Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

This verse opens up beautifully when you read it through the pattern of a Jewish wedding. In that setting, the bride did not initiate the whole process. The father had a part. The bride price had to be paid. The covenant had to be established. The groom would leave and prepare a place. Then, at the appointed time, he would come for his bride, take her to the place prepared, and the wedding feast would follow.

That sounds very familiar, does it not.

The Father chose a bride for His Son.
The price was paid, not with silver or gold, but with blood.
The Bridegroom went away to prepare a place.
And one day He will come again and receive His bride to Himself.

So when Revelation says, his wife hath made herself ready, it does not mean she got herself saved by hard work. It does not mean she earned her seat at the feast. It means she has embraced the covenant, received the Bridegroom, and responded to what He has already done.

That is the beauty of it.

In a Jewish wedding, the bride’s readiness mattered, but her readiness rested on something already set in motion by the groom. She was preparing because she was wanted. She was making herself ready because the covenant had been made and the bride price had been paid. In the same way, the church is made ready, not by trying to persuade Jesus to love her, but because He already does.

And do not miss this either. The Bridegroom is called the Lamb. Even at the wedding, heaven does not forget the cost. The One who comes for His bride is the One who gave Himself for her. The marriage supper is joyful, but the joy is rooted in sacrifice. The feast is possible because the Lamb first went to the cross.

That is why readiness is not mainly a list of religious duties. It is not frantic performance. It is not polishing ourselves up so maybe we will be acceptable. It is the glad response of a bride who knows she has been loved, chosen, purchased, and promised.

She watches.
She trusts.
She prepares.
But all of it is because the Bridegroom has acted first.

That also helps explain the tone of the verse. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him. The honor goes to Him because every part of the wedding points back to Him. He paid the price. He made the covenant. He prepares the place. He returns for the bride. He brings her into the joy of the feast.

Beloved, that changes the whole feel of Christian living. We are not getting ready in order to be loved. We are getting ready because we are loved. We are not trying to create a wedding by our effort. We are living in the light of a wedding already secured by the Lamb.

So yes, the bride makes herself ready. But she does so as one already claimed by grace, already purchased by blood, already waiting for the Bridegroom’s return.

That is not burden. That is blessed hope.