What if Jesus Married Someone Who Was…..?

I was thinking very speculatively and hypothetically today about Jesus’ choice for a bride at the fullness of time.  It has been said that all of Jesus’ people are in essence His bride, but there seems to be an implication in the Bible, that at some point, He will choose a particular someone to be his special, individual bride.

So, I had what would likely be a very controversial line of thinking on this matter that I wanted to offer to you.  What if Jesus were to choose someone of color, someone who is a male-to-female transsexual, someone who has struggled with mental illness and someone who comes from the very lowest class, economically, to take as His bride?  Wouldn’t that just blow people’s minds?

He would be, in essence, be making several statements with such a choice.  First of all, Jesus would be urging us to look at the heart and not some kind of social classification when we interact with the people around us.  Secondly, He would be standing up against many religious conservatives who are condemning of folks that they don’t feel socially comfortable with.  And thirdly, Jesus would be extending a broad welcome to join his kingdom to the people that belong to these listed, marginalized communities.   And He would make yet another statement that social norms aren’t neccessarily his own priorities, that His ways are higher than our own.  People who live with this collective set of identities stand on the very bottom of our social strata in our world, it is safe to say.  In addition, Jesus would be saying that real love doesn’t live in fear of social convention.   I believe that this would completely transform our collective, social oulook and cultural paradigms in some, encouraging, amazing ways, forever.

So that’s my two-cents worth.  

Rhiannon Tibbetts