Jesus, the heavenly bridegroom

It is well known to Christians that in the Scriptures, Jesus the Messiah is revealed to us as the bridegroom of his church. It is a theme well attested to in the prophets (e.g. Ezekiel 16, Isaiah 54:5, Jeremiah 2:2), Psalms (Psalm 45), gospels (Matthew 9:15, John 3:29), letters (Ephesians 5:22-33, 2 Corinthians 10:2), and Revelation (chapter 21 - and note the contrast with the great whore of chapter 18).

I think, though, that I'd either overlooked or forgotten the presence of this theme in John chapter 2, in the account of the first miracle at the wedding at Cana. Jesus is, of course, not the literal bridegroom at his wedding; he, his disciples and his mother were invited guests. His time has not yet come (v4). When Mary urges him to do something about the lack of wine, the reader should understand that this is one of the tasks of the bridegroom. Jesus' time had not yet come to reveal himself fully; and yet, it was already time to reveal himself to his disciples, those who trusted in him. He is a partially hidden bridegroom. The Jewish era brought wine, but it had run out. It was wine in finite and static water-pots (which we may contrast with the flowing waters of the Spirit proceeding from all believers, in John chapter 7). The Old Covenant was wearing out, but its promise remained unfulfilled, leaving people spiritually thirsty. But Jesus fills the water-pots with wine - the true wine, the best wine, and they are satisfied.

The wine was taken to the master of the feast, who was astonished by it. He did not know where it had come from. This is also a repeated theme of John's gospel; people do not know where Jesus has come from, but the reader knows, because this is the very first thing that he has been told in the first verse: he is himself God, who is eternally at the Father's side, and has been made flesh. The master of the feast calls the bridegroom, because it was the bridegroom who brings in the wine. But of course, the master of the feast has identified the wrong bridegroom. The one who has actually produced this wine which was the very best, and yet brought at last, was not the man he had called; that was Jesus. Jesus is the true bridegroom. Some know his identity (the servants and disciples) but others are in his very presence and see his miracles, and yet do not know who is amongst them.

This was the beginning of signs, and Jesus manifested his glory. But he wasn't merely helping people to have a good time; he was not only declaring that the time of Old Covenant water-pots had ended; he was also revealing that he was the hidden bridegroom, ready to feast his guests. The glory revealed includes the glory of being the true bridegroom.

In the very next scene, he goes to the temple - his "Father's house" (v16). Of course he does; for as Isaac brought his long-sought-after bride into his parent's tent, so Jesus must cleanse the divine house to make it a fit place for his bride to be taken home to. The false whore of Babylon must be driven out so that the chosen bride can be brought in. The temple must be cleansed so that God's people can dwell in the very holiest place in God's presence (a theme fulfilled finally at the end of Revelation).

I'm sure there's much more to be seen; I was studying a related passage rather than this one and so that is all I currently have. I hope will be able to return to it. But I can't help noticing too (and this was prompted by hearing a sermon on the fetching of Rebekah for Isaac recently) that there are at least 4 places in Scripture where a bride is found at a well of water:

• The first is Rebekah; we see that the bride is chosen and provided in God's foreordination and sovereignty.
• Then there is Rachel; in this account, the emphasis is that the bride is the kin of Jacob; they are of like nature. The deceiver (Laban) seeks to keep Jacob from his true bride.
• Thirdly, Zipporah: Moses comes far, from a strange land, to marry her. He is an outcast and enemy of the land's evil and tyrannical ruler, but is destined to bring redemption to God's people in that land. He takes up home in a far land and there he marries his bride. (He is, however, a "husband of blood" to Zipporah; the Old Covenant ministration if experienced without faith in the Christ that it foreshadowed ultimately brings death, not life - that had to await the one to come).
• Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, which is the clear fulfilment of all of the above foreshadowings. She has had several other husbands, but none of them were the true husband who has now come to find her. What is in Christ is not more static water that must be laboriously fetched, time after time, but living water, which flows joyously forever. And it is not the blood of another that has to be spilt to establish or maintain the covenant; he freely gives his own.

It seems to me, though, that in chapter 2, John has reported a further partial accomplishment of this motif. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus is again found by the wells of water, and is revealed as the bridegroom; however, he is not recognised. He reveals his glory: but the principal actors at the wedding fail to see him (though the lowly servants do). He is unrecognised at a Jewish wedding; but later, a Samaritan woman (and village) recognise him. As at the end of the book, where the net is cast out "on the other side" to bring in a great catch, so it is here, with John's revelations of the heavenly bridegroom. Those who should see don't see; to those who were far off and lowly, he is graciously revealed. Some do not know who he is and where he has come from; they can only pose astonished questions and marvel without understanding. But some, without any right to such blessings, do know; they believe, embrace him, and receive life. Their bridegroom has come and found them where they were humbly and endlessly toiling for a finite supply of water; and he gives them eternal wine.