Christ and His Bride, the Church
And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,
Dear saints,
You’ve heard of high school sweet-hearts? Well imagine a couple that was kindergarten sweethearts. They grew up together. They were best friends, then boyfriend and girlfriend, and then husband and wife.
Her favorite thing was to cook, his favorite thing was to eat.
She loved to eat ice cream, and his family owned a dairy farm.
She had always wanted ten kids, and he said, “Why not eleven?”
He struggled with anger, and she was calm and calming to him and always pointed him to the pardon and freedom of a quiet mind in Christ.
She struggled with anxiety and worry, and he was calm and calming to her and always pointed her to the cleansing and peace of a quiet mind in Christ.
It was a match, a marriage made in heaven.
2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his Son,
Perhaps more than any other illustration in the Bible, none is more used of God and His people, Christ and His Church than that of the marriage and the wedding.
The mystery of marriage is profound, the Apostle Paul says, and I am saying it refers to Christ and the Church.
To begin to appreciate this full illustration – we need to hear the truth of how unlikely this match ought be.
Christ, the bridegroom is perfect, He is wise, He is faithful, He is kind, He is merciful, He is forgiving, He is rich, He is patient, He strong.
He is true and He is good and He is beautiful.
He gives of Himself to point of a sacrificial death – even death on a cross.
His Church, His Bride – well Scripture confesses and after hearing and looking within, we confess the same thing – she’s quite a different person.
Our family was on a walk around Frank Liske park last Sunday afternoon and we met a father from Romania and three of his children. We ended up having a long and wonderful Christian conversation that centered around how he never begin to grasp God’s love and mercy until God enlightened Him to see how the Scripture’s compare it God’s justice and God’s wrath that we deserve.
Comparison begins to help.
Comparison begins to help in the picture of Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride.
Comparison is found throughout the rest of the parable Jesus gives us today.
2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his Son,
The joys of the wedding feast,
the joys that is a free – royal wedding feast, full of gifts and music and dancing and amazing food and amazing drink and amazing conversation,
the joys of the free invitation and the sending out of the servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast,
is compared to the unbelievable disdain for the invitation and the first response, but they would not come.
And that the patience and loving and gracious persistence that the King sent other servants, saying, “Tell those who were invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”
is compared to the response of not only apathy and the choice to work hard instead of resting peacefully and receiving freely- but they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business
but also is compared to the unreasonable amount of anger and offense: while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them.
And then the kindness and the generosity and the patient and loving persistence is compared to the just wrath that King finally pours out:
The king was angry, and he sent His troops and destroyed those murdered and burned the city.
And the openness and love and mercy and goodness and generosity of the King who then invited as many [others]as He could,
and provided everything that was needed to come, including (and this is just assumed in the story because that’s how ancient weddings, let alone royals wedding are) the wedding garments,
is compared to the man who chose to come just as he was,
to ignore the wedding garment that was given freely, and wear his own filthy, dirty rags who then, and is asked,
Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment and then bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It’s only in the comparison that we can begin to appreciate the warning and comforts of this parable and also only begin to fully rejoice that Christ, our Bridegroom, has chosen for Himself us as His bride.
Compare the Church with Christ.
We bring to this marriage all our sins, all our heart-aches, all our misfortunes and misery.
We bring to this marriage all sorts of misplaced fears and misplaced love and misplaced trust,
and all the parable points us, all sorts of rejection God’s gracious invitations to Himself and away from sin,
and all sorts of apathy of God’s Word,
and anger against God’s will and ways,
and all sorts of pride that our way is right and that we are fine just as the way we are.
That’s what we so often bring to this marriage between Christ and the Church.
He knows that, so don’t leave these things at home.
Don’t leave these things outside of the Church door, outside of the confession of sins and the hearing of pardon and forgiveness,
Don’t leave these things out what our Lord addresses in Word heard and preached and Wedding feast of the Lamb in the Lord’s Supper today.
The days are evil, the apostle Paul reminded us today.
Sin is real. Rejection and apathy is real.
Pain is real. So is fear and weakness and worry.
You know how you cannot hide things from your spouse for very long?
You cannot hide these things from your Jesus, from the groom of His Church.
He doesn’t expect you to. What concerns you, concerns Him. His Church is His Bride.
And He has called you His own beloved, not in spite of these things, but because of these things – to make them His own, to make you His own.
Did you see that we are not a match made in heaven for Jesus – but that we are a match made when the Son of God came and comes down from heaven?
And the Bride that He calls His own, He also clothes in the wedding garment of His righteousness, His purity, His holiness.
He gives her His peace and love and joy and wisdom.
This mystery is profound and I am referring to Christ and the Church.
Through this image, God reveals how He views us – His precious, beautiful, holy, bride – who He has sought and bought with His precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
He loves you.
He rejoices in you.
He cares about you.
He has been united with you in Holy Baptism and promises you again that He is with you from this day forward,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness, in health, and through His Spirit works in you a love and a cherishing of Him forever, for not even death parts you from Him.
Nothing can compare to the love He has for you and joy that He gives to you that no one can take away.
In His pardon and peace and cleansing from all your sins, you begin to serve Him in what our collect calls a quiet mind.
A mind pardoned, a mind at peace, a mind cleansed and renewed, in union with Her Groom, and growing closer in Him and His desires and will.
All that in comparison to your sinful, selfish desires and will that so often creates in you a mind that is loud and harmful to yourself and others.
In the union between Christ and His Church, dear Churh, is that you have a match made for you, right here on earth.
It is match that brings you heaven and all of Christ’s benefits now with the Church Militant until He brings you to heaven forever with the Church Triumphant. Amen.
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