ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54208/0008 113
each other. Husbands were “to love their wives as their
own bodies…even as Christ also loved the church” and
“as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be
to their own husbands in every thing.” He explicitly said
their union as “one flesh…is a great mystery: but I speak
concerning Christ and the church.”
However, other Pauline epistles refer to mystical
marriage where the bride can be interpreted as applying
to the church and individual Christians. In Rom. 7.1–4,
Paul explained that a widowed wife is no longer bound
by the Mosaic law of adultery but is free to marry again:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married
to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” 2 Cor. 11.2
states: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
In that respect, the Catholic Church has a liturgical
rite called the Consecration of Virgins whereby women
commit to a spiritual life as chaste virgins dedicated to
serving the Church, either as nuns in a monastic order
or out in the world under the supervision of a bishop.
Like the medieval mystics, consecrated virgins today
represent both an image of the Catholic Church as the
bride of Christ and a personal mystical marriage to
Jesus. In the current 1983 Code of Canon Law of the
Catholic Church, Canon 604 states:
Similar to these forms of consecrated life is the
order of virgins who, expressing the holy
resolution of following Christ more closely,
are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop
according to the approved liturgical rite, are
mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God,
and are dedicated to the service of the Church.12
The betrothal to Christ was mystical and did not contain
an erotic, sensual element.
The term “bride of Christ” does not appear in the New
Testament. Still, other scriptures use the metaphor of
bride and bridegroom to imply a mystical marriage
relationship between Christians and Jesus. In Jn. 3.28–
12 “Code of Canon Law: Book II The People of God: Part III Institutes
of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life: Section I Institutes of
Consecrated Life: Title I Norms Common To All Institutes of Consecrated
Life,” Code of Canon Law, Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-
canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann573-606_en.html#SECTION_I:
29, John the Baptist reiterated to his disciples that he
is “not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend
of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice:
this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” John implied that
Jesus is the bridegroom, and the bride is his followers.
Other scriptures in the Gospels that compared Jesus to
a bridegroom do not specifically mention a bride but
leave it to the reader to infer who the bride is.
Mark 2.18–9, Lk. 5.33-35, and Mt. 9.14–15 all depict a
scene where the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus
why his disciples did not fast as they and the Pharisees
did. The text in those versions is almost identical, so
I will only cite the latter, where Jesus replied: “Can
the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as
the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come,
when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and
then shall they fast.” The bridegroom is generally
interpreted as referring to Jesus, so by inference,
the bride represents those who believe in him.
The only other reference to a bridegroom in the
Gospels is the parable of ten virgins in Mt. 25.1–13.
That chapter is a continuation of Mt. 24, in which Jesus
replied to his disciples’ question in verse three: “And
what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of
the world?” In response, Jesus described various signs
and events they should watch for and instructed them
on how to behave when the end comes. He also used
several metaphors and parables to illustrate his end-
time message, including the parables of a budding fig
tree13 and a faithful servant.14
2
Like those two parables,
the ten virgins parable at the start of Mt. 25, where they
are waiting with their oil lamps for the bridegroom to
appear, emphasizes the importance of staying prepared
and watchful for signs of the end when Jesus returns.
In this allegory, the ten virgins are Christians waiting
for the second coming of Jesus, the bridegroom.
The mystical marriage metaphor continues in the
apocalyptic book of Revelation, where the bridegroom
is Jesus, and his bride is described as the righteous
believers and the holy city, new Jerusalem. In that
final book of the Bible, Jesus is referred to by over two
dozen names, epithets, and titles, including the Lamb.15
13 Mt 24:32–35 (KJV).
14 Mt 24:42–51 (KJV).
15 Rev 5.8, 9 (KJV).
each other. Husbands were “to love their wives as their
own bodies…even as Christ also loved the church” and
“as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be
to their own husbands in every thing.” He explicitly said
their union as “one flesh…is a great mystery: but I speak
concerning Christ and the church.”
However, other Pauline epistles refer to mystical
marriage where the bride can be interpreted as applying
to the church and individual Christians. In Rom. 7.1–4,
Paul explained that a widowed wife is no longer bound
by the Mosaic law of adultery but is free to marry again:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married
to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” 2 Cor. 11.2
states: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
In that respect, the Catholic Church has a liturgical
rite called the Consecration of Virgins whereby women
commit to a spiritual life as chaste virgins dedicated to
serving the Church, either as nuns in a monastic order
or out in the world under the supervision of a bishop.
Like the medieval mystics, consecrated virgins today
represent both an image of the Catholic Church as the
bride of Christ and a personal mystical marriage to
Jesus. In the current 1983 Code of Canon Law of the
Catholic Church, Canon 604 states:
Similar to these forms of consecrated life is the
order of virgins who, expressing the holy
resolution of following Christ more closely,
are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop
according to the approved liturgical rite, are
mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God,
and are dedicated to the service of the Church.12
The betrothal to Christ was mystical and did not contain
an erotic, sensual element.
The term “bride of Christ” does not appear in the New
Testament. Still, other scriptures use the metaphor of
bride and bridegroom to imply a mystical marriage
relationship between Christians and Jesus. In Jn. 3.28–
12 “Code of Canon Law: Book II The People of God: Part III Institutes
of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life: Section I Institutes of
Consecrated Life: Title I Norms Common To All Institutes of Consecrated
Life,” Code of Canon Law, Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-
canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann573-606_en.html#SECTION_I:
29, John the Baptist reiterated to his disciples that he
is “not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend
of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice:
this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” John implied that
Jesus is the bridegroom, and the bride is his followers.
Other scriptures in the Gospels that compared Jesus to
a bridegroom do not specifically mention a bride but
leave it to the reader to infer who the bride is.
Mark 2.18–9, Lk. 5.33-35, and Mt. 9.14–15 all depict a
scene where the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus
why his disciples did not fast as they and the Pharisees
did. The text in those versions is almost identical, so
I will only cite the latter, where Jesus replied: “Can
the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as
the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come,
when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and
then shall they fast.” The bridegroom is generally
interpreted as referring to Jesus, so by inference,
the bride represents those who believe in him.
The only other reference to a bridegroom in the
Gospels is the parable of ten virgins in Mt. 25.1–13.
That chapter is a continuation of Mt. 24, in which Jesus
replied to his disciples’ question in verse three: “And
what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of
the world?” In response, Jesus described various signs
and events they should watch for and instructed them
on how to behave when the end comes. He also used
several metaphors and parables to illustrate his end-
time message, including the parables of a budding fig
tree13 and a faithful servant.14
2
Like those two parables,
the ten virgins parable at the start of Mt. 25, where they
are waiting with their oil lamps for the bridegroom to
appear, emphasizes the importance of staying prepared
and watchful for signs of the end when Jesus returns.
In this allegory, the ten virgins are Christians waiting
for the second coming of Jesus, the bridegroom.
The mystical marriage metaphor continues in the
apocalyptic book of Revelation, where the bridegroom
is Jesus, and his bride is described as the righteous
believers and the holy city, new Jerusalem. In that
final book of the Bible, Jesus is referred to by over two
dozen names, epithets, and titles, including the Lamb.15
13 Mt 24:32–35 (KJV).
14 Mt 24:42–51 (KJV).
15 Rev 5.8, 9 (KJV).
