“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.” – Revelation 19:7 NIV
My wife Tami has narrowed down her dress choice to one of three (a green one and two blue ones). You see, my son Luke and his fiancée Kat are getting married, with the date fast approaching. Tami has asked some relatives to help her decide which dress to wear. As I will be wearing my one and only suit, I don’t have to worry about what to put on. This has given me time to prepare for this blessed event in other ways, like reading up on all the weddings described in the bible. It didn’t take long.
There are numerous verses about marriage, but only the wedding of two couples is described in any detail. And both of these weddings were disasters! In Genesis 29, Jacob marries Rachel (or at least he thought he was marrying Rachel). Instead, her father secretly replaced her with Leah, her older sister. By the time Jacob discovers this, he and Leah are already married.
The other wedding described in the bible is the one Jesus attended in Cana (John 2). There, the right couple got married, but the catering was bad, and they ran out of wine at the wedding reception. Jesus steps in and saves the day by turning six jars of water into wine.
These two bible stories are not exactly comforting for a nervous bride and groom. But there is a wedding story in the bible that is comforting to all of us. It’s not the wedding of two people. It’s the wedding of the Lamb. In Revelation 19, the ultimate union of Christ (the Lamb) and the Church (the Bride) is described. Even the wedding dress is described. It says the Bride is wearing “fine linen, bright and clean.” (Revelation 19:8). But then it quickly points out that this bridal image is a metaphor when it says, “Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.”
One day we shall all be united with Jesus and it will be like a wedding celebration. But we won’t have to worry about what to wear, for we already know. The most beautiful things we can put on are the righteous acts of God’s holy people. Doing what is right is always in fashion, and we don’t have to wait until the wedding day to start putting that on. As Paul says in Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Blessings to you this week.
Pastor Mark