Recorded in the gospels is the account of the last meal Jesus had with his disciples. In the book of Luke Jesus tells them that He had “eagerly desired to eat this meal” before He suffered. The Passover feast was being celebrated in Jerusalem just as it had been for generations, but never before, or since, was it more significant than on that night. Jesus had been teaching and preforming miracles, revealing Himself as the Messiah so long promised. Now, only hours before His death, He celebrated with His most devoted followers and friends. We can only surmise what impact this poignant moment had on those twelve men at the time, but the gifts of hindsight and understanding allow us to know, now, just how special and precious that last supper was.

Because mankind had sinned an atonement had to be made. The wages of sin, the price to be paid, is death. Because it was Man that sinned the debt that was owed was Man’s life. But our Heavenly Father was not willing that any man should perish. He loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son in our place. So Jesus became a man so He could pay the debt, the ultimate price of death, so that we could live.

John the Baptist had announced Jesus’ arrival at the Jordan river saying, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Were the disciples aware of the symbolism while they ate the time honored feast with the redeemer of the world? Did they understand that the true Passover lamb that was to be slaughtered, whose blood was to cover and save those under it, was breaking the bread and pouring the wine?
In the gospel of Luke we read that Jesus ‘took the bread and and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
‘In the same way after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:19-20)

As Jesus instructed, we do remember Him and the sacrificial death that gives us life. However, something else was taking place that night. While He came to die, Jesus also came to court His bride. Just as the bread symbolized the death that was to come, the cup symbolized the life that Jesus was offering to all who would accept him. To fully understand the meaning behind the offered cup, we must look at the wedding customs of ancient Israel.
According to Jewish tradition, when a man wanted to marry, a suitable girl was chosen by his father, or by a servant acting on the father’s behalf. An offer of marriage would be made to the girl’s father including the bride-price, which was determined by the wealth and property of the man’s father; essentially, what the man was willing to pay for the bride. A document, called a Ketubah, which means “written”, was created detailing the provisions by the groom for the bride, as detailed in the Law. This included her food, clothes, and conjugal rights of marriage. It would detail the bride’s dowery and possessions she was bringing to the union, as well as the bride-price being paid for her. The Ketubah document was viewed as covenant agreement and was legally binding.

If the marriage offer was acceptable to her father, the proposal was made to the girl. The ultimate decision of acceptance or refusal was hers. The hopeful groom would pour a cup of wine and offer it to his prospective bride. It was symbolic of his life given to her. If she accepted and drank from it, she was accepting his life and giving her own to him in return.
Though there was not yet physical union, the couple was now considered legally married. The groom now paid the bride-price, at least in part. This was seen as compensation to her family for her upbringing and for now losing a contributing member of the household. Though given to her father, the bride price ultimately belonged to the bride. It set her apart from her father’s household and changed her status in the community. She was now seen as a married woman and all of her needs were now met by the bridegroom.

The betrothal being complete, the bridegroom now had to go and prepare a new home. It was customary for a man to build an addition to his father’s house or on his father’s property. He would tell his bride, “I am going to prepare a place for you.” Because it was his father’s house, it was the standard of the groom’s father that had to be met. Only he could determine when the bridal chamber was ready. If asked about the day of the wedding the bridegroom could only reply, “only my father knows.”

The time between the betrothal and the wedding was called the Kiddushim, which means “sanctification,” or “set apart.” The bride would wear a veil over her face when she was in public to show that she was spoken for and had been bought with a price; she was set apart for the bridegroom. While he was preparing the house, the bride made preparations of her own. She would make things needed for her new home and would prepare her wedding garment. Because the time for the bridegroom’s return was unknown, the bride was always ready. At night her bridal things were close and she kept an oil lamp by her bed in case the bridegroom came while she slept. If she had bridesmaids to attend her, they too would keep lamps and were near at hand to assist the bride.

When at last the time for the wedding arrived, the bridegroom would go and collect his bride. A trumpet would be sounded and a friend of the bridegroom would go on ahead and call out, “Here comes the bridegroom!” The bride would make herself ready and go out to meet him. Traditionally, the bridegroom would come at midnight, so the bride would light her lamp to guide him to her in the dark.

The wedding ceremony was called the Nisuin, which means “to carry” or “catch away.” The bride was waiting to be carried away to her new home and in some traditions she would literally be carried in a form of carriage lifted on poles. In other traditions the bride and bridegroom are lifted in chairs and carried to the ceremony.
Usually held outside the new home, the Nisuin was held under a canopy called a Chuppa. This was symbolic of the new home being built by the couple. The ceremony consisted of the signing of the Ketubah document, showing that the bridegroom had met all of the terms of the betrothal and anything remaining of the bride price was now paid in full. The groom would proclaim, “it is finished!” The second cup of the Ketubah was poured and shared by the couple, re-affirming the blood covenant, the most sacred of commitments, that they had made to one another. The couple was now fully man and wife and the family and friends who were gathered joined them in seven days of feasting and celebration.

When held up beside these ancient traditions, the cup that Jesus offered at the last supper is all the more precious. His parables and teachings take on a richer meaning. Did the disciples recall Jesus’ words when he referred to Himself as the bridegroom? Did they understand that when He offered the cup He was offering spiritual marriage? Did they reflect on the time Jesus told them, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place I am going.” (John 14:1-4)

When talking about the end of the age Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the father”. (Matthew 24:36) “So you must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you least expect him.” (Matthew 24:44)

The imagery in Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) is clear and bridal imagery is certainly mirrored in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. After that, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Whatever the impact of Jesus’ words and actions might have had on the twelve disciples, we are blessed to be able to see the parallels and to have such understanding. As we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, let us also take the bread that is His broken body and let us drink from the cup of the new covenant poured out for us as Jesus’ blood. Let us do this in remembrance of our bridegroom who has paid the bride-price and is even now preparing a place for us in his father’s house. Let us be ready to be caught up to him when he returns to collect his bride.