John 11:43-44 (WEL) After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come here.” 44 He, who had been dead, came out, bound hand and foot with grave cloths, and his face had a handkerchief tied around it. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
V43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come here.”
Jesus didn’t have to yell, but maybe He did so all present would hear Him.
There is a time coming when Jesus will call all His church age believers to meet Him in the sky and then take us to heaven for the Wedding Feast. This is the pre-tribulation Rapture. The Wedding Feast is the Jewish Wedding Feast.
What is the Jewish Wedding Feast, and how does it apply to us?
AskAndyAI:
“The Jewish wedding pattern is a rich ten-step ceremony that Jesus and the New Testament use as an analogy for the relationship between Christ and His church. Viewed through a dispensational, pretribulational lens, the steps line up with events in the believer’s future and help explain why the rapture (Christ coming for His bride) is distinct from Christ’s Second Advent (Christ returning with His bride to establish the Kingdom). Below I summarize the key steps and how each corresponds to the rapture/related end-time events.
- Arrangement by the parents
- In ancient Jewish practice, parents arranged the marriage. God the Father arranged the union of Christ and the church. This underscores God’s sovereign plan for the church.
- Betrothal (engagement) period
- The bride is legally pledged to the groom but still at her father’s house. The church is presently betrothed to Christ, awaiting the marriage. This is the present church age.
- The groom departs to his father’s house to prepare a bridal chamber.
- After betrothal, the groom returns to his father’s house to build and prepare a room. This parallels Christ “going to prepare a place” (John 14:1–4). The groom’s departure emphasizes imminency: the church must be ready at any time.
- A waiting period where the bride remains pure.
- The bride remains at her father’s house, tested to maintain her purity. This corresponds to the believer’s present calling to holiness and faithful waiting. Note: passages about testing or Jesus “not entrusting Himself” refer to fellowship, obedience, or verification of conduct, not to the genuineness of salvation. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone; genuine saving faith is fully and eternally effective.
- The groom returns secretly at an unexpected hour.
- When the groom comes for his bride, he comes unexpectedly. This is the rapture: Christ coming for His church, taking believers up to be with Him. It is distinct from the public Second Advent that follows the tribulation.
- The bride is taken to the groom’s house (the Father’s house/heaven).
- The married couple (or the bride) goes to the father’s house where the private wedding ceremony occurs. This corresponds to believers being caught up to heaven, presented to Christ, and having the heavenly aspects of the marriage relationship completed. Many see the heavenly rewards and the bema (judgment seat) as occurring in this phase.
- The bride is cleansed and prepared.
- A final cleansing ritual precedes the wedding. Spiritually, this fits the believer’s sanctification and the bride’s being presented holy and blameless—again emphasizing our present call to holiness while trusting that our salvation is secure by faith.
- The private wedding ceremony in the father’s house.
- The actual matrimonial ceremony is private among family and invited guests. Many understand this as the heavenly ceremony where the church is formally united with Christ before the world. This is separate from the later public unveiling.
- The marriage is consummated.
- In the Jewish pattern, the marriage is consummated before the public celebration. Spiritually, this corresponds to the intimate union believers share with Christ in heaven.
- The public presentation and the marriage feast on earth.
- After the private ceremony, the bride is presented publicly, and a marriage feast follows, celebrated before guests. In prophetic terms, this public unveiling and feast correlate with Christ’s Second Advent: the church returns with Christ, is unveiled to the world, and participates in the Millennial reign. Revelation 19:7–9 describes the marriage of the Lamb and the subsequent feast; this is best understood as occurring after the tribulation when Christ publicly establishes His Kingdom.
How this illustrates the rapture (summary).
- The Jewish wedding sequence makes a clear distinction between the private, unexpected coming of the groom to fetch his bride (the rapture) and the later public presentation and feast (the Second Advent and millennial rule). The analogy supports an imminent rapture: Christ could come at any moment to take His bride to the Father’s house for the private wedding and heavenly rewards, after which He will return publicly to establish the Kingdom and the marriage feast on earth.
Pastoral and doctrinal clarifications.
- The wedding analogy calls believers to readiness, purity, and faithful waiting. This does not mean any believer’s salvation is partial or uncertain—salvation is by grace through faith alone, and genuinely believing faith is fully saving and results in eternal security. The analogy describes fellowship, position, and future blessing, not a test of whether faith actually saves.
V44 He, who had been dead, came out, bound hand and foot with grave cloths, and his face had a handkerchief tied around it. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
His soul and spirit were separated from his body. Death is separation.
Jesus commanded Lazarus’s soul and spirit to return from Paradise to reunite with his body.
This happened, and Lazarus came out of the tomb. Lazarus chose to obey the Lord Jesus.
I would suppose that Lazarus had to hop out, then seeing the difficulty, Jesus commanded those standing near Lazarus to remove all the grave clothes.
We learn:
- Physical death is not final for believers; there is a resurrection and Jesus taking us to heaven.
- After the Rapture, the Wedding Feast with the Lamb (Jesus Christ) begins. Compare John 14:1-2 and Revelation 19:7-9.
Questions:
- What will happen to you after death?
- Do you rejoice for your resurrection?