Wedding is a very happy celebration. Jesus likened the fact that we receive salvation and enter the Kingdom of Heaven to that we are invited to a wedding banquet and participate in it. Why did Jesus choose a wedding banquet among many other banquets? There is an important reason for this. Let us take a look at the parable of the heavenly wedding banquet and the prophecy of the book of Revelation. Then, we can understand through whom we can receive eternal life and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. . . . Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Mt 22:1–10
There must be a bridegroom and a bride for a wedding to take place. Of course, guests, too, come to the banquet. The bridegroom, the bride, and the guests are essential elements to hold a wedding banquet. In the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, we can see the king’s son, the bridegroom. The king’s son refers to Jesus, who came as the Son of God; and the invited guests represent God’s people who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven by receiving Jesus.
However, in the parable of the wedding banquet, a bride, the main character of the wedding, is not found. Without the bride, the wedding cannot take place. Why didn’t Jesus mention the bride? It is not because there is no bride at the heavenly wedding banquet, but because it was not yet the time for the bride to appear at the time of Jesus’ first coming, 2,000 years ago. The Bible prophesies that the bride will appear at the second coming of Christ.
The Bride Appears at the Second Coming of Jesus
The book of Revelation was written around A.D. 96 after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Jesus revealed to John what must take place in the future (Rev 1:1). One of them is a revelation about the heavenly wedding banquet; the bride, who did not appear in the parable of the wedding banquet 2,000 years ago, finally appears.
“For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” . . . Rev 19:7-9
When the wedding of the Lamb comes, his bride makes herself ready, and those who are invited to the wedding supper are blessed. In the book of Revelation, the Lamb refers to Jesus (Jn 1:29). The Lamb here indicates Jesus who comes a second time. “Those who are invited” represent God’s people who will be blessed with eternal life.
The bride, the wife of the Lamb, who did not appear at the time of Jesus’ first coming, finally appears along with the Lamb, the bridegroom. Like other wedding banquets, not only the bridegroom and the guests but also the bride undoubtedly exist in the heavenly wedding banquet. This is why Jesus likened God’s people’s entering the Kingdom of Heaven to entering a wedding banquet, not any other banquets. He implied the existence of the bride from 2,000 years ago. Who is the bride, the wife of the Lamb, then?
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” . . . showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Rev 21:9–10
The angel said that he would show him the bride, the wife of the Lamb, and showed him Jerusalem coming down from Heaven. The bridegroom at the heavenly wedding banquet is described as a lamb, but it is not an actual animal. Likewise, the bride, who is described as the city, the heavenly Jerusalem, is not an actual city.
The Bride in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet Is God the Mother
Heavenly Jerusalem in the Bible represents God the Mother.
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. Gal 4:26
The Jerusalem above in Heaven is our mother. Therefore, the prophecy about the appearance of the bride in the book of Revelation shows that God the Mother who is in Heaven will appear on the earth. That is why the bride is described as Jerusalem coming down from Heaven.
The Lamb, who has the heavenly Jerusalem Mother as His bride, is Heavenly Father. God the Father (Second Coming Jesus) and God the Mother (Bride) appear and invite Their people to the heavenly wedding banquet. Regarding this, it is prophesied in Revelation 22 that the Spirit and Bride will appear.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Rev 22:17
The Spirit is God the Father In the perspective of the Trinity The purpose of the appearance of the Spirit and the Bride, God the Father and God the Mother, is to give the water of life, that is, eternal life. Therefore, in order to receive eternal life in this age, we must receive not only God the Father but also God the Mother. Only then can we receive the water of life and enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven as the guests who are invited to the wedding banquet (Rev 19:9).
Who Reveals Mother, the Bride?
Deplorably, all humanity did not know that God the Mother would appear or even exists. The Bible prophesied that God the Father Himself would reveal God the Mother to save us.
I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Isa 62:6–7
It is said that the LORD God will establish Jerusalem and that Jerusalem will receive the praise of the earth. Jerusalem refers to the heavenly Mother. This means that God the Father testifies about God the Mother. God also testifies about God the Mother through Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Ge 2:23
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. Ge 3:20
Adam testified about Eve, saying, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” and named her “Eve” (meaning life in Hebrew). Adam and Eve, who were created in the image and likeness of God, represent God the Father and God the Mother, who are to come (Ro 5:14). The creation of Adam and Eve just before the seventh-day Sabbath shows that Second Coming Christ, represented by Adam, and God the Mother represented by Eve will appear to all humanity when eternal rest is near. Adam named his wife Eve (life). It is a prophecy that Second Coming Christ will testify about God the Mother who is the reality of life.
The Holy Spirit Ahnsahnghong, who is Second Coming Christ, testified about the Bride, Heavenly Mother, according to all these prophecies. He also taught that we must believe in Heavenly Mother and follow Her to receive eternal life. In this age, those who believe in and follow God the Mother as well as God the Father can receive eternal life and enter Heaven. They will be the blessed ones who attend the wedding banquet of the Lamb.
“ ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” . . . Rev 19:9