Interpretations and Ideas about Christ

There are many interpretations and ideas about what the crucifixion of Christ means, for some it is seen as brutal and unfair, but for the apostle Paul, it symbolizes the love a husband possesses for his wife. The idea of Jesus as a bridegroom comes from the divine love for his people, which is first, demonstrated when he establishes the covenant of the Ten Commandments with the Israelites. By accepting these terms, the Israelites have formed a sacred relationship with God (Pitre 10); therefore, this scene as Sanai becomes the wedding of God and Israel. Israel will betray God, essentially breaking their vows, but through later prophecies, it becomes evident that God has forgiven his bride because he establishes new marriage covenants with her. According to the Gospel of John, the first public miracle Jesus performed, which set the stage for the rest of his ministry, was to transform water into wine at a Jewish wedding (Pitre 35). By providing wine for the wedding, it becomes apparent that Jesus is indeed the bridegroom. Jesus could have performed any miracle to prove his power, but chose to turn water to wine, which paves the way to his true identity and sole purpose: marrying his bride. If Jesus is the bridegroom, then there must be a wedding banquet, just as people today host a rehearsal dinner. John describes this banquet between Him and His people as a banquet of love (Pitre 48). Jesus will give the wine of salvation at the Last Supper, when the hour of his passion has arrived (Pire 48). Through Jesus' words Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:27-28), he has identified the wine as the blood of a new marriage covenant between Him, the bridegroom and the people of Israel, who would then represent the bride. If this is correct, then the Last Supper is a wedding banquet (Pitre 50). So far, it is quite clear that the bride of Jesus is not just one person, but rather the people of God as a whole. We get to know the bride even more when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. It is alarming that Jesus approaches the woman because she is not Jewish and she has already been married and divorced five times. At this point it is unclear why Jesus is interested in the Samaritan woman. Biblical scholars have suggested that the Samaritan woman is a symbol of the people of Samaria, with whom Jesus wishes to enter into a relationship as Bridegroom and Messiah (Pitre 65). This suggests then that Jesus wishes to be wed not only to Jewish believers in YHWH, but also non-Jewish believers, which would again make him the bridegroom and the Samaritan woman the bride. If this is true then it explains why Jesus gives her the gift of living water, which is associated with the custom of a Jewish bride undergoing a ritual bath before her wedding (Pitre 73), because it demonstrates that the new covenant will be made with everyone. No matter what, you are invited to be the bride of Christ. If Jesus is the bridegroom, and his people are the bride-to-be, then the only thing left to do is wed the two. Jesus' wedding day is probably a lot different than what most people see when they think of a wedding. Instead of it being a day full of joy and happiness, it was a day full of pain and suffering. The one thing I can say that Jesus' wedding and weddings today do have in common, is that there is most definitely love between the bridegroom and his bride. Ancient Jewish weddings described in the Bible are often portrayed as feasts with friends and family, and the rejection to fast in Mark 2:19 As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast, proves that Jesus is the bridegroom, this is his wedding celebration, and they will not fast until he is gone. Mark 2:19 is the only passage in which Jesus explicitly refers to himself as the bridegroom (Pitre 84).

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