Beyond seeing the truth behind the symbols and being convicted by the vows, people who attend a wedding ought to see (and hear) the gospel.  Weddings can be an incredible evangelistic tool.  The Bible is filled with references to weddings/marriage as pictures of various aspects of the gospel.  We can think of the gospel in a number of ways.  We commonly think of the gospel as the proclamation of the deity, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with its call to repentance and faith.  However, there is also a ‘metanarrative’ form of the gospel:  Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation.  It is this metanarrative that should be seen clearly at a wedding.

Seeing the Gospel

Creation

When I officiate at a wedding, I always point to the creation narrative as the foundation upon which marriage is built.  This is clear in Genesis 2.

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”” (Genesis 2:18-23 ESV)

Fall

While the Fall of man is not as clearly connected to the wedding ceremony, it is an important part of the metanarrative that should not be omitted.  The Fall took place in the context of marriage gone wrong. 

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)

Redemption

The call for husbands to love their wives “as Christ love the church” is as clear a link between the gospel and marriage as there is anywhere in the Bible.  In fact, Paul’s entire teaching on the role of husbands and wives (Ephesians 5:22ff) is explained at the end of the chapter when he writes:

“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:32-33 ESV)

Thus, not only is there a clear connection between marriage and the gospel; we can also see that failing to make the connection is to miss the entire point.

Consummation

Marriage is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.  We see it in the beginning, the middle, and the end.  In fact, the consummation of all things is portrayed as a wedding. 

“And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.” (Matthew 22:1-3 ESV)

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8 ESV)

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:1-2 ESV)

Thus, I long for people who attend weddings to see and hear the gospel.  Fortunately, this link is so obvious that most pastors officiating at weddings present it even if they arent trying. 

VB