A Pure Bride

One of the things worth pointing out every so often is that the Bible’s sensibilities are not always what we might think of as holy or pious. For example, you will find the Bible using graphic sexual imagery to describe the immorality of Israel, or Paul says, concerning the Judaizers who were trying to get everyone circumcised, he wished they would cut the whole thing off. This means that while we must obey Scripture and not let any unclean thing come out of our mouth; we must not let Victorian prudishness substitute for Biblical standards.

Another example of this is found in one of the OT laws that required that when a man suspected his new bride to not be a virgin, her parents would be required to show proof of her virginity. They would show the blood of her virginity as a token of her purity and chastity. And if these tokens could not be produced, the new bride could be executed for her crime. One of the running themes in the story of the Exodus is Israel as the bride of Yahweh. God is coming to take Israel away to marry him, to enter into a covenant with Him at Sinai. But as we know from other places in Scripture Israel was not pure. Joshua tells Israel many years later to put away the idols they served in Egypt. Israel is not a virgin; she has not been pure or chaste. She has messed around with other gods. And this is one of the great glories of the Passover. When the Angel of Death comes God has every right in the world to strike down Israel along with all the other idol worshippers of Egypt. Israel is the unchaste bride, she has not been pure. But God in his great mercy and grace provides the blood; he provides the tokens of purity and chastity. He sees the blood on the doors, and he passes over. This meal is no different. This meal is not for people who have it all together. Who have never sinned, who have never failed, who have never seriously blown it. If you think you’re doing pretty good and haven’t really messed up, please leave now. This meal proclaims the Lord’s Death; it is a display of the blood of the true Passover. This blood, the blood of Jesus is our righteousness, our purity, our forgiveness. The blood of Jesus was shed for you and all your filth and all your sin and all the messes you’ve made. And God promises to see you in the blood and to call you his sons and daughters. This is the promise of the gospel to you; so come, eat, drink, rejoice, and believe.