Summer is a time for weddings in the United States. Usually warm with lots of flowers from which to pick, summer allows young couples to invite family and friends from around the United States. an even around the world, to join them in their joy. Wanting to have as many of their companions as possible, couples trust that the weather won't stop guests from joining them.
It is no wonder that Jesus uses the image of a wedding to help his critics understand his message. Everyone in the ancient world knew how important weddings were. A time for families and tribes to deepen their bonds with one another, weddings lasted at least a week and the entire time was given over to the celebration of the new couple and the promise their marriage contained for their families and their faith community. No one would suggest that a wedding feast was a time to fast!
For believers, Jesus is the bridegroom who is always among us, and while we fast from to time to time, especially during Lent, because we forget or ignore the power of his being within and among us, even in Lent we break our fast on Sunday's and feast at the table of the Lord. When Jesus uses the image of a bridegroom to instruct those asking him why his disciples did not fast, he was making use of the experience of his listeners to tell them who he was.
Remembering that the Lord has made a covenant with us, his bride, invites us to believe more deeply in the resurrection. At the time of Jesus, after a man was betrothed to his intended bride, he would leave her and return to his father's house, but before departing he would say, I go to prepare a place for you, the same words Jesus uses to assure his disciples that he would return for them after his death and bring them to the bridal chamber he had prepared for them in heaven.
Today, rest in the realization that Christ has betrothed himself to us forever.
What image do you use to help yourself remember Christ's eternal and total love for you?
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