Pastor's Message

Undisclosed Recipient: FW:
You Have an E-Valentine’s Day Card from God!

 February 14th is Valentine’s Day.   All over North America, people will wait with anticipation for a card or gift that reveals the identity of his or her secret valentine. For those already in love: it is a perfect day to take their relationship to an even deeper and more profound level.  It is a perfect day for a groom-to-be to take the plunge and to propose marriage to the love of his life, his bride-to-be. It is a great day for her to say “yes” to his proposal to form a lifelong loving partnership, to become a family and to build a life together.   

In both the Old and New Testaments, God used engagement and marriage as an earthly parable which pointed to a heavenly truth about the relationship between God and humanity. The marriage rites and ceremonies of God’s chosen people directed attention to a truth that transcended the marriage of the couple and pointed to eternity.

When Jesus walked the earth, if an Israelite man loved and desired to marry a particular woman, the groom-to-be and his father would meet with the bride’s father. The terms of the possible union were discussed, including the dowry or the price the groom, according to Jewish traditions, would pay to the bride’s father for the privilege of marrying his daughter. When the dowry was worked out, the agreement was sealed with a toast of wine.

Following the toast, the potential bride entered the room. The groom proclaimed his love for the bride and proposed marriage. If the bride-to-be consented, she declared her love for her suitor and accepted his proposal.  The groom sealed her acceptance with a gift, traditionally a metal ring. The groom placed the ring on the bride-to-be’s finger and said, "Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring according to the laws of Moses and Israel."  

At the same time, the families also entered into a written contract which listed, among other things, the time, place, and size of the wedding ceremony, as well as recording the dowry and other terms of the marriage.  The contract was called a "ketubah."  The bride kept the “ketubah” until the consummation of the marriage.  The giving of the ring and the signing of the “ketubah” completed the first part of a two-part ceremony.  The engagement or betrothal was considered as binding as a marriage. The engagement could only be broken by a bill of divorce. During this period, the couple was to remain chaste, that is, could not have physical union with one another or any other. The second part of the marriage ceremony was called the “huppah” ceremony.

Before the “huppah” ceremony could take place, the groom had to pay the dowry or the bride price to the bride’s family and had to build a house for the bride, which was typically the addition of a room or a wing to the groom’s father’s house.  Before the groom left his bride at the betrothal ceremony, he would assure his beloved with these words “I go to build a room for you in my father’s house. I promise to return to take you to my father’s house so that you can be where I am.” It typically took a year for the groom to prepare his bride’s new home and make arrangements to pay the dowry. Once the dowry was paid and the addition to his father’s house was made, the groom returned to the bride’s home to take his bride to his father’s house for the “huppah” ceremony.  The bride and groom repeated vows before a priest and would immediately consummate their marriage through physical union. A seven day period of feasting would follow the consummation of the marriage. 
On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus sat a table with His disciples eating a Passover meal. During His ministry, He had revealed to His disciples that He had freely chosen a destiny.  To be arrested, tried, crucified, die, be resurrected, ascend to God, and then one day, to return to take all His disciples to heaven to be with Him. He wanted to help His disciples understand what was about to happen to Him and the purpose of it all. So, Jesus repeated these words:
 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:1-4)
With these words, Jesus took the disciples back to the words they spoke to their brides.  Each had proposed marriage to his bride, pledged to pay a dowry for her and promised to build a room for her in his father’s house. When the dowry was paid and the room was built, each returned to his bride’s home to take her to her new home and begin a new life together. 
Jesus wanted the disciples to see Him as the heavenly bridegroom and His church as the bride-to be. His bride needed to be set free from her debts (sin) and the consequences of those debts (death) in order for the marriage to take place. He wanted the disciples to see His suffering and crucifixion as the dowry He would pay to free the bride from her debts. Like every bridegroom, He was willing to pay the price out of an intense love for God the Father and the bride God would give Him.
Just as a bridegroom gave a ring (a symbol for eternity) to the bride as a free gift and a pledge to her that he would fulfill his promises, Jesus wanted the disciples to see His resurrection as a free gift and a promise to His bride. “Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)    
Jesus wanted the disciples to see His ascension into heaven as the gap in time between His payment of His bride’s dowry and His return for His bride. Like any good bridegroom, He had to go and prepare a place for His bride, in heaven, His Father’s house.  Jesus left a written betrothal contract which described the bride’s debts and all His promises to her; we call it the Holy Bible. Jesus wanted His disciples to see evangelism as inviting people into a relationship, to become a part of a great bride, who waits for her bridegroom to come. Jesus wanted His disciples to believe in a heaven that is not a great cathedral full of pews, but a beautiful home, where we live with Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a loving family for eternity.  Come and join us on Valentine’s weekend and meet our bridegroom. He’s waiting for you. He has a proposal for you. 

© Grace Lutheran Church Kelowna 2006
Grace Lutheran Church is a member congregation of CALC and LCMC