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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years ago

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The Sacraments In Scripture - Part 8

CHAPTER 8

SACRAMENTS

OF MARRIAGE

Overview

At the very creation of man and woman, God instituted marriage:

God who created man out of love also calls him to love—the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man (Catechism, no. 1604).

The vocation to the Sacrament of Marriage is a call for men and women in their marital (and familial) relationship to imitate the kind of love which is characteristic of God—a love that is absolute, unfailing, sacrificial, and life-giving. Marital love is to be a godly love.

Old Testament

Since the nature of Trinitarian love is “absolute and unfailing,” marital love is to be exclusive and permanent in order to truly embody the love of God. Because of this, we may often find it troublesome when we encounter many of the great figures of the Old Testament, such as some of the patriarchs or the kings of Israel, who repeatedly “transgress” what we know to be the truth of marital love. The Catechism teaches that in the Old Testament God allows certain practices because of man’s “hardness of heart”(Catechism, no. 1610). If we read the biblical narrative carefully, however, we can see that even while allowing such practices, God is teaching His people the truth of marital love by the consequences that result when the fullness of His design is not lived out. The Bible subtly shows that when marriage is not exclusive and permanent, it often leads to bad results. So, for example, when Abraham took Hagar as a concubine, she bore Ishmael, and the result was a brotherly battle between the Israelites and the Ishmaelites (modern-day Arabs) that continues to this day. When Lot slept with his daughters, they bore Amon and Moab, from whom the Ammonites and the Moabites descended, and with whom the Israelites were constantly at war. When Jacob took two wives and two concubines, he sowed the seeds for family division, which was demonstrated when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brethren and again later when there was division among the twelve tribes. When Solomon took many wives, he disobeyed the law for kings given by Moses, which provides that the king “shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deut. 17:17). Solomon’s heart did turn away from Yahweh (cf. 1 Kings 11:4) and, because of his divided heart, the kingdom of Israel was divided in civil war during the reign of his son Rehoboam (cf. 1 Kings 12). By showing us such disastrous effects, these biblical narratives implicitly teach us God’s design for marriage at creation.

The true nature of marital love is most clearly demonstrated by Yahweh Himself in His covenant relationship with Israel. The prophets spoke of Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh as a marriage covenant. Yahweh is described as Israel’s husband: “For your Maker is your husband” (Is. 54:5). In Ezekiel the Lord describes how His covenant with Israel is a marriage covenant: “I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine” (Ezek. 16:8).

Seeing God’s covenant with Israel in the image of exclusive and faithful married love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People’s conscience for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility of marriage (Catechism, no. 1611).

Since Israel is covenanted to Yahweh, Israel’s worship of idols is considered marital infidelity, thus the Lord refers to Israel as an “adulterous wife” (Ezek. 16:32). Through Jeremiah, God describes how Israel broke the covenant made at Sinai, “though I was their husband” (Jer. 31:32). Yet, despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, Yahweh is steadfast in His covenant love and faithfulness.

Above all, it is through the prophet Hosea that God illustrates the marital relationship that the covenant creates between Himself and Israel. God tells Hosea to take a harlot named Gomer, for a wife. Gomer’s infidelity to Hosea is a sign of Israel’s marital infidelity to Yahweh. The Lord says to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the LORD” (Hos. 1:2). The Lord then reveals to Hosea that in the future He will make a new covenant with Israel, a covenant that will mark a new and faithful marriage relationship between God and His people.

And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD (Hos. 2:19-20).

The Lord tells Hosea that He shall woo Israel by taking her out to the wilderness, where He shall “speak tenderly to her” (Hos. 2:14). Just as Yahweh led Israel into the wilderness in the Exodus and made a covenant with her at Sinai, so too, He will once again take Israel out into the wilderness before ratifying the New Covenant. It is not accidental, then, that the New Testament begins with Israel’s going out to the wilderness to hear John the Baptist, who calls himself the “friend of the bridegroom” (Jn. 3:29).

New Testament

According to Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus performed His first sign, which marked the beginning of His public ministry, while attending a wedding feast in Cana.

The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence (Catechism, no. 1613).

Not only did Jesus perform a miraculous sign at the wedding when He changed the water into wine, His very presence at the feast was a sign of the nature of His mission and of the restoration and elevation of marriage that He was bringing about.

When Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees about Moses’ allowance for divorce, He reminds them of God’s original plan for marriage:

Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one”? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder (Mt. 19:4-6).

According to Jesus, divorce and the breakdown of marriage is the result of sin: “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt. 19:8). Jesus makes it clear that marriage is intended to be exclusive (monogamous) and permanent, and thus in His response to the Pharisees He restores to marriage its original dignity.

Jesus not only restores marriage to its original design, He elevates marriage to a sacrament. This means that marriage is not simply a sign, but a sign that effects grace. Jesus is the bridegroom and, through the New Covenant, He makes the Church His bride. Marriage between a man and a woman signifies the love of Christ and His bride the Church (cf. Catechism, no. 1617). As we saw above, the People of God were often unfaithful to the commitment of marriage, both individually and corporately. Indeed, this is reflected at the national level by Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh. But in the New Covenant, Jesus bestows upon marriage sacramental graces that enable men and women to be faithful to their marriage vows. Likewise, in the New Covenant, the bride of Christ is given the graces to be faithful to her divine spouse. This is what Hosea had foretold when he spoke of how Yahweh would enter into a new covenant marked by fidelity and love.

Jesus often alluded to the fact that He is the bridegroom, and His bride is the Church. For example, when asked why the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees fast, and His do not, He replied:

Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day (Mk. 2:19-20).

This may seem like a strange response to us, but it made sense to Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries. In Jesus’ day, the Jews would celebrate a wedding feast for an entire week. The Pharisees had the custom of fasting twice a week, but they were exempt from fasting if they were attending a wedding celebration. Jesus refers to this custom to explain that His disciples are like the friends of a bridegroom during the wedding feast, and thus it is inappropriate for them to fast. However, Jesus does point out that a day will come when the bridegroom is taken away—a reference to His death—and then His disciples will fast.

Jesus often employed the imagery of a wedding feast in His teaching. Marriage was more than a metaphor to Jesus; often, it was a thinly veiled allusion to His kingdom. For example, Jesus says:

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast (Mt. 22:2-3).

The invitation to the feast signifies how Israel has been summoned to follow Jesus and enter into the kingdom of God. As it is in the parable, so it is in the ministry of Jesus: The invitation is rejected. Jesus uses this parable to show that God the Father has prepared a wedding feast for Him—the Son. This interpretation of the parable is confirmed by the Book of Revelation, where Saint John sees history climaxing in the wedding feast for Jesus and His bride the Church. The angel who shows Saint John the vision of the wedding exclaims, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9). Earlier, when Saint John recorded the events at the wedding feast of Cana in his Gospel, he made no mention of the names of the bride and bridegroom. Some of the Fathers of the Church believe this is intentional, to show that Jesus is the true bridegroom and the Church is His true bride.

Application

For those who have been called to the Sacrament of Marriage, the biblical accounts should renew our commitment to live out our marital vocation to the fullest. The covenant between spouses is integrated into God’s covenant with man: “Authentic married love is caught up into divine love” (Catechism, no. 1639). The vocation of marriage should be a clarion call to each spouse to witness to the unconditional, steadfast, and everlasting love of our God. Each marriage should be an earthly icon of the love of Christ and the Church. Indeed, Saint Paul calls the Sacrament of Marriage a “great mystery” (Eph. 5:32), because it represents the spousal relationship between Jesus and His bride, the Church.

The love of Christ for the Church, and vice versa, is therefore a model for married couples. Saint Paul elaborates on this marital spirituality when he says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). The way we love our spouse is to be a blueprint for how we should love Christ. Conversely, the ways in which we fail to love our spouse is often a sign of how we fail to love God. Marriage provides lessons in love that need to be contemplated so as to deepen our desire and ability to love God.

One of the great privileges and responsibilities of married love is openness to new life. God has blessed marriage from the beginning, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). In this way, family fruitfulness gives witness to the life-giving power of love. Thus the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism observe:

Hence, true married love and the whole structure of family life which results from it, without diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich his family from day to day (Catechism, no. 1652; cf. GS 50).

Love is generous, and true love is modeled on the divine, which is self-giving.

The rich biblical teaching on marriage is not exclusively for those who are called to married life. All Christians, both individually and as members of the Church, are called to be as a bride to Christ our bridegroom. Indeed, the saints and doctors of the Church often describe the relationship between God and the soul, in the third and final stage of the interior life, as being spousal. Saints such as John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila refer to the soul as the bride of Christ. The Catechism refers to the spousal nature of the Christian life:

The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist (Catechism, no. 1617).

As we grow in the Christian life, the relationship between the soul and God is to be that of a marital covenant: steadfast, ever-lasting, sacrificial, and fruitful. Saint Paul reminds us of how we are called to be pure and loving brides to Jesus our bridegroom, when he says, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband” (2 Cor. 11:2).

Questions

1. When did God create marriage? (See Genesis 2:23-25; Matthew 19:4-6.)

2. How are the effects of sins against marriage revealed in the lives of some of the Old Testament patriarchs and kings?

a. Genesis 19:36-38

b. 2 Samuel 11:1-5, 12:7-15

c. 1 Kings 11:1-13

3. How do the prophets characterize Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh?

a. Isaiah 54:5

b. Ezekiel 16:8

4. How does Hosea, in his own life, embody Yahweh’s covenant relationship with Israel? (See Hosea 1:2.)

5. Read Matthew 19:8. According to Jesus, why did Moses allow for divorce?

6. Read Ephesians 5:21-33. How is the relationship between spouses to imitate the relationship between Christ and the Church?

7. How is marriage a sign of the spiritual life of the soul? (See Catechism, no. 1617.)

8. For each of the following properties of the marriage bond, how does authentic married love signify and bear witness to the love of God?

a. monogamy

b. indissolubility

c. fruitfulness

#the sacraments in scripture

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hizpeace-blog · 5 years ago

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Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). When Jesus meets his disciples after the resurrection, he continually says to them, “Peace” (John 20:19,21,26). Under these circumstances it is obvious that the term “peace” is extraordinarily full of meaning. What is this peace Jesus gives us? In order to understand Jesus’ words, we must reflect on the many facets of the crucial Hebrew term shalom, which lies behind the English word “peace.”

Shalom is one of the key words and images for salvation in the Bible. The Hebrew word refers most commonly to a person being uninjured and safe, whole and sound. In the New Testament, shalom is revealed as the reconciliation of all things to God through the work of Christ: “God was pleased . . . through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19–20). Shalom experienced is multidimensional, complete well-being — physical, psychological, social, and spiritual; it flows from all of one’s relationships being put right — with God, with(in) oneself, and with others.

Shalom

with God

Most fundamentally, shalom means reconciliation with God. God can give us peace with himself or remove it (Psalm 85:8; Jeremiah 16:5). Because Phinehas turned away God’s wrath on sin, he and his family are given a “covenant of [shalom]” with God (Numbers 25:12). One of the offerings under the Mosaic covenant is the shelamim offering — the peace, or fellowship, offering — the only one of the Levitical sacrifices in which the offerer receives back some of the meal to eat. Sin disrupts shalom. When anything heals the rupture and closes the gap between us and God, there should be a celebration, a joyful meal in God’s presence.

Shalom

with Others

Shalom also means peace with others, peace between parties. It means the end of hostilities and war (Deuteronomy 20:12; Judges 21:13). The wise woman of Abel Beth Maakah maintained her city’s shalom, its peacefulness, by averting a siege and war (2 Samuel 20:14–22). But shalom does not mean only reconciliation between warring factions or nations (1 Kings 5:12). It also refers to socially just relationships between individuals and classes. Jeremiah insists that unless there is an end to oppression, greed, and violence in social relationships, there can be no shalom, however much the false prophets say the word (Jeremiah 6:1–9,14; compare Jeremiah 8:11).

Shalom

with(in) Oneself

Shalom consists of not only outward peacefulness — peace between parties — but also peace within. Those who trust in the Lord have inner security; therefore, they can sleep well (Psalm 4:8). God gives “perfect peace” (or shalom-shalom) — i.e., profound psychological and emotional peace – to those who steadfastly set their minds on him (Isaiah 26:3).The result of righteousness before God is “peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isaiah 32:17).

The Price of

Shalom

: Jesus

Shalom Prophesied

Shalom becomes an especially prominent theme in the prophetic literature. The prophets explain the invasions and exile the loss of shalom — as a curse on Israel for breaking the covenant and as punishment for their disobedience (Isaiah 48:18; Jeremiah 14:13–16; Micah 3:4-5, 9–12). But they also point into the future to a coming time of complete shalom, not only for Israel but also for the whole world (Isaiah 11:1–9; Isaiah 45:7). Only God can create shalom (Isaiah 45:7), and this gift will come through the work of the Messiah, the Prince of shalom (Isaiah 9:6–7). Therefore, shalom is perhaps the most basic characteristic of the future kingdom of God, a time when the Lord himself comes to heal all that is wrong with the world.

When the angels tell the shepherds about the birth of Christ, they call him the one who will at last bring peace on earth (Luke 2:14). Jesus is the Prince of shalom who will bring in God’s kingdom of peace that the prophets foretold (Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 14:33). The gospel of Jesus is “the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15; compare Acts 10:36; Ephesians 2:17).

ShalomAccomplished

Jesus first of all reconciles us to God. He is the ultimate Phinehas who turns away the wrath of God and brings his family into a covenant of peace. But he does so by taking on himself the curse of sin so that all who are united to him by faith receive his blessing of peace (Galatians 3:10–13). “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest . . . ‘There is no peace . . . for the wicked’ ” (Isaiah 57:20–21). But on the cross, God the Father treats Jesus as the wicked deserve to be treated (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus cries out as he loses his fellowship with the Father and experiences unimaginable inner agony (Matthew 27:46). He experiences infinite pain so that we can know endless peace (John 14:27).

Shalom Experienced

God is reconciling all things to himself through Christ (Colossians 1:20), and although he has not yet put everything right (Romans 8:19–23), those who believe the gospel enter into and experience this reconciliation.

This peace is first of all peace with God through justification by faith (Romans 5:1–2). There was a barrier between God and humanity, but Jesus paid the debt and now there is peace. This peace cannot increase or decrease. Though in ourselves we are actually “ungodly,” in Christ we are justified and accepted (Romans 4:5).

Jesus also brings us the peace of God — peace within. The peace of God garrisons our hearts against anxiety, difficulties, and sorrows (Philippians 4:4–7). It is possible to have a peace so deep that we can be content in any circumstance, even in times of great difficulty (Philippians 4:12–13). The peace of Christ is so closely related to joy (John 15:11; Romans 15:13) that we might say that joy is God’s peace and reconciliation lived out. The God of peace sanctifies us, growing us into Christlike character and maturity (1 Thessalonians 5:23; compare Galatians 5:22).

Finally, Jesus brings us peace with other human beings. Our peace with and from God gives us the resources to maintain unity and love with others through continual forgiveness and patience (Colossians 3:13–15). Christ is our peace, and by his death on the cross he removes even the high racial and cultural barriers that divide us (Ephesians 2:11–22).

Drawn from the article Shalom by Timothy Keller in the NIV Biblical Theology Bible.

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