The Lamb and the Bride

"Lobola is an African custom by which a bridegroom's family makes a payment in cattle or cash to the bride's family shortly before the marriage." (Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers)

My husband and I were invited to a Lobola celebration or the Traditional wedding ceremony. This stressed us both, though we are both South Africans and we understand that lobola is a common practice amongst South African tribes, it was the first time we were invited to be part of the celebrations. It was mostly because we had no idea of what was expected of us, we did not have traditional clothes and no one was giving us much information. Google didn't provide us with much clues either:

"A traditional wedding is a last step after lobola negotiations have been finalised. This kind of wedding involves different cultures. Sometimes traditional weddings can be between two different cultures, so those cultures will be represented on that day although the bride will end up following her husband’s culture." (Ulwazi Programme)

What we ended up learning and experiencing was nothing less than beautiful. It was full of fun, laughter and honour. It actually is a wonderful reminder of how Christ sees his church and how much He loves his Bride.

The morning started with the final Lobola negotiations. Once they were finished the Bridegroom and his family arrive at the gate of the Bride's parents home. The singing begins and even though we didn't understand the words, the meaning was evident. The Groom comes looking for his bride. He is expected to "knock" at the door and because they entered without invitation the men were danced away by the bride's family. When they had "knocked"(basically banging on the gate of the property), the groom was allowed to enter.

He then sings and dances and requests his bride to be brought to him. It is a lot of back and forwards between the Groom and the brides family but eventually the Bride is brought out dressed in full tradition wedding attire. There is a whole lot more singing and dancing with the couple and a relative "sweeps" the evil away with a brush in front of their feet. The Bride then returns to her quarters and the Groom then goes off too slaughter the lamb, which is done just off the side. Thank goodness the groom can have someone kill the lamb on his behalf, as white garments are not appropriate for this job.

Once the lamb is slaughtered, skinned and cut into pieces, it is taken off to be cooked on a fire. The Groom returns once more to fetch his bride. She comes out and he is seated on a throne (chair) and she bows before him on a traditional mat, she drinks some traditional beer out of a traditional bowl and then passes the bowl to her husband-to-be, for him to drink. This sharing ritual concludes the ceremony and the party can start. The Bride and Groom dance together into the party area.

As a Christian the parallel's are evident:

How the woman of the brides family wait for the Groom

How the Groom comes searching for His Bride

How the Lamb is slaughtered to end the old and begin the new

How the Groom returns to fetch his Bride

How the Bride bows before her husband-to-be in honour of him

How only then then Bride and Groom are joined as one family.

John 3:29 "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice."

Revelation21:2 " Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride had made herself ready."

What a blessing it was to share the special occasion with our friends, Nkululeko and Kgolofelo, and to reminded of how much Lamb of Christ loves His Bride, the church.

This has definitely inspired my next art piece.