May 3, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Find out what pleases the Lord. Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” (Ephesians 5.10; 33)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

This is how important these reflections are on Paul’s word to the Christ Community of Faith in Ephesus. In this word, this profound mystery, the Church must come to terms with its purpose on earth. The Church is the incarnation of God’s Word as much as Christ is. As John introduced his gospel reflection with “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among God’s people. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son of God, who came from the Father being one full of grace and truth.” (John 1.1,14), it was with the full knowledge that the Church was to continue this very presence. The continuation of this presence was both an “in the moment” reality, a “continuing” reality and an anticipation of an eternal reality to be experienced in the consummation of the Divine Groom returning at the Father’s command to receive His bride to Himself. It is significant, in light of this observation, that the first act of revelation shown by Jesus is at a wedding. Jesus responded to his mother’s request to do for her an act of kindness, was it mercy, by “saving the day” for the bride and groom with making more wine. We can understand this moment as the first taste of the “wine of the new covenant.” Even though Jesus had not yet declared it, chronologically speaking, John was aware of it as he looked back through time and saw the Jesus’ act through the lens of “this is a new covenant that I give to you; love one another.”

Loving one another meant far more than just loving others, as I have mentioned in previous reflections. Jesus spoke that new covenant to His disciples in the Upper Room. In that Upper Room the disciples were confronted with Jesus’ departure. Though they could not understand it fully until His resurrection, Jesus told them “I am going now because I have to. If I do not go, then I cannot come back to take you to be with Me where I am going.” We know Thomas, the doubter in us all, asks “Where are you going? How can we know the way to follow You if we don’t know where You are going?” We also know the reply from Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father unless I bring them to Him.” In order to more fully grasp this teaching of Jesus, we have to imagine the marriage ritual and practice of the Middle East. The groom who was to be the husband had to go and prepare a place with his father’s house/household. When the preparation was complete, the Father announced the time had come for the bride to be reconciled with the groom and they should dwell together as one- husband and wife. It is then that we can hear Genesis 2.24 “It is then that a man leaves his father and mother to be united to his wife [who then leaves her home] and they become as one.” The disciples certainly were not of such a mind to contemplate all of this in the moment of Passover, the warning of betrayal by one of their own, the continued voicing of Jesus about His earthly demise and their own understanding of Messiah. It is with hindsight that the truth was gleaned following His resurrection when He returned from death and the grave to be reunited with them in the Upper Room. But even then was not that “time” Jesus spoke of when He said, “I must go so that I may return.” We ought to see the fulfillment of His new command which included a caveat of the demonstration of such a love as would wed them together forever. Remember Jesus would say “No greater love is there than this that he would lay down His own life for the sake of another.” This He did on Golgotha’s Hill as He offered up His life to atone for all our sins making us worthy to be brought before His Father to dwell with Him forever in a House not made by human hands.

Mighty ones of God, Jesus did everything possible to lay the groundwork for our understanding of what kind of authentic relationship we are called to by faith in Him. The “one another” Jesus spoke to was the Church, the body of believers in Jesus as Messiah (from a Jewish perspective) and as the Christ (from the Gentile perspective.) They, Jesus and the Church, could not truly be “as one” until Jesus returns to consummate the marriage agreement. He, as He said, was going away to prepare a place for “us” so that we could be together forever where there would never be a physical, doxa soma (glory body), separation between. While He was gone to complete His marriage agreement task, the Bride was to complete her task by proving herself worthy in His absence. She is to keep herself faithful and true knowing that her Groom was going to return at a time that had not yet been revealed. She did not know when, but she certainly knew what she was to do during that time. She was to continue to make of herself the kind of bride which honored the groom and elicited His affection for her. This we are to do relentlessly, religiously and responsibly representing our faith in who we are in Christ Jesus, God’s Messiah. When the world says, “I do not see Jesus,” we can say “You have seen us and that is enough.” But what are they seeing, mighty ones of God? Are they truly seeing Jesus in us as Jesus told the disciples they could see God through Him? Are we faithful and true or dabbling in the faith? Are we showing our true worth and value to Jesus the Christ or flaunting ourselves before the world as Israel did to those nations which threatened her because they would not see God? This is no profound mystery. This is prophetic truth bound by the experience of the past and projected into the future. It is a future that draws nearer all the time. It is a future where the determination will be made as to who the true Bride is and who are the foolish handmaidens. Woe be to those who hear this word and do not heed it! Let those with ears to hear listen. Let those with eyes to see perceive. Let those who love the Lord love one another being married to “the way, the truth and the life” which leads us to our eternal home.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.