What is a bridegroom in the Bible?
A bridegroom is simply a man on his wedding day — the one who receives a bride. Scripture takes that ordinary picture and hands the title to Christ, so the word carries a claim about who He is, what He paid, and what He is coming back for.
A Title the Lord Takes for Himself
The word is not a label others invented for Jesus. He used it of Himself, and it points forward to a wedding day still ahead.
Morrish Bible DictionaryA title which the Lord applies to Himself. Matt. 9:15; Matt. 25:1-10; cf. John 3:29. It anticipates the joy of Christ, the marriage-day when He will take to Himself all that for which He suffered so much.
One writer notes how sparingly the actual word is used of Him, while the relationship itself is everywhere:
A. J. PollockWhenever a Bride is spoken of there must be a Bridegroom. There cannot be a Bride without a complementary spouse. The word Bride is found in the Scriptures, and not once the actual word Bridegroom, as applying to the Lord, with the exception of Matthew 25:6, when it is used in a different setting. Yet if the Church is the Bride, He is the Bridegroom.
What Makes Him the Bridegroom
John the Baptist drew the line between himself and Jesus by this very word. The bride belongs to one man only, and John knew he was not that man.
Hamilton SmithHe is the forerunner and, according to the illustration he uses, he is the friend of the Bridegroom. Christ is the true Bridegroom that will receive His bride, and John rejoices because he has seen the Bridegroom and heard His voice. John forms no part of the bride, nor does he see the bride; but, as the friend, he hears the Bridegroom's voice and his joy is full, and his mission accomplished. Therefore, he adds, "He must increase, but I must decrease".
The friend's place was a lesser one, and John was glad of it:
H. L. RossierThe bride is not John; he knows that. But the great prophet is content to have a secondary place; for he has Christ. He is the "friend of the Bridegroom." He listens to outpourings which are not addressed to him; but what matter? He hears the Bridegroom's voice, and his joy is fulfilled.
Why His Presence Ended the Fasting
When people asked why Jesus' disciples did not fast, He answered by calling Himself the bridegroom. A wedding is no time for mourning.
William KellyNeither those who were only disciples of John had any real appreciation of the Bridegroom's presence, nor still less the Pharisees filled with forms and self-righteousness. It was joy to the believing disciples of Jesus. Feeble as they were, they had left their all for Him, and they tasted a divine bliss in Him wholly unknown to the others… The joy of Messiah's presence made fasting altogether inappropriate.
The same passage sets the tone for now, when He is not here in person:
Edward DennettAs passing through a judged scene where Christ is not, we fast; on the other hand, as dwelling in His presence, as having Himself ever with us, we rejoice… But the lesson abides, and cannot be too deeply engraven on our hearts, that it is the presence of the Lord that constitutes our joy.
He Bought His Bride Before He Took Her
This bridegroom did not simply choose a bride. He died for her first, and He is preparing her still.
J. G. BellettIt is said, that Christ loved the Church, then gave Himself for it, then sanctified it by the washing of the Word — and all this, that He might present it worthily to Himself as His Bride. Eph. 5. Here, doctrinally, or in the way of plain teaching, we have the Lamb the Bridegroom; for ere He takes the Church He gives Himself for her. He takes to wife the one whom He had afore purchased with blood.
The whole sequence runs on one motive from start to finish:
Hamilton SmithThus He secured His Bride by Himself; He is preparing her for Himself; and will present her to Himself. His love is the source of all, and what love commenced at the cross, love will complete in the glory.
The Bridegroom Who Is Coming
The picture is not only about the past. In the parable of the ten virgins a cry goes up at midnight, and the whole point is that He arrives.
J. Wilson SmithThe coming of the Bridegroom was like a voice from the dead, but it was the Bridegroom Himself—the prospect of seeing Him—that thrilled the heart. And a heart filled and thrilled by the love of Christ is the one spring of divine life and power and devotedness and joy.
Commentators also apply the image to God's future joy over Israel, drawn from Isaiah — a separate line from the church as the bride of Christ:
The Bible Treasury"Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married … and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee" (Isa. 62:4-5).
Summary
- Title. "Bridegroom" is a name Jesus takes for Himself, and it looks ahead to a marriage day.
- Bride. A bridegroom is defined by the one who belongs to him; John the Baptist was only the friend, and rejoiced to be.
- Cost. He gave Himself for His bride before He took her, buying her with His own blood.
- Joy. His presence made fasting out of place; joy comes from Him and nowhere else.
- Coming. The cry at midnight says He is on His way, and the sight of Him is the hope that stirs the heart.