The Bride Belongs to Christ Alone

Introduction

As we have mentioned a couple of times over the past few weeks, this morning we are stepping away from the book of Exodus for a few weeks as that time of year draws near that we have set aside to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Christmas series for this year, as has been the case in my preaching for the last several years, will stray somewhat from the typical messages structured around the specific passages that are typically taught through during this time of year. It is not that these are not wonderfully beautiful passages, but rather that I believe that to limit ourselves to these specific passages during this time of year is to miss the very purpose of His coming. It is important to recall and read these passages, and you will see us doing so in our services each week as Christmas approaches, but we want to expand our understanding of the reality of why Christ came, beyond just the details surrounding His birth.

Several years ago I became convicted that one of the things that was happening in the modern church as it relates to our worship around Christmas was that often rather than celebrating the birth of our Savior and ALL that His birth meant, we had become complacent in just throwing a birthday party. Please do not misunderstand me, it is good and right to celebrate the birth of Christ, but I firmly believe that to RIGHTLY celebrate His birth we need to take in the whole scope of His life and the truth that all that He accomplished in His first coming was in preparation for His second coming . This is the space that we are in right now in between His first coming and His second. The Apostles certainly thought that there was to be an urgency about the church and called us to live in preparation of that day. In the last hundred plus years there as been less focus on preparation for what scripture defines as the day of the Lord and more on living a self-gratifying lifestyle that is supposed to fulfill us, which it will never truly do. This past week as I was listening to Sinclair Ferguson, he spoke about what some very early traditions would speak about the four Sunday’s leading up to Christmas. For some, this is the season of advent, where the topics of hope, joy, peace and love are expressed, these however were not the topics of much of the early church as Christmas approached, rather there view was to sit under teaching regarding life, death, heaven and hell, also known as the four last things as it deals with personal eschatology.

While we are not going to deal this year with these four themes, we are going to take a somewhat different approach once again this year to Christmas and we will be looking at how the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the pivotal turning point in the redemptive arch of history. It is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the Divine bridegroom that comes personally to claim, redeem, purify, and glorify His covenant people, the church. Just as the Lord in the Old Testament revealed Himself as the faithful husband, so Christ comes to step into that role and claim His redeemed people as the church, His bride. Our four week journey begins, as you turn in your Bible, in the gospel of John in the 3rd chapter, beginning in the 26th verse and reading down through the 30th verse, having fund your place there…

Text

Please stand in reverence for the reading of God’s Holy, Inerrant, Infallible, Complete, Authoritative, Sufficient, and Certain Word.

John 3:26–30 LSB

And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. “He must increase, but I must decrease.

Our prayer this morning is adapted from the Puritan prayer “The Gift of Gifts” as recorded in “The Valley of Vision”

Most gracious and heavenly Father,

Lord, You are the giver of the greatest gift, indeed the gift of all gifts, in the person of the Lord Jesus, begotten, not created, our Redeemer, our Proxy, substitute and our surety. His willingness to empty Himself is incomprehensible, His infinite love lies beyond our true understanding. The knowledge that He came low to raise us above, that He was born, like us, so that we may become like Him, is truly beyond our understanding. The truth that in our condition of inability to rise to Him, He draws us near on the wings of grace, to raise us to Him, is love’s greatest display. To bear witness to the truth that though deity and humanity were a infinitely separated from each other, He united them in a unity that cannot be broken, He brought together the self-existent Creator and that which He created, and in doing displayed His power beyond comprehension. To look behind us and see that our past was defined as one with no will to return to Him, no intellect that help us recover that which was lost, and yet, it was then that He came, God-incarnate, to save us to the uttermost, as a man to die the death that was meant for us, to pour out His wrath-satisfying blood on our behalf and to work out this perfect righteousness for those whom He calls His own, is the very foundation of wisdom. Lord, as we worship during the next few weeks, celebrating that first advent, let us see in our minds eye those watchful shepherds and enlarge our understanding; to hear the great tidings of joy, and in so hearing believe, rejoice, praise, adore, that our conscience is bathed in an ocean rest, with our eyes uplifted to our reconciled Father. Let us see in our minds eye into that faithful scene on the night of our Savior’s birth, to behold our Redeemer’s face and know that in Him we have been delivered from our sins. Let us like Simeon embrace this new-born babe to our hearts, with undying faith and exulting in the truth that we are His and He is ours, for in Him, You have truly given us the greatest of all gifts for which we give You all praise and glory in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Context

As we open up our text this morning we need to ensure that we have the correct context for the verses with which we will be dealing. These few verses are part of a larger context that deals with a confrontation that occurs when the disciples of John see that the people are flocking to Jesus. The disciples of John had noticed that Jesus had come into the area and was teaching and baptizing. As He was doing so the people of the area began to move away from John to Jesus. The disciples of John got into a debate with a few Jews regarding the subject of purification. It is likely that the argument came about because it was known that Jesus had been purified or baptised by John and now the crowds were moving to Jesus versus John who was older, more experienced and more established of the two teachers. This is the foundation for the statement/question that the disciples of John were making or implying. Even though there is not a specific question as such, it is clear, by the response that John gives them, that the implication of what they said was “Shouldn’t these people be following you, you were the one who baptised Him. You are the senior, more experienced, more established or as we may say in modern terminology, you are the one with the more distinguished career, the greater education (after all John’s father was a priest), you are the one the people should be following, not some carpenter from Galilee of all places, someone YOU had to baptize.”

It is in this context that John responds to them with several statements, of which we are going to key in on just a few. The first of those statements is found in verse 27. Scholars have debated to some extent what exactly John had in mind as he made this statement, was he talking about Jesus’ role or was he talking about his own role. I believe that the answer to that question is “Yes, and”. As John makes this statement, immediately what was probably forefront in his mind, based on the rest of this passage was his own role in the work of Christ, the fact that, as he puts it in verse 28, “I have been sent ahead of Him” and in verse 29 “the friend of the bridegroom”. John understood his role as the one who was to cry out in the wilderness in preparation for the kingdom of Heaven, in fact I would argue that John had always known, recall the words of Luke’s gospel in the first chapter verses 39-45: Luke 1:39-45

Luke 1:39–45 LSB

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

Secondly, I believe that John was speaking in general terms of the mission of Christ. I do not know how much John knew of the details of that mission, but he knew that Christ was sent from Heaven, that He was the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, that Christ was the one “of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal”. He knew that Christ was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God notice his words in John 1:32-33

John 1:32–33 LSB

And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him. “And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

Lastly, broadly speaking, the words of John ring true in the lives of all people. It is this reality that God is the Sovereign Ruler of all things that gives us peace and hope and comfort in this life when challenges and difficulties arise. It is how we rest in the finished work of Christ, knowing that the one who rules and reigns on high will not let His people perish. This truth is a deep truth that reminds us that this, all of this, was not a back-up plan. That God stepping out of eternity and condescending to become a man is, always was, and will forever be His choice. That it was His love that He set on His people before the foundation of the world. We read in Revelation chapter 13 regarding the dragon and the beast that rises out of the sea. We are not going to deal with what they represent at this time, what is important to see here are the words recorded regarding the response to this dragon and this beast, Revelation 13:7-9

Revelation 13:7–9 LSB

And it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

Notice when you were written in that book, from the foundation, notice when the lamb was slain, from the foundation. The words of John here in John 3:27 are just as true for us today as they were of John and of Christ.

Our Response

The second brief section of our text we are going to take a look at comes in the latter part of verse 29 and in verse 30. We will come back to the first clause of verse 29 as this is our main focal point, but we do need to address the other first briefly. The second part of verse 29 and verse 30 are a continuation of what John has already referred to somewhat as he dealt in verse 28 with the fact that these men were themselves witnesses of what John had already told them regarding Christ. These things are recorded for us in John 1:19-36. As John continues to elaborate he refers to himself as the “friend of the bridegroom”. In our customs today most marriage ceremonies have what is known as the best man. It is his responsibilities to stand beside the groom and keep up with the rings. Of course this is an oversimplification of this role, but it pales in comparison to what it once was. In the custom of that day, marriage ceremonies lasted considerably longer than they do today and they contained very strict rituals and ceremonies. At the end of all of the pomp and circumstance, once the groom had completed the home that they were to live in, it was the friend of the groom’s responsibility to bring the bride to the door of the wedding suite and to remain outside until they received confirmation that the wedding was finalized. This is what John is referring to in the end of verse 29 as he speaks of the friend who stands and rejoices at the voice of the groom, and his joy is made complete because the wedding ceremonies have concluded and the couple are united as one.

This is the role of John, to prepare the way, to cry out in the wilderness, to bring the people, prepared for their Messiah and having done so, to do as John says in verse 30, step back, allow the groom to increase while he decreases.

The Bride

This brings us to the statement of John that he begins with in verse 29, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom”. What I want to show you, over the next few minutes is how this statement of John reveals a very important truth regarding the church, namely that the bride belongs to Christ alone. You will notice that all of John’s language surrounding this verse speaks of the bridegroom stepping into center stage to collect His bride while the friend steps into the shadows, but there is more to it than just the words of John or the writers of the New Testament. To get there and to understand how our celebration of the first advent plays into all of this, we need to move backward… in fact we need to start in the very beginning.

In Genesis 2 we read the following in verses 21-24:

Genesis 2:21–24 LSB

So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. And Yahweh God fashioned the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This one finally is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman, Because this one was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

It is quite likely that each of us here today are very familiar with this passage, we have read it, we have heard it used and we know that this is the institution of marriage by God, but these verses, specifically verse 24, do more than just institute marriage, the form a type or a shadow for us. As we have studied through the book of Exodus we have talked much of types and shadows, this particular type is used by the Apostle Paul as he writes to the church at Ephesus, note these words:

Ephesians 5:31–32 LSB

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

So we know and have confirmation by Paul in the letter at Ephesus that the first marriage prefigured the union between Christ and the church. I would argue that it goes even deeper. I would argue that not only did this prefigure the union between Christ and the church but that the within the text of the Old Testament itself we actually see the church defined, in fact I would say that based on what the Old Testament describes the expectation should have been the what we now see as the church. We see in Deuteronomy 10:16 Moses writing ““So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” and in Deuteronomy 30:6 ““Moreover Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” Now, without getting into a long drawn our description, think of what is being said here. The people of God were God’s covenant people, the expectation was that they obey Him and He would be their God, as a sign of this covenant the males were to be circumcised on the 8th day. Here however, what God is telling the people through Moses is that they are to “circumcise their heart”. They were physically identified as the people of Israel, but this is the outward man, God says to truly be of the people the identifying characteristic is that they have a changed heart. The identity of these people as God’s is inward and it is spiritual in nature, not just physical. As a result of this we see from the close of the Torah (first five books) throughout the rest of the Old Testament is a distinction between physical and spiritual Israel. Time and time again, we see the promise of God that a remnant will remain and this remnant will be a people who are the true covenant people of God made up of those whose hearts have been transformed by God. Paul speaks of this in Romans 9:6 when he says “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;” Micah 2:12 ““I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with men.” and then Micah 4:6–7 ““In that day,” declares Yahweh, “I will assemble the lame And gather the banished, Even those upon whom I have brought calamity. “I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a mighty nation, And Yahweh will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.”

If we look at the covenants with Abraham, we see the nations displayed, Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”” Genesis 17:4–5 ““As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “And no longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” Genesis 22:18 ““In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.”” Notice that this is not about one nationality, but one people, God’s people, pulled from the nations and from all of the families of the earth.

Turn with me for a moment to Psalm 87. This particular Psalm is a moves from what God thinks of Zion in verses 1-3 to its inhabitants in verses 5-7, which leaves verse 4. In verse 4 we find a list of nations - Egypt (Rahab), Babylon, Philista, Tyre and Ethiopia. Hopefully the first two you know exactly who they are and what these typically represent in scripture, Philista was the home of the Philistines, Tyre which is repeatedly denounced by the prophets and then Ethiopia which is shown to attack Judah on multiple occasions. These cities represent the worst of the nations, yet in this Psalm, God shows that they will be “among those who know me” and of whom He will say “This one was born here”. These are, in a word, Gentile nations described as native born citizens of Israel. Isaiah and Mich both speak of nations streaming to Zion;

Isaiah 2:2–4 LSB

Now it will be that In the last days The mountain of the house of Yahweh Will be established as the head of the mountains, And will be lifted up above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, To the house of the God of Jacob, That He may instruct us from His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion the law will go forth And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

Micah 4:1–3 LSB

Now it will be that in the last days The mountain of the house of Yahweh Will be established as the head of the mountains, And will be lifted up above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. And many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may instruct us from His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples And will render decisions for mighty, distant nations. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

Also in Isaiah chapter 19 Assyria and Egypt are called Gods people Isaiah 19:25 “... “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”” Zechariah 2:11 ““And many nations will join themselves to Yahweh in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent Me to you.” and Zechariah 8:23 ““Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from every tongue of the nations will take hold of the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”” Over and over scripture demonstrates God’s people are One, but one from many, chosen from every tribe, every tongue and all before the foundation of the world.

One People, One God

We could continue to labor and I truly hope that you will do so. So we see, clearly demonstrated that what we would define as the church, God’s people, redeemed by Christ are defined in not just the New Testament, but in the Old as well, in fact, the Exodus 19:5-6 calls Israel a treasured possession, a chosen people, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests… exaclty the words that Peter uses in 1 Peter 2:9–10 “But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

So true Israel, the Israel that is formed of those who have had their hearts circumcised, both Jews and Gentiles has been the plan of God since the very beginning, the people who truly were the God’s true covenant people, are the bride described for us in the New Testament. In the following passages take care to note the language that God uses:

Isaiah 54:5 ““For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is Yahweh of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.”

Jeremiah 31:31–32 ““Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh.”

Hosea 2:19–20 ““And I will betroth you to Me forever; Indeed, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know Yahweh.”

These three examples demonstrate to us a few priciples that it is necessary to understand. First, in a reflection of what we have already talked about, the truth that the people of God are defined by spiritual transformation. Second, that marriage with God is the end-point of covenant history, that time described in Revelation 21 is the consummation of the redemptive plan of God.

This is why the incarnation of God as He became flesh and dwelt among us is so critical to understand. The incarnation is the key to seeing the union between Christ and the church. John, in our text specifically identifies Christ as the bridegroom. As we take this and compare with it what we find in Matthew’s gospel we are confronted with a staggering claim, one that would not have gone unnoticed or unheard by the Jews in attendance. In Matthew 9 we read:

Matthew 9:14–15 LSB

Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

What we see here is not only the self-identification of Jesus in Matthew as the bridegroom but John’s words explicitly placing Jesus in that role. Why is this staggering, because, as Jesus makes this claim, He calls Himself and He is called the bridegroom of God’s covenant people which is to identify Himself as Yahweh. One writer states that the Gospels repeatedly present Jesus in roles and with the rights and privileges that the Old Testament reserves for God and for God alone.

In Christ’s birth, the first advent, we have the Eternal Creator of all things Philippians 2:7 “[emptying] Himself, by taking the form of a slave, ...”. In the words of both John and Jesus we see the claim placed on the bride as Christ’s own, but not only that, we see that the Church - the called out ones, are the chosen people of God united with the Son - are the very Bride that is demonstrated for us in prophetic scripture.

Conclusion

As we draw our thoughts together this morning, let us behold the grandeur of what John the Baptist declared with such simplicity and yet with such eternal weight: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” In these few words, the forerunner pulls back the veil on the redemptive story that began in Eden, unfolded through the covenants, echoed through the prophets, and now stands revealed in the incarnate Son. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s intention has never changed—He would have a people for Himself, a people transformed in heart, gathered from every tribe and tongue, made one through His redeeming grace. And the One who secures this people, who lays claim to this bride, is Christ alone.

This is why the incarnation matters beyond sentimentality or seasonal tradition. The eternal Word became flesh because the Bridegroom Himself came to gather His bride. He came to redeem, to purify, to clothe her with His righteousness, and to present her to Himself in glory. The church—Jew and Gentile, one new man in Christ—is not Plan B. She is the very people God promised, preserved, transformed, and purchased.

John’s own example confronts us with the proper response: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” If Christ is indeed the Bridegroom, and if we are His people, then our lives must be shaped by this truth. Our joy, like John’s, becomes complete only when Christ is exalted and we gladly take the lesser place so that His glory may shine all the more.

So as we enter this season of celebrating His first advent, let us do so with eyes lifted beyond the manger to the cross, the resurrection, and the promise of His return. For the Child wrapped in cloths is the Bridegroom who will one day clothe His people in white. And the question that must rest upon our hearts is this: Are we living as those truly belonging to the Bridegroom—decreasing that He may increase—ready for the day of His glorious appearing?

Closing Prayer

Gracious Father, We come before You humbled by the wonder of Your eternal purpose—a purpose that began before the foundation of the world and was revealed in fullness through the incarnation of Your beloved Son. We thank You that in Christ, the true Bridegroom, You have gathered a people for Yourself. We praise You that You have circumcised our hearts, transformed our nature, and written our names in the Lamb’s book of life from eternity past.

Lord, as we meditate on the mystery of the incarnation in this season, let us not settle for shallow sentiment, but draw us into the vastness of Your redeeming love. Teach us, like John, to rejoice greatly at the Bridegroom’s voice. Shape our hearts so that Christ would increase in us—our desires, our priorities, our affections—and that we would decrease, surrendering all that remains of self.

Make us faithful as Your bride—pure, devoted, longing for the day when Christ presents us to Himself in splendor. Guard us from complacency, worldly distraction, or self-exaltation. Fix our hope on the return of the One who came once in humility and will come again in glory.

Prepare us, O Lord, for that final wedding feast. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom and King. Amen.