Right from the very beginning in eternity past, God had planned history with His Son having a bride, a companion that would co-reign with Him and enjoy Him forever. That is the eternal purpose of God in creating a bride for His Son. If you read the Scripture from cover to cover, you would discover that God teaches us in a variety of different ways. Sometimes God uses powerful word pictures, sometimes He uses symbols, sometimes He uses examples of people both good and bad. Sometimes God uses a direct word, an authoritative word, sometimes He uses examples from nature, like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will not cease to bear fruit. This book highlights how God gave us an example of an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony that correlates with Christ, the Bridegroom, and His bride the church. From the father choosing a bride for his son, paying the bridal price, the bridegroom snatching his bride and bringing her to the bridal chamber, and then finally co-reigning with him in their household with him as the head. It is absolutely amazing the correlation between the two. What was a mystery to the Jews has been revealed. The mystery was that both Jew and Gentile called the church would be the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is describing the kind of relationship we can have with Jesus. God is seeking willing lovers, who would voluntarily seek His heart, voluntarily surrender to Him, and voluntarily love Him with all their heart, soul and mind, and strength.

In Jesus the Bridegroom, Brant Pitre once again taps into the wells of Jewish Scripture and tradition, and unlocks the secrets of what is arguably the most well-known symbol of the Christian faith: the cross of Christ. In this thrilling exploration, Pitre shows how the suffering and death of Jesus was far more than a tragic Roman execution. Instead, the Passion of Christ was the fulfillment of ancient Jewish prophecies of a wedding, when the God of the universe would wed himself to humankind in an everlasting nuptial covenant. To be sure, most Christians are familiar with the apostle Paul's teaching that Christ is the 'Bridegroom' and the Church is the 'Bride'. But what does this really mean? And what would ever possess Paul to compare the death of Christ to the love of a husband for his wife? If you would have been at the Crucifixion, with Jesus hanging there dying, is that how you would have described it? How could a first-century Jew like Paul, who knew how brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to a wedding? And why does he refer to this as the "great mystery" (Ephesians 5:32)? As Pitre shows, the key to unlocking this mystery can be found by going back to Jewish Scripture and tradition and seeing the entire history of salvation, from Mount Sinai to Mount Calvary, as a divine love story between Creator and creature, between God and Israel, between Christ and his bride--a story that comes to its climax on the wood of a Roman cross. In the pages of Jesus the Bridegroom, dozens of familiar passages in the Bible--the Exodus, the Song of Songs, the Wedding at Cana, the Woman at the Well, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and even the Second Coming at the End of Time--are suddenly transformed before our eyes. Indeed, when seen in the light of Jewish Scripture and tradition, the life of Christ is nothing less than the greatest love story ever told.

From the remarkable Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award for his celebrated novel Waiting, a collection of comical and deeply moving tales of contemporary China that are as warm and human as they are surprising, disturbing, and delightful. In the title story, the head of security at a factory is shocked, first when the hansomest worker on the floor proposes marriage to his homely adopted daughter, and again when his new son-in-law is arrested for the "crime" of homosexuality. In "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town," the workers at an American-style fast food franchise receive a hilarious crash course in marketing, deep frying, and that frustrating capitalist dictum, "the customer is always right."Ha Jin has triumphed again with his unforgettable storytelling in The Bridegroom.

The Lady Violet Mysteries--Book Three Why must a widow newly emerged from mourning be invited to every wedding in the realm? Lady Violet Belmaine ponders that conundrum while traveling from London to rural Scotland at the invitation of an old friend. Escorted by her dashing physician friend, Hugh St. Sevier, Violet prepares to again subject herself to a nuptial celebration, except... the groom fails to appear.Matters become more interesting when Violet discovers that Sebastian MacHeath is laird of the nearest castle, and well acquainted with the bride and her family. Mysterious cousins, surly neighbors, and appearances much at variance with the facts all confound Violet's efforts to find the missing groom, and any designs she might have on her handsome escort!

The Bridegroom wants to hand out assignments to the Bride from a place of total intimacy. The encounters, scriptural teachings, and examples within this book will reveal Jesus as Bridegroom; as well as your identity as His Bride. Be invited to: - Discover unmatched truth into genuine bridal love - Learn how to prepare yourself for Christ the Groom - Discover key ingredients for maximizing your walk with Jesus Jesus, our Bridegroom, is raising up a body of people who are beyond all terminology. They are demonstrating His love and power to the world around them and this book provides keys for you to be a part of it. Are you ready to enter this last day Bridal Company?

The Lord is our Bridegroom, and those who belong to Jesus Christ are His Bride. Those who believe have been included in Christ when they heard the message of truth, the gospel of our salvation. The moment we hear the message of the gospel and receive salvation we are betrothed to Christ. Such a Bride is sold out for the Bridegroom, seeking to be with Him and to love him for all eternity. This church—the Bride of Christ—is not one specific local church or denomination but the entire body of believers throughout the ages. All who have trusted the Lord and received salvation by grace through faith are collectively His Bride. As the Bride, we are called to have only one true eternal love – Christ. The Lord Jesus is our Bridegroom, the Lover of my soul. It means that we share His love. It means we bear His Name. We are called to uphold the name of Jesus. Through our actions, words, behaviour and conduct, we must bring honour to the name of our Bridegroom! We are His Bride, and as such, we must bring honour to our Bridegroom. We must not put Him to shame. What He loves we must love. He must be ours and captivate our attention day and night. In any true marriage, the bridegroom and the bride give themselves to each other, unreservedly and forever; and in this holy relationship of the saved sinner and the Saviour, it is the same. We are called to shine the light of the Bridegroom, to be ready for His coming, and to be without spot or wrinkle when it happens. We must make every effort to be found pleasing unto the Bridegroom, for the marriage feast in heaven will outshine any grand wedding that has ever been held on earth! The Bridegroom is indeed glorious, so let us prepare and remain consecrated unto holiness. May the Bridegroom find a pure and faithful Bride at His blessed coming!

The bestselling follow-up to Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. Includes a reader's guide and an excerpt from Pitre's The Case for Jesus. In Jesus the Bridegroom, Brant Pitre once again taps into the wells of Jewish Scripture and tradition, and unlocks the secrets of what is arguably the most well-known symbol of the Christian faith: the cross of Christ. In this thrilling exploration, Pitre shows how the suffering and death of Jesus was far more than a tragic Roman execution. Instead, the Passion of Christ was the fulfillment of ancient Jewish prophecies of a wedding, when the God of the universe would wed himself to humankind in an everlasting nuptial covenant. To be sure, most Christians are familiar with the apostle Paul’s teaching that Christ is the ‘Bridegroom’ and the Church is the ‘Bride’. But what does this really mean? And what would ever possess Paul to compare the death of Christ to the love of a husband for his wife? If you would have been at the Crucifixion, with Jesus hanging there dying, is that how you would have described it? How could a first-century Jew like Paul, who knew how brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to a wedding? And why does he refer to this as the “great mystery” (Ephesians 5:32)? As Pitre shows, the key to unlocking this mystery can be found by going back to Jewish Scripture and tradition and seeing the entire history of salvation, from Mount Sinai to Mount Calvary, as a divine love story between Creator and creature, between God and Israel, between Christ and his bride—a story that comes to its climax on the wood of a Roman cross. In the pages of Jesus the Bridegroom, dozens of familiar passages in the Bible—the Exodus, the Song of Songs, the Wedding at Cana, the Woman at the Well, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and even the Second Coming at the End of Time—are suddenly transformed before our eyes. Indeed, when seen in the light of Jewish Scripture and tradition, the life of Christ is nothing less than the greatest love story ever told.