The Names and Titles of Jesus

Bridegroom (illustration - Icon - Christ the Bridegroom)

John 3:29 

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

There are a number of wedding scenarios found in the New Testament, starting with the first miracle at the wedding in Canaan, through the parable of the wedding feast, the 5 wise and 5 foolish single women right through to Revelations where it speaks of the marriage of the lamb.

The Bride of Christ is a prominent symbol and metaphor used in Scripture to describe God’s relationship with his beloved bride, the church. Portrayed as the bridegroom in this relationship, God reveals Himself to be faithful, loving, and committed to a covenant union with his church, comprised of all who believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted His atoning grace and gift of salvation.

In the parable of 5 wise and 5 foolish bridesmaids, Jesus gives us a picture of Jewish wedding customs in his time. The groom would take the bride from her father’s house to his own, but only when all negotiations had been completed: hence the delay in this case. A servant would alert the groom’s household that the couple were on their way. The foolish bridesmaids had to go off to find a late-night dealer in oil, so they were too late to welcome the couple.

From a biblical perspective, salvation is ultimately about union with God. The God of Israel is not a distant deity or an impersonal power, but the Bridegroom who wants his bride to "know" him intimately, in a spiritual marriage that is not only faithful and fruitful, but "ever-lasting”. Once More Charles Wesley frames this parable in part of a hymn.

Ye virgin souls, arise,

With all the dead awake

Unto salvation wise,

Oil in your vessels take;

Upstarting at the midnight cry,

"Behold the heavenly Bridegroom nigh!"

Then let us wait to hear

The trumpet's welcome sound;

To see our Lord appear,

Watching let us be found;

When Jesus doth the heavens bow,

Be found - as, Lord, Thou find'st us now!

Charles Wesley