Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 16:1 (Spring 2011)
Article: The Big Picture of Marriage
Author: Rob Lister

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JBMW 16:1 (Spring 2011) p. 48

The Big Picture of Marriage

A Review of John Piper, This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence.

Wheaton: Crossway, 2009.

Rob Lister

Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

La Mirada, California

It is hard to imagine selecting a more enjoyable or more encouraging book to review on the topic of marriage and family than that of John Piper’s recent gift to the church, This Momentary Marriage. In it, Piper blends his characteristically careful handling of the biblical text and riveting God-ward focus with the practical insights of forty years of marriage and raising a family. And, of course, as we have come to expect from Piper, the personal application is every bit as penetrating as the biblical exposition is sure-footed. Consequently, this book stands out noticeably from the many books on marriage published every year.

My purpose in this review is not to summarize This Momentary Marriage exhaustively (the goal of each chapter is readily discernible in each chapter’s title). Rather, my more focused aim is simply to commend the book to JBMW’s readers, by pointing out its beautifully God-centered thesis and then providing three brief soundings of Piper’s treatment of various aspects of marriage in light of this overarching vision. The primary thesis of This Momentary Marriage is that marriage, in this life, is an impermanent shadow pointing to the far grander reality of the relationship between Christ and his church that will last forever. As Piper himself eloquently puts it, while commenting on Mark 12:25, in the introductory chapter,

There is no human marriage after death. The shadow of covenant-keeping between husband and wife gives way to the reality of covenant-keeping between Christ and his glorified Church. Nothing is lost. The music of every pleasure is transposed into an infinitely higher key (14-15).

Or, again, as he says in a chapter entitled “Staying Married is Not Mainly About Staying in Love,”

The ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God. Now we see how: Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to his redeemed people, the church. And therefore, the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married. If you hope to be, that should be your dream (25).

This is the God exalting message that is then...

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