Wonderfully blessed are those who are invited to the feast at the Wedding Celebration of the Lamb! ~ Revelation 19:9 TPT
Summer is ever so slow at settling in on this verdant hill that we call home. Rolling mists and moody clouds return like old friends who hope to linger a little longer. Rain and more beautiful rain, dripping, soaking and renewing as far as the eye can see and beyond. The Plaintive Rainfrogs' song has become the sweet soundtrack of early Summer, along with the steady rhythm of rain tapping on our tin roof. On sunny days we soak up the gentle warmth like lizards, doors and windows thrown open wide to invite the season of sunshine in. Starkly pruned pineapple sage bushes finally sprout new growth, and I look longingly (along with the sun-birds) for the return of their ruby red sprigs of nectar-filled flowers. An eager young stallion courts a chestnut mare in the field behind our home with dogged persistence, his ear piercing pleadings strangely distracting. Our nick of the woods is refreshed by the arrival of new neighbours, bringing new life and a pack of happy, lolloping dogs. I had not realised how much I'd missed the reasuring proximity of kind people, other than my own family.
We are invited to a wedding, the first after many nuptial-free years. The bride arrives, lucent among swirling mists, on the broad back of a splendid Friesian horse. Yet only after they first gallop right past the chapel... I catch a brief glimpse of her smiling mischievously and waving, making us giggle and the handsome groom nervous. After a heartfelt and meaningful ceremony, we feast and celebrate with the newly wedded couple, both looking radiant and relieved.
I'm reminded of the beautiful, intentionally binding nature of marriage, the most visual illustration of Jesus' relationship with us, His bride. This wedding was a truly joyous occasion, yet marriage and love between a man and woman remains something of a mystery, even according to biblical wisdom. Solomon wrote in Proverbs: "There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I don't understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman." Then Paul writes to the Ephesians: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two will be one one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church."
Marriage originated in the loving heart of God. He saw fit to give Adam the gift of a partner and helpmeet in life, to fulfil the mission, to spread His image and the creative order of Eden across the earth. When God decided to initiate redemption, He chose a man and wife; Abraham and Sarah. He chose to send His Son into the world through a married couple, Mary and Joseph. Weddings and marriages are scattered throughout the bible, especially the New Testament. We see the culmination of God's love story within John's vision of a future, heavenly wedding feast. The final expression of the revelation of Jesus tells so much. God ends the violence and tyranny and then follows this vision of marriage: "And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty thundering, saying, 'Alleluia! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the wife has made herself ready.' And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, 'Write: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" And he said to me, 'These are the true sayings of God.'"
And there is the goal. Intimacy with God. All of God's work and mission has been and continues to be; a reconciled, intimate relationship with a people, His children, the body of Christ for eternity. Jesus became the "second Adam", yet a different source of a new species of being both human and divine, He is looking for a bride who is bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
We see elements of marriage, especially as it was in the Jewish culture during Jesus' time on earth, through different Gospel stories, and even in His words the night before His death. Jesus promised that He would go and prepare a place in His Father's house and return to carry them home with Him. Phrased as a marriage proposal and commitment. Jesus talked often about marriage during His ministry on earth. He performs His very first miracle at a wedding feast and uses the concept of a wedding feast in two of His parables. Finally, Jesus tenderly tells of His leaving and returning in John 14:1-3:"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come to fetch you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I'm going."
We so clearly see the loving heart of God within this wedding feast, to which we are both invited and given the means to arrive. He chose us. He has promised it and He will do it. We can trust His love, power and character in this promise. No matter what else happens while we wait for the groom, He is coming! And just as a wedding is the joyous occasion to celebrate the promise of a lifetime spent together, there is far more (joy and glory) to come after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb than what came before. So we array ourselves with fine white linen. Letting the transforming love of God change us into the radiant bride whom Jesus will come to carry home with Him. To reign with our first love and King, and to be with Him in this glorious for-ever union.
Sources and credits:
1. Christianity Today
2. Photo courtesy Roddy Fox Photography
