The Bride

Who are the friends of the Bridegroom? Who are the guests invited to the wedding and feast of the Bridegroom? Who is the Bride of the Bridegroom?

John the Baptist referred to himself as a friend of the Bridegroom, John 3:22-36, verses 27 through 29 being the key verses, “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent before Him.” He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.’”

I have always heard and believed the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) was about believers; like the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). But they are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, they are not the bride. In Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast, the guests were not the bride. So who are the guests? Those who lived and died before the Cross; they awaited Christ and He preached to them in hell and led them forth into His Kingdom. But, they were not and can never be part of the Body of Christ who is the Bride of the Lamb. They are those invited and who prepared and waited for the arrival of the Bridegroom and for the wedding and feast. All of humanity was invited but not all cared or wanted to attend, only those who believed and waited will attend, the rest will be cast in to utter darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So who is the Bride, most believers have no problem understanding that the Church of Jesus Christ is the Bride of the Lamb. The Bride is all believers since the Cross and resurrection of Christ. There is only one Body of Christ, it is also the Bride of the Lamb, it is also the Church. We are not invited to the wedding as guests we are Christ’s focal point of the wedding, the reason for the wedding. All of humanity since the Cross and resurrection have been called to be part of the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb; but many have rejected that call and will killed in the second death along with those who rejected the invitation to the wedding of the Bridegroom and His Bride (Revelation 20:5-6, 11-15; 21:8).

So in Revelation 21 when it says that the Bride of the Lamb is the New Jerusalem and goes into great detail to describe it; why does it not look like us; the Church, the Body of Christ? I do not know, while I can have the mind that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8) I cannot have the mind of GOD nor His knowledge of all things while I am still in this flesh. But, I know that someday I will be like Him and know Him (1 John 3:1-3).