Christ the Bridegroom
Then people said to him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make supplications, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but your disciples eat and drink? He said to them, "Can you expect wedding-guests to fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; that will be the time for them to fast." Luke 5:33-35
These verses fall within the larger section (5:17-6:11) called The Conflicts. The word conflict is used because the one who questions Jesus has a hostile attitude. We were told at the start of this section that men had come from "every village of Galilee and Judea and out of Jerusalem." Jerusalem is religious headquarters. They are not friendly to Jesus, but have come to evaluate him and report back to the authorities.
Remember, Jesus was accused of blasphemy (a God insult) for forgiving sins. They grumbled at Jesus because he ate with ritually unclean people. The wrong people. Here, things come to a head and Jesus knows it. In so many words they are saying to Jesus, "You know, you're young, you have a lot to learn; you really don't know how to go about it." Jesus has an answer and announces here that a day will come when this hostility towards him will break out in a violent way, "the bridegroom will be taken away." Our minds might go to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested in a thoroughly violent scene and taken away by temple guards.
But I can't say I've ever heard a homily reflecting on Jesus as the bridegroom. Jesus would have known this biblical image from the Old Testament:
"And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord." Hosea2:18ff
A covenant is a heart to heart agreement as bridegroom and bride enter into. Notice that this heart-union is with all of creation - even the animals are included. God's creation-idea is revived. God intends the end of violence, and that we would be able to rest in safety. In Jesus, there is God's love, which Hosea likens to that of a newly wed.
But a bridegroom is an ancient image of fertility as well. Psalm 19:4ff references the sun (which makes the planet alive) arising each morning like a bridegroom—who after the wedding night emerges from his tent. The bridegroom is also an image of freshness. Even a backwoods kind of guy, or a man who knows only hard labor, cleans up for his wedding day.
Fertility and freshness are images for richness of new life, fruitfulness, inner creation, personal evolution. Contrast with these gospel grumblers who surround Jesus with complaint and rejection. In the following parables we'll hear Jesus likening their religious brand to an old cloak that's got holes in it and dried out wine skins (made of animal hide) that are rotted through and easily ruined.
But a bridegroom is an ancient image of fertility as well. Psalm 19:4ff references the sun (which makes the planet alive) arising each morning like a bridegroom—who after the wedding night emerges from his tent. The bridegroom is also an image of freshness. Even a backwoods kind of guy, or a man who knows only hard labor, cleans up for his wedding day.
Fertility and freshness are images for richness of new life, fruitfulness, inner creation, personal evolution. Contrast with these gospel grumblers who surround Jesus with complaint and rejection. In the following parables we'll hear Jesus likening their religious brand to an old cloak that's got holes in it and dried out wine skins (made of animal hide) that are rotted through and easily ruined.
But what about my own kind of religion - do I feel the fertility and freshness? Even a regular Mass-goer might ask about that.
