilled at the coming of the Son in splendor. And the story really does end with “happily ever after.”

ADDITIONAL READING: Revelation 19:6-9

The church is in Christ as Eve was in Adam.

RICHARD HOOKER