Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church

The Groom Should Be First

Matthew 21:1-9

November 27, 2022 anno Domini

I think we have weddings all wrong. The bride gets all the attention when in reality it ought to be the groom. Now before you accuse me of being a white Christian male who honors the Western Patriarchal system of oppression, allow me to give you the reason grooms should go first. Jesus went first.

Jesus was coming into Jerusalem for His bride. He had wept for His bride outside the city.  How the Lord had longed for His people, like a groom longing for His bride. He sent His best men, the prophets, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, to invite His bride to the great wedding feast, but she spurned His promises of eternal life and eternal love. Yet, Christ comes for His bride. This is the mystery of God’s Word, this marriage made in heaven, that is worked out here on earth. He loves you to death when you by your sin wished Him dead.

When you see Jesus coming into Jerusalem you ought to think of Adam and Eve walking out of the Garden of Eden. Because of their sin God cursed their vocations in marriage. Adam would not be able to provide for his bride without lousy days at work, a boss who cared nothing for his workers, weeds, white tail deer, and wind storms threatening his crops. Eve would lose her contentment to be a mother and wife. She would now want Adam’s place. She would be tempted toward man’s power, misunderstanding that the only strength God gives is for sacrifice and service – but because of sin even the best of men and women serve themselves far too often.

It’s surprising that Adam and Eve did not get divorced. Eve certainly had cause – Adam didn’t protect her from Satan. Adam had cause – Eve ate that fruit and then handed some to him. Every husband knows you shouldn’t refuse food your wife puts in front of you. We know why Adam and Eve stayed married. God’s Word tells us it was for the sake of the kids, particularly for the sake of the son they would have. They stayed together for Cain and Abel and Seth and all the rest of the boys they had because God had promised that He would undo their sins by a woman’s son.

Throughout the Old Testament this Saving Son, the birth of the heavenly Bridegroom who would undo sin, gets closer.  Sarah gives birth to Isaac and Rebekkah gives birth to Jacob and Leah gives birth to Judah and Tamar gives birth to Perez. Rahab gives birth to Boaz who marries Ruth. Ruth gives birth to Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David, who became King of Israel.  Jesus of Nazareth was born to Mary, whose husband Joseph, was of the house and lineage of David. The Son who would undo sin and loved His beloved had arrived.

What did the crowds do as Jesus of Nazareth came into Jerusalem? They called out to Him for salvation, “Hosanna” which means “save now,” save us now. They hailed Him as that Promised Son, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Eve needed a real man in the Garden of Eden but Adam was a spiritual wimp for not standing up to Satan and preaching the truth to his wife. Now in Christ, the bride has a real man. Christ just won’t stand up for you and preach the truth. He’ll hang on the cross for you to cover up your sins – all those ugly warts and festering sore. He won’t just tell you you’re loved – He loves you with all He has. He won’t lie and say “you’re beautiful” when you are not. He will actually make you beautiful by taking away your sins and covering you with His righteous life.

Jesus is going into Jerusalem to love His beloved bride by making her lovely again. He’s going to undo the divorce that we chose by our sin against God. He’s going to reconcile us to our Father in heaven through His blood.

Jesus is going into Jerusalem to bring us back into God’s presence. When Adam and Eve got kicked out of paradise God stationed angels, a Cherubim with a flaming sword on the East side of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve went East when they left God’s presence in the Garden. Lot went East from Abraham when he chose to live in Sodom. Travelling East in the Bible is not good – it’s away from God.

Guess which direction Jesus came into Jerusalem. He was travelling West when He came from Bethphage and the Mount of Olives. He was going back to God to return us to God.  When the Wise Men came seeking the King of the Jews they came from the East, travelling West toward the their Savior.

Guess which direction the cross is from Jerusalem?  It is East. Jesus brings you back to His Father by going away from His Father. On the cross He takes your place – cut off from God, as far as the East is from the West, as far as hell is from heaven. He is forsaken by His Father that you might be forgiven. He is reckoned guilty that you are reckoned righteous. He is naked and ashamed that you might be clothed in His righteousness and adored.

The marriage of a man and a woman is a picture of Christ and His bride the Church. Christ enters Jerusalem and instead of a white runner and roses, the crowd lays down their coats and Palm branches.

So do you think we can change the custom and let the Groom get chief spot on the Wedding Day? I don’t think we can, nor do I think we should, because Christ did not do this for attention. He did it for you. He did not consider being God something to show off and brag about. He came for one purpose – for you, His bride, the Church, that you might be radiant, washed clean by the water of your baptism, every wrinkle and blemish of sin taken away. The filthy rags of your unrighteousness are left beneath the cross and the white radiant robe of His righteousness is your wedding dress. That’s why you wear white at baptism, at confirmation, and why a white pall covers your casket.

The Wedding Liturgy long ago provided the solution to my dilemma. One of the first instructions for the rite of Holy Matrimony is this, “The Cross may lead the procession.”  The cross before the attendants, the ring bearer, the little flower girl who runs to her mommy, before the bride and the groom. With that old custom all rise, not for the bride but for THE Bridegroom. That’s as it should be, because from Christ you receive the love you need to love your husband when he isn’t too lovely, to sacrifice and serve others wherever God has placed you, and to live in that perfect and eternal union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.