The Jewish Wedding and Jesus – A Spiritual Marriage

The Jewish Wedding and Jesus – A Spiritual Marriage.

“As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one, becoming one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32).

MYSTERY: Greek word, mysterion, used 28 times in the New Testament; a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden to doubters and unbelievers.

The following heavenly brainstorm takes place outside of time, therefore it takes no time at all, or maybe all the time in the world. All comments are instant, intuitive, with boundless wisdom. The Godhead is having a conversation about the creation of the universe before earth’s first light dawned. They are each consulting as One, in the infinite bosom of the Triune God. Together they imagined galaxies and constellations, black holes and starbursts, about special plans they have for the planet earth. The Father and the Son did most of the talking, and their Holy Spriit contributed the occasional whispered comment.

Father: You, Son, are the love of My life, as You are, Spirit, and we need to make sure we fill the earth with beings made in Your image, Son, breathing with Your very breath, Spirit. Mankind will be fashioned in your likeness, Son. With joy let Us create these human beings so that we can love them, we can enjoy them and have fellowship with them. Since you were the model, Son, each human will be sacred and will represent you on earth.

Son: Yes, Father, but We have some more planning to do before We shape the dust into My holy image. The fact is that We desire spiritual union with these human beings. So, what can We design that would help the people on earth understand the eventual truth of Our union with them? Let Us create a physical symbol that reveals Our spiritual desires, a living illustration on earth that shows the people what We have in mind. Let Us design marriage, a physical union that is a picture of a spiritual union. A husband and wife having physical relations will be the closest idea We get to Us having spiritual relations with human beings. The man and woman will leave their father and mother to join together, Father, just like I will have to leave You to join with My followers.

Father: Let Us call You the Bridegroom, Son. Your body of believers will be Your bride. You will be the eternal Husband, and your believers will be the eternal wife. Your bride will receive You just as an earthly wife will receive her husband. Their physical union will point to Our plans for a spiritual union with mankind, with every person who believes in Us. This is a mystery within a mystery, isn’t it? A spiritual marriage hinted at by the physical marriage. A spiritual one-flesh suggested by a physical one-flesh. 

Son: But I know what You are thinking, Father. You want to illustrate this spiritual marriage through a covenant with a Chosen People, right? You are planning on committing Yourself to these people in faithful love, aren’t you? You will marry these Chosen People and be their Husband, correct? Your promise of love in Your marriage with them is a hint of Our ultimate desire for a spiritual marriage through their Anointed One, Me, Who will come through this family. And I rejoice that I will be their Messiah, their Deliverer. And through them I will be the Savior of the world. Thank you, Father.

Father: Our eternal desire for spiritual oneness with mankind will slowly dawn on them as they see You take on flesh, Son. They will see what love looks like, and You will love them to the end. Many will understand that My Old Covenant with the Chosen People will finally be fulfilled in Your New Covenant. The whole world will see at the Last Day that all of our love-promises will finally be satisfied when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Son: Yes, the final Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the consummation of Our marriage with all those who follow Us. I see the final Feast, the ultimate spiritual union, hinted at in every marriage on earth, Father. The earthly marriage was a heavenly idea. And we designed this from all eternity.