Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The joy in heaven continues in Revelation 19:7-9 with the remarkable marriage feast of the Lamb, Jesus Christ: “’Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him, for the marriage of the lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.’ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, ‘Write, “Blessed are they which are called into the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’ And he saith unto me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’” Usually the focus of a wedding is the bride (the Church), but here the emphasis, appropriately, is on the Bridegroom (Jesus). The background is a traditional Jewish wedding of the first century (remember, John, the writer of Revelation, was Jewish). First came an engagement period, legally and morally binding. Then, the bridegroom led a procession to the bride’s home to take her to their new home. Finally, at this new home, a wedding feast was held in celebration of the fullness of their union. This process informs the relationship of the Church and Christ. As the “Lamb” dying on the Cross, Jesus provided the basis for our relationship with Him; we have been “made…ready” by trusting in His provision for salvation. The bridegroom’s procession to the bride’s home points us to our Bridegroom’s return for us in what we call the Rapture of the Church (remember, the setting is heaven, not earth). “The marriage supper of the Lord” begins our celebration of eternity with Jesus. Of course, Gentiles (non-Jewish people) who believe in Jesus will also be welcome at this heavenly meal: “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). May each of us respond in faith to this once-in-a-lifetime invitation.