Bride and Groom

What kind of marriage does this have to be where the spouses don't talk to each other?

In the Bible, the relationship between Jesus and us who believe in Him is repeatedly portrayed as a marriage relationship. Jesus is the bridegroom, the Christian community of his disciples is the bride. The most natural impulse connected with this comparison is the stimulated conversation, the dialogue between the spouses, the church and the Lord Jesus. Nothing is closer than the intimate connection between church and Jesus and nothing is closer than the animated conversation between the two. For already the carnal experience of all people on this earth suggests that a marriage without conversation must inevitably break up.

But the marriage will not be concluded until later. So far we are only Bride and Groom. Especially in the time of the engagement the act of worship takes place every day. The love of the bride is constantly breaking new ground in the adoration of her beloved, and her anticipation of marriage with him is always making her talk to him. She worships him, loves him, adores him.

This biblical comparison, which seeks to describe the relationship between us and Jesus Christ, loses all meaning in the Watchtower doctrine. For Jehovah's Witnesses it is forbidden under the death penalty (Armageddon) to speak to Jesus and even more so to worship him. The relationship of Jehovah's Witnesses to Jesus is more like the relationship between an unattainable idol and his pubescent devotee. And even here, it must be remembered that the Jehovah's Witnesses' enthusiasm for Jesus is very limited. For they have no real - personal - interest in him.

Jesus is accepted by them rather as a kind of stirrup holder. If that Jehovah had a rhesus monkey nailed to the cross in Jesus' place, even the idolatry of Jesus would have to fall away. This shows what the Jehovah's Witnesses really think of Jesus. They don't value him much more than any other nailed sacrificial animal. For them, Jesus is a kind of rescue vehicle that that Jehovah allegedly created.

But how is a marriage relationship between a Jehovah's Witness and a sacrificial animal to develop? Have the Israelites ever had in mind to cuddle with their sacrificial animals? Have they ever loved the sacrificial animals? Did they intend to have an intimate relationship with the beings whose blood had been shed for atonement?

As Jesus clearly sets Himself apart from the sacrificial animal and promises marriage to the congregation, there is a hard rupture between the expiatory sacrifice of the Jews and Himself. He is not only the sacrificial lamb that had to be sacrificed for our sins, but he is God Himself, who in Himself builds an unshakable bond of faith with us. Marriage. Jesus is the bridegroom and as such worthy of worship and adoration. We believers love him. By this we can measure whether we belong to him or not.

Jehovah's Witnesses cannot love Jesus, they can only value Him. They have trouble bringing out a certain residual respect for Jesus, but they cannot love him. What a marriage it would be if they were really engaged to him. Is it not comforting to know that such needy esteemers can never be Jesus' fiancées? Jehovah's Witnesses can never be the fiancées of Jesus. For they do not love him.

The whole theoretical construction of the faithful and understanding slave prevents a connection between Jehovah's Witnesses and Christ. He presents Jesus only as an instance to be accepted, but which in the end does not play such a big role in life. But for a bride the bridegroom is always the greatest, the most wonderful, the most desirable and the object of worship. The bride directs all her senses to her bridegroom, otherwise she would not be a bride. With the Jehovah's Witnesses all this does not take place, so one must assume that this biblical comparison is not valid for her.

The faithful and understanding slave is also just a sheepdriver, a shepherd who benefits from the herd himself. The faithful and understanding slave has no interest in the Bible and its clear statements. Otherwise he would have to proclaim Jesus to the flock as shepherd and bridegroom. But he does not.


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