Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BRIDE OF CHRIST

An ecclesial metaphor whereby Jesus is presented as the bridegroom for his followers (Mark 2:19-20), and the wedding feast appears as a recurring image for the gathered community at the end time. The precise phrase “bride of Christ” to designate the Church never occurs. Paul is the first to describe the Church as a bride (“For I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”; 2 Cor. 11:2), and the author of Ephesians uses this same image to explain the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:21-33). The author of Revelation refers to both the Church (Rev. 19:7) and the heavenly city of Jerusalem (21:2, 9) as a bride.

Bridal imagery in the OT and NT connotes the intimacy and mutual fidelity between God/Christ and God’s people. It also signals the care and protection required of the bridegroom toward the bride. The bridal metaphor underscores her dependence on and obligation to show reverence toward her spouse, in accordance with the demands of gender relationships in “honor and shame” cultures. Israel’s infidelity, or “harlotry” (Hos. 2), constitutes the most developed form of this marital metaphor in the OT.

Barbara E. Bowe

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BRIDE OF CHRIST

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)