Summary of Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Brant Pitre

What comes to mind when you think about the death of Jesus?

• A Roman execution? Yes.
• An unjust martyrdom? Certainly.
• The sacrifice of the Son of God? Definitely.
• The consummation of a wedding? Really???

“How could a first–century Jew like Paul, who knew how horribly brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to the marriage between a bridegroom and his bride? Is this just an elegant metaphor? If so, why then does Paul refer to it as a “great mystery” (Greek mysterion mega) (Ephesians 5:32)?” (3)

In his book, Jesus the Bridegroom, Brant Pitre answers this question in wonderful depth. Here are some of my summary insights from each chapter:

1st: Jesus is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride

Old Testament Foundation

1. Mount Sinai was a divine wedding: From the perspective of the biblical prophets, what happened at Mount Sinai was nothing less than a divine wedding” (9). It was not just the giving of the law but the forming of a sacred covenant in such a way that we can call it a spiritual marriage. The Lord of creation became the Divine Bridegroom. Interestingly, for us, once the blood of the covenant sacrifice was offered on Mount Sinai, “the covenant between God and Israel climaxes in a heavenly banquet, in which Moses and the leaders of Israel manifest this familial relationship with God by doing what families do: eating and drinking together, in his very presence” (11). This helps us to see (1) history as a divine love story (Israel as a young bride who is being wooed by her divine Bridegroom to enter into a marriage with her), (2) sin as spiritual adultery (Hosea 1:2-3; Isaiah 1:4, 21; Jeremiah 2:32; 3:20; Ezekiel 16:15-22).
2. Promise of a new covenant: “Although in Jewish Scripture the people of Israel betray their divine Bridegroom in repeated acts of spiritual adultery, God does not give up on his bride, but promises to one day forgive her sins by establishing a new marriage covenant with her” (17). See: Hosea 2:15-20; Isaiah 54:5-8, 10; Jeremiah 31:31-32, 34; Ezekiel 16:60, 62-3. This new covenant was spoken of in marital terms & was directed to the forgiveness of sins and ultimately, “union with God” (19).
3. Song of Songs: Ancient Jews often read the Song of Songs “as a symbolic description of the future wedding between the Bridegroom God and his chosen people” (20). Rabbi Akiba (ca. A.D. 50–135) called it the “holiest book in the Jewish bible” because it is about the spousal love of God. Often, comparisons between the bride with Israel (i.e., her body resembles the land of Israel, especially in describing the Temple and the city of Jerusalem). Interestingly, the poem never describes any consummation of the marriage but rather for the bride (Israel) waiting for the bridegroom to come (God).

New Testament Insights

1. John the Baptist is the best man: In first-century, the best man’s role was to bring the bride to the bridegroom when the time for the wedding came. And John did this in the Jordan River (that’s why he said that he was the friend of Jesus “the bridegroom” (John 3:28-29)). Everyone came to him. The act of ritual washing with water was a very important part of a Jewish bride’s preparation for her wedding in ancient times. This is why John the Baptist was baptizing people! To prepare people for the divine wedding. After this, his role is done and he could leave… Which he did (John 3:30)!
2. Jesus is the bridegroom: How could Jesus be referred to as “the bridegroom” if he was celibate? Because “he is the divine Bridegroom come in person, to fulfill the prophecies of a new marriage covenant” (29). At the wedding @ Cana: They have no wine” – Mary’s request for Jesus to act like a Jewish bridegroom by providing wine for a wedding + possibly referring to a prophecy in Isaiah for Israel’s desire for the wine of salvation (24:7, 9, 11) + God’s response for “the Messianic Banquet” with a feast of superabundant wine (25:6-8, cf. Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18) – a sacrificial banquet from God Himself, universal banquet (“all peoples”), that will wipe away sin. At the Last Supper: If Jesus is in fact the long-awaited Bridegroom of Jewish prophecy, the Last Supper is the “hour” of His wedding banquet (when Jesus gives finally the prophesied wine of his wedding). Jesus began His Passion at the Last Supper (Jn 13:1-4). When we look @ the Synoptic & Pauls account of Last Supper through ancient Jewish eyes, the Last Supper is not simply a new Passover but a new wedding covenant – the fulfillment spoken of by the prophets (Jer 31:31-33). “Covenant” language. Wine of the Last Supper = Blood of the New Covenant (cf. Ex 24:8). The twelve disciples represent the bride of God – the people of Israel (Lk 22:28-30) – the fulfillment of the 12 tribes on Mount Sinai (who were wed to God on Mount Sinai through the blood of the covenant). The Cross: On the Cross – Jesus’ final action in John’s Gospel is to drink wine. Then He said “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Cross becomes the sacrifice of the Bridegroom Messiah, giving Himself up for the sake of the his bride.
3. We are the bride: If Jesus is the Bridegroom Messiah, then where is His bride in the Gospels? OT – (1) people of Israel (often symbolized by the city of Jerusalem); (2) 12 Tribes are the “virgin Israel” (Jer 31:4); NT – (1) John the Baptist speaks of preparing the Jewish people as a “bride” for Jesus (Jn 3:28-9); (2) 12 disciples represent 12 tribes (Mt 26:26-28); (3) everyone – both saints & sinners alike – embodied profoundly in the woman @ the well in John 4:1-42 (click here for more on that).

2nd: The Wedding Day

If Jesus is the Bridegroom Messiah and the sinful human race is his bride-to-be, then when exactly is his wedding day? And how is he married to his bride?

“While many a man throughout history has jokingly described his wedding day as his funeral, Jesus of Nazareth is the only man who ever solemnly described his funeral as his wedding day” (6).

For the Romans, Jesus’ death was a crucifixion of a rebel on “the tree of shame.” For the Jewish authorities, it was the end to a blasphemer and false prophet (considered cursed by God to be hung on a cross). For some, who thought Jesus was a great prophet or teacher, it was a martyrdom. For most Christians, it was a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. For Jesus, it was (in addition to other things), His wedding day, the “consummation of His spousal love for His bride and the realization of the supernatural marriage between God and mankind” (83).

Support for this claim:

1. The parable of the Sons of the Bridechamber (Mark 2:19-20): This is the only passage Jesus explicitly refers to Himself as “the bridegroom” (Mark 2:19). Jesus suggests that a time will come – the day of His death – when He will be taken away. In wedding language, this is the night of consummation. (where the bridegroom would leave his friends and family and enter into what was known as the “bridal chamber” (Hebrew huppah) in order to be united to his bride, not to emerge again until morning (cf. Ps 19:4-5, Tobith 6:15-17) (90). “The Jewish bride-chamber was designed to resemble the tabernacle of Moses (to match the Holy of Holies). Just as God consummated the marriage to Israel in the Tabernacle of Moses through the blood of the covenant, so too Jesus will consummate the marriage to his bride through the blood of the cross” (93) (click here for more).
2. The crucifixion: “If crucifixion was so cruel and so shameful and so bloody, why would Jesus—or anyone else, for that matter—compare the event to a wedding day?” (101). St. John gives us 3 images to invite us to go beyond the cruelty of the crucifixion & to see it as the divine Bridegroom’s wedding day: (1) Crowning of thorns: Although, on the surface level, it is a part of royal mockery, like the robe and the scepter, Jewish bridegrooms also wore crowns on their wedding day (they dressed like a king for a day); (2) the seamless garment: The Jewish bridegroom was not only a symbolic king for a day, but priest for a day. Why? The bridechamber was designed to resemble the Tabernacle of Moses – the sanctuary, the supreme place of priestly sacrifice. And Jesus’ seamless garment is evocative of the “tunic” worn by the Jewish high priest; (3) the blood & water flow from Jesus’ side: Through the perspective of Jewish Scripture, we can draw a parallel between the “flow of blood and water from his side and the biblical account of God taking flesh from the side of Adam in the Garden of Eden” (110). Eve was created out of Adam’s “side” (Hebrew tzela’). “Just as Adam falls into a deep sleep so that God can create the Woman from his “side” (Hebrew tzela’; Greek pleura) (Genesis 2:21), so too Jesus falls into the sleep of death, and blood and water flow from his “side” (Greek pleura) (John 19:34). And just as the miraculous creation of the first bride from the side of Adam is the foundation for the marriage of man and woman, so too the miraculous flow of blood and water from the side of Jesus is the origin and foundation of the marriage of Christ and the Church (click here for more).
3. St. Paul and the “Great Mystery” of Jesus’ Marriage: “In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul not only describes the sacrificial death of Christ for the Church in terms of a husband’s love for his wife; he also explicitly describes the love between Christ and the Church as a “great mystery,” echoing the text about the wedding of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis” (112). The “great mystery” (Greek mysterion mega) to which Paul refers is the mystery of Christ’s spousal love for the Church, which was manifested above all when he “loved her” (Greek agapao) and “gave himself for her” on the cross. Thus the day of Jesus’ crucifixion is his wedding day, when he, the new Adam, is “joined (Greek proskollao) to his wife,” the Church, in an everlasting marriage covenant” (113) (click here for more).

3rd: The Marriage in Heaven

1. Jesus has prepared a place for each bride: In ancient Jewish tradition, one of the duties of the bridegroom was to prepare a home for his bride, so that when the wedding was finally consummated he could take her from her own family and bring her to live with him and be a part of his family in his father’s house” (117). Jesus’ message of going to prepare a place of his disciples in John 14:2-3 can be seen as referring to His Bridegroom identity. Click here for 4 features of the unveiled bride in Revelation 21.
2. Jesus will return as Bridegroom: “Unlike modern-day weddings, which tend to climax with the departure of the bride and the groom for their honeymoon, ancient Jewish weddings climaxed with the arrival of the bridegroom at the wedding feast, when he came to take the bride to himself” (119-20). In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus compares His return with the unexpected arrival of a Jewish bridegroom at his wedding.
3. Heaven is an eternal Marriage: According to the Book of Revelation – “all of human history is headed toward the wedding supper of the Lamb and the unveiling of the bride of Christ” (121). (Rev 19:6-7, 21:1-4). And the end of the world is described “as the eternal marriage of the Messiah and “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb,” the new Jerusalem. (122). Click here for why this results is no earthly marriage in heaven.

With these words, the divine love story of salvation history comes full circle. Just as the Bible begins with the “wedding” of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, watered by four rivers (Genesis 2–3), so now the Bible ends with the wedding of Jesus the Bridegroom and the Church, his bride, in a new Eden watered by the supernatural “river of life.” This is the deepest mystery of the end of time: the eternal marriage of God and his people in Christ and the new Jerusalem, so that human beings will at last be able to see the face of God, which is the face of the divine Bridegroom. 128-9

5 ways to participate in the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church:

“The theme of Christ’s identity as Bridegroom and the Church’s identity as bride is treated as a staple of Christian teaching. This basic insight is used to shed light on virtually every aspect of the Christian life, from its beginnings in baptism, to its sustenance in the Eucharist, to the various states of life, such as marriage and virginity. In more recent times, the contemporary Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up the importance of this mystery when it teaches: The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared the way for the new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by becoming incarnate and giving his life, has united to himself in a certain way all mankind saved by him, thus preparing for “the wedding feast of the Lamb.” (CCC 1612) 137

5 mysteries of the Christian life that stand out in ancient and modern Christian writings as visible signs of the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church:

1. Baptism (click here)
2. The Eucharist (click here)
3. Marriage (click here)
4. Consecrated Virginity (click here)
5. Prayer (click here)

To conclude, here’s a great talk from Dr. Brant Pitre to go deeper