The Bridegroom and The Bride
Speaker: Steve Little (Pastor)
Date: November 2, 2025
Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Ephesians 5:31-32 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 is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Throughout this message I would like you to think about this: A pastor once said, “The gospel doesn’t require obedience it produces obedience, joyful obedience. If the gospel required obedience from us that would mean that we could be obedient apart from the person and the work of Christ then Jesus died for nothing.” It is Christ in you that produces, faithfulness, obedience and the fruit of the Spirit.
Christian Author Frank Viola, who wrote a book titled ‘From Eternity to Here’, quoted this,
“The Bible opens with a woman and a man in Genesis 1 and 2 and closes with a woman and a man in Revelation 21 and 22, framing the entire Bible as a love story and a wedding that begins with the marriage of Adam and Eve and culminates in the marriage of Christ and His church.”
Revelation 21:9 “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!”
Our Focus Points
· Context
· This is Not New Language
· Jewish Wedding Custom
· Christ and The Church
· What It Means Practically
1. Context:
The question: Why don’t your disciples fast as we and the pharisees do?
Jesus’ answer: “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”
Fasting: During this period time fasting was a part of life (may I say and it needs to be today, not because I say so, but Jesus made this statement, “When you fast”) – it aligned with repentance, mourning, an act of personal sacrifice and longing for God to act.
But Jesus’ answer was on a completely different subject, a bridegroom which points to a wedding.
Weddings Are times of joy.
He is saying the disciples aren’t fasting because the bridegroom is with them — meaning, it’s a time of celebration.
But He hints that a day will come when “the bridegroom is taken away” — a clear foreshadowing of His death — and then fasting (mourning) will be appropriate again.
So, on a surface level, Jesus means that His presence brings joy, like a wedding feast; His physical absence will bring an internal desire to see Him so strong that the heart mourns.
2. This Is Not New Language
John the Baptist calls Jesus the Bridegroom
John 3:28–30
John says, “The friend of the bridegroom… rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.”
By calling Himself the Bridegroom, Jesus is claiming a divine role
In the Hebrew Scriptures, God is often portrayed as the husband or bridegroom of Israel:
Isaiah 54:5 – “Your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name.”
Hosea 2:19–20 – “I will betroth you to me forever…”
Jeremiah 2:2 – God recalls Israel’s devotion “as a bride.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the 300 AD era wrote, “The Church is also the Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God… for it is written in Scripture, Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.”
3. Jewish Marriage Custom
Marriage in Jewish culture had two major stages:
Betrothal (Kiddushin) – A binding covenant was made between the bridegroom and the bride (often arranged, but confirmed by consent). They were legally pledged to each other but did not yet live together.
Marriage (Nissuin) – The groom would later come to take his bride to his home, where the marriage feast and consummation took place.
During the betrothal period, the groom’s duty was to:
Return to his father’s house,
Build an addition or prepare a room there for his bride, (I go and prepare a place for you)
Then, when the father declared the preparations ready, ("only the Father knows the hour")
Come again—often at night, in procession—to bring his bride home. (I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.)
The bride, meanwhile, would wait and prepare herself.
4. Christ and the Church: A New Covenant Marriage
In the New Testament, this image becomes explicit in Ephesians 5:25–32:
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her… that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle...
This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
Here Paul shows that:
Human marriage points to a greater reality — the union of Christ and the Church.
Jesus’ love is sacrificial: He gave Himself up to make His Bride holy and radiant.
The Church’s role is responsive and devoted — like a bride’s loving submission and faithfulness to her husband.
So, the Church is not just an organization or community — she’s a beloved Bride, chosen, redeemed, and united with Christ in love.
5. What It Means Practically
For believers, this imagery teaches that:
Christ loves us personally and passionately — like a bridegroom for His bride.
We belong to Him exclusively — no rival loves or loyalties should take His place.
Our calling is to purity and devotion — being “made ready” for the wedding day (2 Cor 11:2; Rev 19:7).
Our hope is joyful — one day we’ll see our Bridegroom face to face, in perfect union.
Our desire right now is found in Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!”
