A Walk Down the Aisle
I recently attended the wedding of two normally calm and collected people who behaved quite differently that day. I know them well: high achievers, disciplined, kind, down-to-earth. They had dated for years, so their wedding was a highly anticipated event.
As the ceremony began, the groom walked so stiffly toward the altar that I hoped a groomsman was ready catch him if he passed out. His eyes darted around the scene: the guests, the procession, the carpet, his clasped hands. Then music changed and the wedding guests stood and his gaze locked onto the smiling face of his radiant bride. He was instantly himself again, strong and tender as he took in the vision of her loveliness.
About halfway down the aisle, under his steady gaze, she started crying. Not the kind of misty little tear one expects at a wedding, but shoulders-shaking, eyes crinkling, gasping-for-air crying. Out of this self-possessed young woman flowed uncontrollable joy as she approached her new life with the man waiting for her. There was not a dry eye in the church (or if there was one, I couldn’t see it through my own tears). I thought, This is it. This is the picture of what Revelation 19 says it will look like when Jesus and his Church are finally united. A sure and steady groom awaiting a bride overflowing with love for him.
So often at weddings, we think of the bride walking down the aisle as the one who receives all the admiration while the groom does all the admiring. At this wedding, it moved the wedding guests in a special way to catch a glimpse of the depth of this bride’s love for her groom. She didn’t seem to notice the wedding guests or the officiants or the photographers or the flowers, she had eyes only for him. In the safety of his gaze, she let her guard down and wept.
The Bible often uses marriage as a metaphor to describe the relationship between Jesus and his Church (in other words, all people through all time who have trusted in him as Lord and Savior). In fact, Christians believe that one of the main purposes of marriage is to show the world what the distinct relationship between Jesus and his Church looks like (Ephesians 5:25-33). It occurred to me that even before the wedding scene described in Revelation 19, the Christian life is a bit like a walk down the aisle. It made me wonder, as we move forward through time toward our resurrected life, are we “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1)? Are we eagerly anticipating our union with him? Are we overflowing with the kind of joy I had just witnessed?
We know Jesus is a sure and steady groom. No nerves. He was ready before time began. But we also know we are not always a sure and steady bride. I speak for myself and I wonder if I can speak for you, too: Though his tender gaze is fixed on me, I’m not always looking his way. I don’t always walk with joyful anticipation. Sometimes I don’t even walk in the right direction.
I am a fickle bride, prone to chase passing attractions even as my groom stands waiting, having laid down his life to make our relationship possible (Ephesians 5:25). When I’m not heading the wrong direction, sometimes I’m walking with my eyes on my feet, measuring my steps and trying to prove I’m worth his attention. Or perhaps I’m looking backward, lost in grieving all the ways I have been unworthy of his love. Any of that sound familiar?
Thankfully, Jesus understands this about us and has chosen us as his bride anyway (Ephesians 1:4). He is the promise kept by our faithful God. When we ask God, “Can we trust you?” Jesus is God’s resounding “Yes!” (2 Corinthians 1:20). He the culmination of the covenants God has made and kept throughout history. Covenants he has committed to in full awareness of our wandering and pandering and meandering hearts. Why?
“It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, emphasis mine).
In other words, our groom loves us because he loves us. It’s all him. He is the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He loves us knowing we will fail him (Psalm 103:13-14). He makes this wedding possible (1 John 3:16). He can keep us from stumbling as we walk down the aisles of our lives (Jude 1:24). He will always remain faithful because that is the core of who he is (2 Timothy 2:13). This is a groom who deserves what he demands: our wholehearted worship (Matthew 22:37).
It is an honorable and costly thing to be united to Christ, a weighty gift initiated and carried out by God from the overflow of his own heart. A gift to be enjoyed! When the Bible talks about the marriage of Jesus and his Church, it does so with celebration. Revelation 19:7-8 calls for rejoicing and exulting at the “marriage of the Lamb.” John the Baptist speaks of “rejoicing greatly at the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29). Isaiah 62:5 says, “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” Pictures of luxurious white clothing and shimmering crystal and lively feasting fill the apostle John’s description of what the wedding of Jesus and his Church will be like (Revelation 19-21). Like most weddings, this party is not cheap. Unlike other weddings, every celebratory detail has been paid for with the groom’s own blood.
When our walk down the aisle of the Christian life is more circus than focus, there is hope for us. Jesus paid it all. Our groom isn’t going anywhere. He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Let’s respond by rejoicing over him with the kind of abundant affection that spilled out of the bride I watched walk down the aisle. Let’s lay down our distractions and disobediences and take up gratitude, worship, and love. Meet your groom’s gaze. Consider his faithfulness. Joy will overflow.