A bride fit for a King

Rev 19v6-9

Did you watch the royal wedding? Did you enjoy it? I certainly did. I loved the large scale pageantry, the amazing number of people in the excited crowds, grand buildings used to their very best. But I also loved the smaller, intimate moments captured by the camera – seeing William’s lips say “you look beautiful” as Kate arrived at the altar, or seeing Kate’s lips say “Oh Wow” as she stepped on the balcony and saw for the first time the magnitude of the change in her life.

This time it truly seems like a wedding out of a fairy tale. That a commoner should marry a prince and become a member of a royal family. What grander story could there be than that?

Well, actually…

We’ve read from Revelation today about a celebration which is to come in heaven which dwarfs everything that we’ve seen this week into insignificance. I hear that 2 billion people watched Fridays wedding on TV. The wedding to come will have far more than 2 billion actually present! Kate may be the bride of William, a bride fit for a king,  but the Church is the bride of Christ – a bride fit for THE king. And it is the love of the king which makes it so.

The church is a bride fit for the King

The start of our passage sets the scene – it is the rule and reign of Almighty God, and the ambiance is deafening. In Fridays wedding you sometimes heard the murmur of an appreciative crowd outside. Here we have the sound of a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters – have you ever stood by a great waterfall? It produces ‘white noise’, sound being produced at so many audible frequencies at similar intensities that it drowns out everything else.

But then over that, somehow voices cut through like peals of thunder, HALLELUJAH! The apostle John is attempting to paint an incredible sound picture for us, giving us the impression of untold multitudes lifting their voices in praise!

And the reason for this praise? See v7, “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready”.

Who is the Lamb? The Lamb is Jesus, exemplified many times throughout the book of Revelation  (e.g. Rev 5) and elsewhere in the Bible (e.g. John 1).

Who is the bride? The bride is the church, God’s people.

It is interesting to see how throughout the Bible God uses marriage as a metaphor for his love and relationship with his people. In the old testament we see Yahweh talking about his covenant relationship with Israel in this way in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. In the new testament we find the relationship of Christ with his church clearly expressed this way in Eph 5v25-32

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no-one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church - for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church. ”

Often read at weddings, but it is interesting to consider what it tells us about Christ’s love for the church. He not only died for the church, but also cleanses her, gets her ready so that she might be the perfect bride. And the intimate unity which lies at the heart of marriage, quoted here from Genesis, is in some way true of Christ and the church too. No wonder Paul calls that a profound mystery!

In Biblical times a couple would be betrothed before the wedding – a binding commitment to one another, looking forward to the day of the wedding itself.  Joseph and Mary were betrothed when Mary became pregnant with Jesus.

We could say that the church is betrothed to Christ at the moment. Promised to him, he (and we) look forward to the wedding day described in Revelation 19.

Yet what state is the bride-to-be in today? True, the church will ultimately appear ready, clothed in “fine linen bright and clean”. Yet…

James 4v4 thunders in characteristic tones “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God”

While God continually refers to his love for his people in the old testament, we see time and time again their failure to live right. It is characterised as adultery, breaking the precious promises and relationship with God.

History teaches us that the church has faced just the same problems. So many revile Christianity today by pointing out the excesses of the crusades, the inquisition, the TV evangelists. People who prostituted the church for their own ends, political or personal.

And can we point the finger at those figures and neglect our own failures? Neglect the times when we have put friendship with the world above friendship with God in our priorities? We too, are far from perfect.

And yet… there is hope. Wherever God is around, there is hope. The church will be a bride fit for a king, and it is the love of Jesus that will make it so.

It is the love of Jesus that makes it so

Think back to those words from Ephesians. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy. Cleansing her. presenting her as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle.

We are forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us. In mercy, our sins are no longer held to our account because Jesus died for us. In grace, we have unmerited favour poured out upon us because our resurrected Lord loves us, loves us, loves us.

His love is a transforming love, changing us day by day. I’d like to read a short story which I came across in Readers Digest some years ago:

Johnny Lingo is known throughout the islands for his skills, intelligence, and savvy. If you hire him as a guide, he will show you the best fishing spots and the best places to get pearls. Johnny is also one of the sharpest traders in the islands. He can get you the best possible deals. The people of Kiniwata all speak highly of Johnny Lingo. Yet, when they speak of him, they always smile just a little mockingly.

"What’s going on?" I demanded. "Everybody tells me to get in touch with Johnny Lingo and then they start laughing. Please, let me in on the joke. Why does everyone laugh at him behind his back?"

"Well, five months ago, at fall festival, Johnny came to Kiniwata and found himself a wife. He gave her father eight cows!"

I knew enough about island customs to be impressed. A dowry of two or three cows would get a fair wife and four or five cows would get a very nice wife.

"Wow!" I said. "Eight cows! She must have beauty that takes your breath away."

"She’s not ugly, …" he conceded with a little smile, "… but calling her ‘plain’ would definitely be a compliment. Sam Karoo, her father, was afraid he wouldn’t be able to marry her off. Instead of being stuck with her, he got eight cows for her. Isn’t that extraordinary? This price has never been paid before."

"Eight cows." I murmured. "I’d like to meet this Johnny Lingo."

I wanted fish and pearls, so the next afternoon I went to the island of Nurabandi. As I asked directions to Johnny’s house, I noticed Johnny’s neighbours were also amused at the mention of his name. When I met the slim, serious young man I could see immediately why everyone respected his skills. However, this only reinforced my confusion over him.

As we sat in his house, he asked me, "You come here from Kiniwata? They speak of me on that island?"

"They told me you were married at festival time. They also say the marriage settlement was eight cows." I paused. "They wonder why."

"They ask that?" His eyes lighted with pleasure. "Everyone in Kiniwata knows about the eight cows?"

I nodded.

Just then Sarita entered the room to place flowers on the table. She stood still for a moment to smile at her husband and then left. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The lift of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, and the sparkle in her eyes all spelled a confident inner beauty that radiated in her every movement.

"You admire her?" he murmured.

"She … she’s gorgeous." I said. "Obviously, this is not the one everyone is talking about. She can’t be the Sarita you married on Kiniwata."

"There’s only one Sarita. Perhaps, she doesn’t look the way you expected."

"She doesn’t. I heard she was homely. They all make fun of you because you let yourself be cheated by Sam Karoo."

"You think eight cows was too many?" A smile slid over his lips.

"No, but how can she be so different from the way they described her?"
Johnny said, "Think about how it must make a girl feel to know her husband paid a very low dowry for her? It must be insulting to her to know he places such little value on her. Think about how she must feel when the other women boast about the high prices their husbands paid for them. It must be embarrassing for her. I would not let this happen to my Sarita."

"So, you paid eight cows just to make your wife happy?"

"Well, of course I wanted Sarita to be happy, but there’s more to it than that. You say she is different from what you expected. This is true. Many things can change a woman. There are things that happen on the inside and things that happen on the outside. However, the thing that matters most is how she views herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. As a result, that’s the value she projected. Now, she knows she is worth more than any other woman in the islands. It shows, doesn’t it?"

"I wanted to marry Sarita. She is the only woman I love."

"But," he finished softly, "I wanted an eight-cow wife."

The love of Jesus makes us beautiful.

Sometimes we tell ourselves that we are ugly, stupid, useless, faithless. Satan delights when we tell ourselves these things, drag ourselves down, believe that we are worthless. But we are not worthless! Jesus considers us to be of such extraordinary value, that even if you were the only person ever to live, he would still have died for you… even though you would have been the very one knocking the nails into his hands!

Sarita in the story is transformed by knowing how much her husband valued her and loved her.

I want you to know, today, how much Jesus values you and loves you. I can’t put a number on it, the numbers don’t exist to describe the magnitude of his love!

Each of us, ordinary as we are, have this astonishing heavenly prospect before us – a translation not merely into royal realms but into heavenly realms, not union with the second in line to the throne of the UK, but union with the King of Kings and Lord of all creation!

This is what the whole Bible is pointing towards! The story of Gods plan of redemption started in Genesis finds its concluding chapters filled with the bride of Christ, and his heavenly wedding!

The church is a bride fit for the king. And it is the love of Jesus that makes us so.

No wonder the closing chapter of the Bible says “The Spirit and the bride say ‘Come’. And let him who hears say ‘Come’” “Amen, Come Lord Jesus!”

 

Alex White