Loved Like a Bride

A Communion Table Talk:

On June 28, a very important day came and went…  At least, it was important to my wife and me. On that day, we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary.

I don’t mention that to put the spotlight on us—or to make anyone wonder how she has managed to put up with me for nearly three decades! I mention it because our anniversary got me thinking about something that is easy to talk about but sometimes difficult to truly understand:  love.

More specifically, I’ve been thinking about the way the Bible describes the relationship between Christ and His people. Scripture uses a remarkable picture. The church is described as the bride of Christ.

Have you ever watched a groom see his bride for the first time on their wedding day? For just a moment, everything else seems to disappear. He isn’t thinking about whether the flowers are perfect or whether the decorations are just right. He isn’t worried about whether the music started on time. He’s looking at one person.

And if you watch closely, you can almost see it on his face—joy, gratitude, affection, love.

I think there is something beautiful about God choosing the picture of a bride to describe our relationship with Christ. Christ doesn’t simply tolerate His people. He doesn’t merely put up with us because He has to. He loves His people.

That becomes especially meaningful because we don’t always see ourselves that way.

We know ourselves. We know the things nobody else knows. We remember our failures, the promises we made and broke, the opportunities we missed, and the times we could have done better. We know the thoughts we wish we hadn’t thought and the words we wish we hadn’t spoken.

Sometimes it is easier to believe that God merely puts up with us than to believe that He actually loves us.

Maybe you’ve felt that way. Maybe you’ve come to the Lord’s Table thinking, “I don’t feel very worthy today.” And the truth is, we aren’t worthy. None of us has earned the right to stand before God. But that isn’t the end of the story.

Paul writes, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25).

Notice what Scripture says:  He didn’t wait until His bride was perfect. He didn’t wait until she had everything figured out. He didn’t love her because she had somehow earned His love. He loved her because He chose to love her.

And somehow, by the grace of God—we are that bride.

That changes the way I look at the Lord’s Table.

We’re not coming to the table to convince Jesus that we’re perfect. We’re not coming to prove that we are worthy. We come because the One who knows us completely still invites us to His table.

Think about that for a moment.

He knows everything about us—and He still says, “Come.”

The bread reminds us that Jesus willingly gave His body for us. The cup reminds us that He gave His blood to establish the new covenant. When we take these emblems, we are certainly remembering that Jesus died. But we are also remembering why He died.

He died because He loved us. He gave Himself so that we could be forgiven, reconciled to God, and belong to Him.

And there is another part of this picture that I find especially beautiful. A bride doesn’t spend her married life simply looking backward at her wedding day. She looks forward to a life with the one she loves.

The church should live that way, too. 

We look backward to the cross, but we also look forward to what God has promised. Scripture gives us the beautiful picture of the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19 describes a great celebration in which those who belong to Christ rejoice in the coming of the Bridegroom.

One day, the waiting will be over. One day, faith will become sight. One day, the Savior we have loved without seeing will be seen face to face.

Think about that. 

The hands that were pierced for us. The face we have trusted without seeing. The Savior we have followed by faith. We will see Him for ourselves. (John 14:3; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7)

Until that day, we gather around this simple table. We take the bread. We take the cup. We remember the cross, but we also remind ourselves of something we can so easily forget:  we are loved by the One who knows us best.

We are not forgotten. We are not abandoned. We are not merely tolerated. We belong to Christ.

So perhaps when we come to the Lord’s Table, we should do more than remember a historical event. We should allow ourselves to receive the truth that the cross declares. The One who knows everything about us loved us enough to give Himself for us.

And then, having remembered His sacrifice and received His love, we renew our commitment to Him. Our response is not merely, “Jesus loves me.” It is also, “Lord, I belong to You. My heart is Yours.”

And finally, we look forward. We look forward to the day when the waiting is over, when we see our Savior face to face, and when the people of God share in the joy of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Until then, we come to this table—not because we are perfect and not because we have earned our place, but because Christ has loved us and given Himself for us.

Perhaps that is one of the most beautiful truths we can carry with us from the Lord’s Table:  We are loved. We belong to Christ. We are His bride.

Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ? Does the Order Matter?

 As you read through the New Testament, you may notice something interesting. Sometimes a writer refers to "Jesus Christ," while at other times he writes "Christ Jesus." Is there a difference, or are the two expressions simply interchangeable?

The answer is both yes and no.

The first thing to understand is that "Christ" is not Jesus' last name. It is a title. The Greek word “Christos” means "Anointed One," or "Messiah." Jesus is His personal name, while Christ describes His God-given role as the promised Savior and King foretold throughout the Old Testament.

When a writer in the New Testament says "Jesus Christ," his emphasis is often on identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah. It is something like saying, "Jesus is the Christ." This concept was the central message of the apostles' preaching.

One of the apostles, Peter, expressed this truth when he declared, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). And again, the Apostle John told his writers that he wrote his Gospel "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31).

Now, on the other hand, the expression "Christ Jesus" often places the title first, then draws attention to Jesus' exalted position as the Messiah before mentioning His personal name. This word order appears especially often in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

The Boys Jesus Never Grew Up With

In Matthew's account of Herod's massacre we see one of the darkest moments in the story of Jesus’ birth. We often pass over it quickly, eager to move on from the manger to the ministry of Jesus. But, I think Matthew records the event for a reason.

"When Herod saw that he was deceived by the wise men, he was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under..." 

(Matthew 2:16)

Think about it for a moment. What that event meant.

If Jesus later returned to Bethlehem as a child, He may have found something hauntingly different from what most children experience. The boys who would likely have been His playmates—the children who might have raced with Him through the streets, climbed the hillsides, or learned trades alongside Him—were gone. Herod's soldiers had taken them.