A Picture of Jesus Christ the Bridegroom
John the Baptist paints a picture of Jesus Christ as the bridegroom in a glorious, heavenly wedding of the future. Does that sound strange? Steph explains.
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Picture a Wedding
In John 3:22-30, we read,
“They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.’”
Picture a wedding with me. As the best man or maid of honour, you’ve been working hard to make sure everything is perfect for the Big Day. Everyone is gathered. The ceremony is about to begin. Though in North American culture it is most often considered “the bride’s day,” it isn’t a wedding without her groom.
So, there you are at the front of the church. But instead of rejoicing as the bride walks down the aisle toward her future husband, you begin to jump up and down and wave your arms. “Hey, look at me! Look at me!” you yell.
Does this sound silly? Of course it does.
Just as we wouldn’t seek to take centre stage at someone else’s wedding, we must actively divert attention from ourselves to the Coming Bridegroom. The Scriptures teach us that Jesus is coming again to claim His bride. What a wedding that will be!
Named as His Bride
Now does this mean that you don’t have value? Not at all. The amazing thing about God is that when we humble ourselves, He will lift us up. He loves and values us greatly. After all, if we had a price tag, it would read, “The Life of God’s Son.” All who accept Christ as Saviour are among those named as His bride. We have tremendous value.
However, we must always remember that our life’s purpose is to glorify God and point others to Jesus. How do we do this? Again, we can look to John the Baptist’s example in the passage we read earlier.
He was teaching, calling others to repent of their sins, and baptizing those who came to him. His reputation was spreading. He had followers, those who looked to him as their spiritual leader, a rabbi. And yet, from the beginning of his ministry, John knew he was simply the best man, the voice crying in the wilderness as we read in Matthew 3. No matter how widespread his fame, his calling remained the same—and he never forgot it.
He Must Increase
John was not troubled by the fact that people were flocking to Jesus. The passage in John 3 ends with a very well-known statement: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
In this world that values self-promotion and pursing one’s own dreams, this is hard to comprehend—and even harder to live out.
In fact, we can’t live in this way without the power of the Holy Spirit. We must dig into God’s Word and get to know the Saviour, the Real Bridegroom.
As a believer, see yourself as the cherished bride—whether you’re male or female—and live as if preparing for your wedding day—because, in truth, that is what you are doing.
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