Cup of Joy

Jesus and all his disciples were Galileans. I recently heard a comparison between a Galilean wedding and the return of Jesus and wanted to share what I have learned with you. Jesus was fond of using parables and explaining things in a way that would be clear to his audience. It seems that in this case he used the rather unique Galilean wedding to illustrate the rapture and the second coming.

The process begins when the potential groom leaves his fathers house and goes to the bride Bride’s home. Just as Jesus left heaven and came down to us. Even though the groom is the one who makes the initial overture to the bride it is the grooms father who sets the bride price and officiates over the betrothal.

The grooms father brings a wedding contract to the gate of the city and reads it out loud publically. The gate of the city is where the village elders spent their time officiating over legal matters and settling disputes in the village. The engagement began with a public announcement and the reading of a contract that was acceptable to both the father of the bride and the father of the groom.

Bear in mind that by this time the bride has not necessarily been consulted and could even not be aware of the event until the public reading of the marriage contract. In fact, in most middle eastern cultures the bride had no say in who she married or when, it was all up to her father.

In the same way Jesus came down to us to claim the church as his bride and all of the rules were written by the father, this is the written word of God. The contract between God and man involving the sacrifice of Jesus and rules of how the world works and how salvation works are written down and publically given to all of mankind through the bible, just like at the wedding. Also, just like at a Galilean wedding all of this was done without the bride being involved at all, that’s you and me, the church, the bride of Christ.

The next step was the giving of gifts. Expensive gifts were given, mostly to the bride and the dowry was paid by the grooms father to the bride’s father as a means of providing for her support if something went wrong in the marriage and she had to return home. This way the bride would always be cared for no matter what.

In the same way God has given gifts to the church, spiritual gifts as well as multiple blessings poured out on the bride, on us, on the church. The bride price was paid in our case by the groom himself. The blood of Jesus assures that we have an eternal home and that we will always be cared for as well.

Then comes the part that is unique to the Galilean wedding, something that did not occur in other areas at that time. Up until now things have proceeded very similarly to how a wedding would have gone anywhere in the middle east, but now we arrive at something different, something unique.

The bride and groom come together in this public ceremony and the groom is handed a special cup and a pitcher of wine. He carefully pours a cup of wine and then he slowly and nervously offers the cup to the bride. The bride can now accept the cup and or choose to reject it. If she accepts the cup then their marriage is assured and they are considered legally bound together from that point forward. If she rejects the cup the marriage is off. At this point all of the preparation and and of the hopes and expectations of the families, and especially the groom, depend on what the bride does next. Will she accept it or reject it, it is all up to her.

In the same way God and Jesus have prepared a world for us, created us and everything around us, Jesus has shed his own blood for us and all of this is offered to us for our salvation. All of the work has been done without any effort or perhaps even any knowledge on our part that all of this was going on. Up to now it has all been done for us and everything has been handed to us and now Jesus offers us the cup of salvation. He has poured out the wine of his blood and offers us eternal life with him as his bride. At that moment is it any wonder that all of heaven and earth hold their breath to see what will happen next. Will we accept it or reject it, will we drink from the cup or will we turn up our nose at everything God has done for us. Salvation is being offered up to us without any effort on our part or any cost paid by us, everything is prepared and ready.

The time has come to make a decision. Will you accept what is being offered to you and become the bride of Christ or will you reject it and end the marriage before it begins. It is your choice, reach out and take the cup and drink deeply of the love of Jesus or reject him and go your own way.

In the middle east at the time no other culture around this area had such a choice. In the other cultures if the brides father agreed to the marriage it was done and the bride had no choice in it at all. Here in Galilee it all hinged on the choice of the bride, just as here, in the church age it all hinges on the choice we make. Accept Jesus or reject him.

Once the bride drinks from the cup of joy, that’s its name by the way, once she drinks from this cup the marriage is sealed and cannot be revoked, it is decided, no take backs and no divorce, just like salvation.

Then it begins. For the next year or so the engagement is in full force and the wedding planning is on. The first step is that the groom takes the cup back from his bride and publically states You are now consecrated to me by the law of Moses and I will not drink form this cup again until we drink from it together in my father’s house.

You might remember those words from Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper

Matthew 26:26–29 NASB95

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

The groom then takes that cup back to his father’s house and he begins to build an addition onto his father’s house that will be his and his bride’s home.

By the way, shortly after the lord’s supper Jesus was crucified and do you remember where he told his disciples he was going

John 14:3 NASB95

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

And while the groom is building their home do you know what the bride is doing. She and her bridesmaids are preparing the wedding dress. Of course in those days you did not go to a bridal store and buy one or even go to Wal-mart and purchase the material for it. Many of the items had to be acquired from traveling merchants and it took some time and effort.

In short the bride was to be preparing herself for the wedding. How does that work for us, we are to be preparing ourselves for Jesus. We are to be growing spiritually mature, putting on our wedding clothes so to speak, changing our habits and our dreams so that they include our new life, our eternal life. Our life is now to be about preparation for the wedding. That is to be our focus.

You might remember the parable of the brides and their lamps

Matthew 25:1–13 NASB95

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ “But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

It will take a long time. How long you might wonder, only the father knows. That’s right, in a Galilean wedding the father of the groom decides when the groom can go get the bride. He watches to see when the home is ready and when the bride is ready. He waits until the appropriate time and then when He knows the time is right he tells his son to go get his bride.

Matthew 24:36 NASB95

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

When the time is right and the son is sent by the father to get his bride he takes the bridegrooms with him and he goes through the town blowing a trumpet

Matthew 24:31 NASB95

“And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

By the way, all of this trumpet blowing and bride fetching traditionally takes place in the middle of the night.

Matthew 24:42–44 NASB95

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

When the house was built and the dress was ready the bride would sleep in her wedding gown to be ready whenever the groom came for her.

She would be picked up on a litter and born to the groom’s house by litter bearers so that her feet never touched the ground, a great picture of the rapture when Jesus calls his church to him and we rise through the air.

When the party arrived at the fathers house he would shut the door and for the duration of the wedding feast no one would be allowed in or out. The wedding feast lasted 7 days, much like the 7 year tribulation when the bride of Christ is taken to heaven for 7 years until the marriage supper of the lamb is over.

After the end of the seven days the doors would be thrown open the couple would be presented to the world as man and wife, after the tribulation Jesus will return with his bride to the earth and we will rule with him for a thousand years. At that time everyone on earth will see Jesus and his bride together, and they will remain together for all eternity.

COMMUNION

As we celebrate communion we celebrate the cup of joy that Jesus offered to us and the promise that he will come again. We celebrate an eternal union between Jesus and his bride, his church.