Are weddings not about knowing the bride and groom personally? If so, how silly is it that I went through YouTube videos of weddings and shed literal tears. It’s quite embarrassing, actually. However, I do not think my tears came from knowing the couple but from knowing the covenant to which they were becoming one.

What beautiful earthly representation of the gospel in one of the most personal and intimate forms!

There is something so sweet about the covenant of marriage. Where two become  one flesh underneath the blessing of God. The bible actually gives many references to the wedding experience, Jesus representing the groom and the Church representing the bride. As Ephesians 5:23-24 reads, “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” What beautiful earthly representation of the gospel in one of the most personal and intimate forms!

Though vows are pure expressions of love, my favorite part of each YouTube video is the husband’s reaction to the sight of their bride. For many grooms, the bride’s entrance into the church is the first time they see their girl in “the dress”. Many months of preparation; many years of dating; many hours spent pursuing…the song plays, the crowd stands and the bride finally appears. The groom stands in awe of their soulmate. One guy stated, “I felt like the luckiest man on earth.” Such humility and splendor in one moment! As tears flowed from his eyes, the bride smiled because she knew he adored her. Maybe before the wedding she doubted, but in this moment, she felt assured of his love for her.

A wedding is to celebrate with loved ones as they stand witness to the greatest of all gifts: love (1 Cor. 13:13). Though I sobbed while living vicariously through each maid of honor with my best friend as the bride, I knew my heart melted for a greater reason. God gives us this beautiful picture of marriage not for romance novels and hopeless dreaming, but to bring glory to himself! Marriage is a choice to bind to another in love through sacrifice and commitment. In the same way, Jesus Christ chose to bind to us in love through sacrificing his life and committing himself to us.

When Jesus returns, he will be waiting at the altar for his bride to arrive! As these grooms lost it at the sight of their bride, my imagination still cannot fathom my Savior’s reaction as he sees the Church standing in the glory of Our Father. The greatest sacrifice of all was at Calvary. Jesus has already proposed, how will we answer?