Bridal Preparations

Matthew's gospel account uses bridal imagery to describe the Church's relationship to God's only begotten son, the Messiah.

In one passage, Jesus tells a parable of ten brides who are given lamps as a symbol of readiness to meet a bride groom. In that parable, those brides who failed to remain prepared with ceremonial oil for their lamps are excluded from an eventual wedding.

One end-times passage continues the bridal theme, describing an actual wedding between the prepared Church as a bride and the Lamb of God as a groom, emphasizing the sacrificial bond between the Messiah and His redeemed body.

A related passage further describes the bride's significance as a new Jerusalem, God's holy dwelling place, having the attributes concurrently of Israel's twelve tribes and the Lamb's twelve apostles.

That gospel combines the bridal preparation theme with yet another parable concerning stewardship of resources, symbolized by a financial allocation of one, two and five talents given to God's servants. The scripture teaches that God holds his servants accountable for fruitfully multiplying these resources according to God's purposes.

In concluding a trilogy series of parables, Jesus then clarifies that the royal Son of Man's fruitfulness accountability standards relate specifically to treatment of society's least-regarded individuals. His third parable shows the Messiah measuring the nations' faithfulness to the King in terms of their responsiveness to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the unclothed, the infirm and the incarcerated.

The juxtaposition of these parables is far more than coincidence. Their combined message is that God's Church must prepare for the Messiah's imminent return in line with God's highest priorities. This message suggests further that the Great Commission's call to discipleship extends far beyond conversion outreach, toward ensuring that the Church literally embodies God's concerns for the “least of these.”

Jesus' parables set a framework for us to understand that His sacrifice does not find its full expression in building impressive religious hierarchies or facility infrastructures. God's ultimate priority in forming His Church is not religion or humanly-assessed virtue, but instead a relational continuum with God's redemptive purposes.

God's purposes are most accurately described in Jesus' prophetic mission statement: preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners, recovering sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor.

Scripture also shows us that Jesus diligently takes steps to ensure that the Church is not caught off guard by His return. He explains His return's connection to wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, false prophets and false messiah's, and each nation's hatred of God's people.

As God's people find these signs being fulfilled in their daily lives, we must make certain that our lamps are fully prepared for the groom's return. We have unique abilities to reach and attend to the needs of lost sheep, given our own “sheepish” experiences. Our mindset must be on the groom's return.