The Bride or The Guest?

Rev 19.9 speaks of the guests invited for wedding feast of Christ. “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

In any wedding, the bride is the center of attraction. She stands beside her groom, radient and beautiful. She considers herself to be the happiest woman on earth. It’s Her Day. No bride is ever invited to her own wedding feast. There is no need for her to be invited. There will be no wedding feast without the bride. Yet many in the Christendom have nurtured the belief that the invitees to the Lamb’s wedding feast is the Bride herself. (Rev 19.9)

Then, who are these blessed guests? In our weddings, the invitees are often the friends and relatives of the bride and groom. If that is so, we may safely assume that Jesus’ friends and relatives will be part of the invited guests in His wedding feast too.

So now the question is who are his blood relatives?

Apostle John puts it this way in John 1.11, 'He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him'. Jesus, the Messiah was born a Jew. He was from the tribe of Judah. Many biblical scholars believe that all the Old Testament Jewish saints will be the invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Revelation Chapters 7 and 14 also speaks of some 144,000 Jews that are sealed from all the 12 tribes of Israel. Then there are the martyrs from the great tribulation. The guest list of this wedding of the ages is very Long!

The invitees are called ‘blessed, yet it is the Bride who will take her place beside the Bridegroom. The groom is no ordinary man. He is neither an ordinary prince nor an ordinary king; he is the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords and the only begotten Son of Almighty God. He is the sole heir to God and His Bride is co-heir with Him.

To be the Bride of Christ should be our yearning. A bride’s thoughts are centered on her betrothed. She consults him on everything and refrains from everything that displeases him. She does everything to please her beloved. We are betrothed to our bridegroom Jesus and our thoughts, words and deeds must be pleasing to Him. Our focus should be Jesus and his wishes. Speaking of His Bride, Jesus once said that she hears His voice and follows Him implicitly, wherever He leads her. John 10.27

Are we staying close to Jesus’ heart? Are we listening to Him daily and following him wholeheartedly? Let us run the race to win, to win His heart and prepare to be His Bride.

(Adapted from Ps. Damien's Sunday sermon)