The Great Supper of the Lamb
We have all (or at least most everyone) experienced weddings and receptions. The trend for a number of years is for everyone to gather in the reception area and wait for the wedding party to arrive. At some point, they all line up and are announced into the reception hall with fanfare and cheering. Finally, the bride and groom are announced and the entire room stands to honor the newly married couple!
Once inside, there will usually be some sort of meal or time of snacking. People will enjoy the food, the music, and the fellowship with everyone around them. Oftentimes there will follow the traditional first dance. All the while this couple experiences the well-wishes of friends and family as they begin their new lives together.
Revelation 19 describes a scene that looks very much like the one above. The context is the finality of the enemy kingdom Babylon. Jesus is the victor and a great host of people are praising and singing to Him honoring His great victory over the enemy. The culminating event of this scene is when the bride enters the victory celebration!
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (verse 7). She is dressed in fine linen, clean and bright. She has entered the banquet hall reception for the marriage supper of the Lamb! (verse 8-9). The Lord then announces, “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (verse 9). To understand this image, we must go back in Scripture to trace this image.
God described His relationship with His people as a marriage. Isaiah 62:5 declares, “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” Jesus called Himself the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34; John 3:29).
The imagery continues as Paul tells his Roman readers, “…you have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead…” (Romans 7:4). He told the Corinthian Church that he desired to present them “as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (II Corinthians 11:2).
John clearly identifies the Church as the bride of Christ in Revelation 21:2, “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” “New Jerusalem” is the name given to the Church in Hebrews 12:22-23.
So, here is the point of all of this. There is coming a day when all the family of God, the Bride of Christ, will gather at the great supper of the King in His palace. There we will be forever, praising God throughout eternity! I don’t want to miss that dinner! Can you imagine what a feast that will be?
— Mike Johnson
