Jesus used the Jewish marriage / wedding customs of His day to describe His relationship to the church. Greg describes these customs and explains that Jesus did not use them randomly but rather with clear intent to help us understand more perfectly not only His present relationship to the church but also the nature of His soon-coming Appearing to catch away His bride. This richly illustrative metaphor is established even more firmly by its use in several other New Testament references by the apostles Paul (Ephesians 5:25-27) and John (Revelation 19:7-9; 21:1-3), and by even one key Old Testament passage (Genesis 24:1-67).