I’ve often said that the love story of the Bible wouldn’t make a particularly good romantic movie. God’s love for His people, Christ’s love for His bride the church, it wouldn’t translate well to the big screen. And it wouldn’t do this because the whole thing just wouldn’t make any sense. Here you have this perfect man, this man with no flaws, no lapses in judgment, no wickedness at all. And He is just constantly pursuing this woman who hates him. And not only is He pursuing a woman who hates him, but she’s just the worst woman imaginable. She’s miserably thankless, cruel. Her affections are fleeting. When she’s desperate and has no other options, she’ll come crawling back to him for five minutes, but then she goes right after pursuing other men, committing more adultery, more unfaithfulness, more betrayal. Why on earth would anybody want to watch some poor, pathetic man keep giving his heart to a woman who never stops throwing it away.
This is, in a sense, what Isaiah laments in the first chapter of his book, when he tells us, “how the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.” Jerusalem is, of course, representative of the people. They’ve given themselves over to false gods repeatedly and now everything is lost.
But, of course, it’s not all lost because the love of God is not lost. Despite the serial unfaithfulness, the wickedness, the filth of the woman, the man is resolved to win her, to wash her clean, and make her His own. And so the Bridegroom takes on our flesh to forgive the filth of His church. The Son of God comes into this muck of your adultery, your betrayal, your cruelty, and washes you clean. He gives up everything, pours out His blood upon you, takes you into His arms, and welcomes you into His kingdom. The Bridegroom finds and purifies His bride. He makes her new, gives her a new heart, and now, she loves Him in return, eternally. The end. Credits. What a beautiful story.
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