Christ as Bridegroom

Margery Hearts Jesus

You might think that because Kempe starts her life out as a wife and mother that she would naturally be drawn to the image of Christ as husband—and you're right. Kempe clearly wants to separate herself from her worldly husband, John, so that she can lavish all her love and attention on Jesus the way she knows best. She tells the wicked Mayor of Leicester as much when she proclaims that Jesus is the only man she loves.

But the image of the spiritual bridegroom isn't just for wives like Kempe. It first appears in the Song of Songs, a lovely and wonky book of the Old Testament written as a poetic conversation between a groom and his bride.

Christ brings this particular bridegroom up in his Parable of the Ten Virgins and specifically names himself as the bridegroom in Mark 2:19. St. Paul picks up the image and runs with it, using it to describe the mystical union between Christ and his church, or between Christ and an individual soul (check out 2 Corinthians 11:2-4). In fact, in mystical literature in general, romantic love is pretty often used as a metaphor for divine love.

Didn't Need That Image in Our Heads

While Kempe is enthusiastic about mystical union with Christ, she doesn't handle the figurative language very gracefully. She understands the general concept of Christ as husband, but she's also got to deal with Christ as Son, and with the the fact that he insists on calling her "daughter" whenever they speak.

So when Christ tries to explain why he has to be so "familiar" with Kempe, we get this gem of figurative weirdness:

"Therefore I must be intimate with you, and lie in your bed with you. Daughter, you greatly desire to see me, and you may boldly, when you are in bed, take me to you as your wedded husband, as your dear darling, and as your sweet son, for I want to be loved as a son should be loved by the mother, and I want you to love me, daughter, as a good wife ought to love her husband." (I.36.126-127)

If that leaves you feeling uncomfortable, you're on the right track. Kempe means to tell us that Christ demands all her love and attention—but the image of the bridegroom gets muddled up with other ways of identifying and relating to Christ.

Kempe's use of the image to describe her spiritual union with her heavenly spouse is not just erotic (like the Song of Songs)—it's downright physical, as when Jesus encourages her to kiss and hug him in bed (I.36.127) or when he speaks to Kempe about sleeping together without shame (I.86.254). Okay, so he what he wants is for her to do all of these things "in her soul," but still. Awkward.

Taking It to the Next Level

Even more awkward is the actual wedding ceremony that takes place in Kempe's spiritual sight. Kempe has a strong devotion to—and even, as we've seen, a physical love for—Jesus because of his humanity. So when God the Father decides that he wants to marry Kempe, our main girl actually gets pretty distressed. God kind of forces her into wedlock and then offers this confusing speech:

"I take you, Kempe, for my wedded wife...provided that you are humble and meek in doing what I command you. For, daughter, there was never a child so kind to its mother as I shall be to you, both in joy and sorrow, to help you and comfort you." (I.35.123)

Again, Kempe fumbles for the language that can best describe the everything that God is to her, and in this case, she's trying to describe how she's maturing in her spirituality by becoming more intimate with the boss of the Trinity. It's easy to get frustrated with Kempe's handling of a delicate image like this, but keep this in mind: Kempe can't read. She's learned about this trope simply through hearing it in sermons or in Bible readings.