My wedding day was the best day of my life. One hundred and fifty guests traveled to the celebration. Though it was January in the mountains, the weather was a lovely 60 degrees. Our closest friends and family enjoyed the resort with us, playing billiards, and getting massages.
The ceremony itself was personal and meaningful. Both my childhood pastor and my college pastor officiated. When my father-in-law escorted my bride down the aisle, I wept with joy. We made our vows, friends and family committed to uphold us in their prayers, and we were finally declared husband and wife.
After the ceremony, the feast began. Guests mingled over cocktails to the sounds of an Appalachian bluegrass string quartet. As they made their way into the ballroom, they found tables adorned with flowers. The DJ introduced the wedding party one-by-one, and the crowd went wild celebrating the men and women who meant so much to us.
But the greatest applause was reserved for our entrance as a married couple. We felt like rockstars! After a prayer of thanksgiving, dinner was served. Tender meats and roasted vegetables filled our plates. As my bride and I made our way around the tables visiting with guests, the thought occurred to me: “I love every single person at this party!”
It was the first celebration I had ever attended of this magnitude in which I knew every person there. Not only did I know them, but I was delighted to see them! A favorite band played late into the night as we danced and sang and made memories together.
This celebratory feast was the culmination of a long season of waiting, and the beginning of something beautiful. Twenty years and three children later, I look back on that night as a glorious foretaste of the life we’ve shared. And the joy, love, and community we felt were only a glimpse of the eternal celebration that awaits us as people who hope in Christ.
The marriage supper of the Lamb, as found in Revelation 19:6-9, is one of the most evocative and hope-filled images in Scripture:
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
The prophet Isaiah foretold a great eschatological feast (Isaiah 25:6-8) and so did Jesus (Matthew 22:1-14). The marriage supper of the Lamb is the culmination of every biblical feast. It is the end of God’s redemptive work and the beginning of perfect eternal communion between Christ and his bride, the church. The great feast described in Revelation is our future.
As we anticipate it, we can reflect on what it teaches us about God, the significance of the meal itself, and the implications for our daily lives as his people.
What does the marriage supper of the Lamb teach us about God?
First, God delights in his people! The imagery of a marriage banquet speaks to the intimate relationship God enjoys with us. Throughout Scripture, God uses marital language to describe his covenant with the church. It is not a distant love, but one that is intimate, deep, and personal. God’s love is a passionate, all-consuming love that pursues his people and will not stop short of being together forever.
In the passage above John describes the joy of a great multitude proclaiming, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.” This declaration is a celebration of his love that has triumphed over all obstacles – enduring suffering, rejection, and death – and emerging victorious because of his preserving power.
His love has endured our serial unfaithfulness, the weight of our sin, and the crushing judgment we deserved and also emerged victorious because of his humble obedience unto death. No Father has ever been prouder to celebrate his Son and his bride; no satisfaction has ever run deeper than that which will be felt at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Second, God delights to host a feast! In the Bible, we see God portrayed as a generous host. In the wilderness he provides daily nourishment of manna. He commands Israel, his people, to celebrate multiple feasts every year. He is the host in Psalm 23 who prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Jesus feeds multitudes on multiple occasions. Jesus also uses several parables to express God’s desire to host an enormous eschatological feast. He says, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).
God has had this great banquet in mind for a long time, and in the marriage supper of the Lamb we see the full expression of his heart as the generous host.
While some passages indicate that he wants a full house for the feast, other passages make clear that there are requirements for entry. No one will get in without proper wedding garments (Matthew 22:11-13). The bride must make herself ready; she is to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure which is “the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:8).
But lest we think we somehow earn our way into this supper through our righteous deeds, even these are a gift he grants to us (Revelation 19:8). Similarly, many of those who should be at the wedding feast will be left outside because they refuse to heed the Father’s invitation (Matthew 8:12). But the Father’s heart is open to all who will come, and he calls his servants to go out and compel others to enter (Matthew 22:8-9).
Third, God delights to overcome evil! The marriage supper of the lamb is a celebration of God’s victory. Throughout the Bible, and especially in Revelation, we see the forces of evil waging war against God and his people. The world is a battleground where the powers of darkness seek to undermine God’s purposes. Yet, this story culminates in the triumph of God over Babylon with all it represents (Revelation 18) and the consummation of his eternal kingdom.
The marriage supper marks the moment when all enemies are defeated, and God’s reign is fully realized. It is the victory celebration of the Lamb, who was slain but now reigns as the conquering King. As we anticipate this meal, every meal before then can remind us that God’s purposes will not be thwarted. His victory is assured. As we eat and drink, we can rejoice that God will triumph over all that opposes him, and we will share the victory.
What Does the Marriage Supper of the Lamb Teach Us About Being God’s People?
First, we live in a time when we anticipate God’s victory over evil, and yet, we are still in the battle. The final triumph over our enemies does not occur until the end, so we remain engaged in a cosmic conflict. But because of Christ’s victory through his death and resurrection, we have full assurance that the grand celebration is coming. Therefore, as God’s people, we must hold onto this confidence, even in the face of the hostilities of these last days.
Second, we are to bring more people to share in the Father’s joy. Because his heart is to host a feast for multitudes from east and west (Matthew 8:11), those of us attending must do everything in our power to fill the Father’s banquet hall. We are going to the greatest party history has ever seen, and we are free to invite anyone! May our joyful anticipation be contagious, drawing in those who do not yet share our hope.
Third, our practice of hospitality should reflect the Father’s generous heart. His earnest desire to invite all sorts of people to the marriage supper should cause us to open our hearts and homes for people to come in as well. Jesus typically shared the table with outsiders, the kind of people that many thought were not fit for the feast. Do our homes reflect the same gracious heart? Our practice of hospitality is the strongest message of welcome most people will ever experience.
Fourth, we should prepare ourselves knowing the marriage supper is coming. The apostle Paul speaks of our engagement to Christ and his desire for us to be faithful until this marriage is consummated (2 Corinthians 11:2). Paul also speaks of the glorious beauty the church will have on the day Christ finally presents us to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:25-27). Because Christ intends to present us holy and without blemish, we should participate in the preparation by putting off anything unfitting for Christ’s bride and by putting on the righteous deeds of the saints.
As surely as brides today plan and prepare before a wedding, we want to make ourselves ready as well. Our confidence that Christ is preparing us for his eternal kingdom is not meant as a pillow for laziness, but a spur toward holiness.
Living in Light of the Wedding Feast
The marriage supper is more than a future abstraction. It is a coming reality that changes how we live today. We are not passive bystanders waiting for the future to unfold but participants in God’s unfolding story. Each time we gather as God’s people—around the Lord’s Table, in our homes, or within our communities—we participate in a foretaste of that final, ultimate banquet.
Though we are not given the menu, we do have some indication of the sustenance provided there. In Luke 14:15, one of the men dining with Jesus exclaimed, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Furthermore, in the context of the Last Supper Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25).
Perhaps we could anticipate bread and wine – a fitting menu, since these have sustained us through the spiritual presence of the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s Supper. At the marriage supper of the Lamb, we will experience the fullness of that union with Christ which we partake of now sacramentally.
As we await this glorious celebration, we are called to live as people who reflect the values of God’s coming kingdom. This means living with hope, fostering deep communion within the body of Christ, and engaging in a mission that extends the invitation to all. Every act of love and every gospel invitation is a step toward that final celebration where all of God’s people will be united in his presence.
In the end, the marriage supper of the Lamb is not just the culmination of our faith—it is the beginning of an eternity of perfect, unbroken fellowship with our Lord. It is the feast that will never end, the celebration that will never fade, and the joy that will never be diminished. It is, quite simply, the fulfillment of everything we have ever hoped for in Christ. “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come’” (Revelation 22:17).
Trent Casto serves as senior pastor of Covenant Church in Naples, Florida.