by Rev. Herbert Nichols

Today we begin, and continue over the next few weeks, readings from the letter to the Hebrews. This is one of the few Epistles of Scripture, which was not written by St. Paul. We do not know with any certitude who wrote it; but can clearly see that he was obviously a deep thinking scholar, theologian and man of prayer.

The central theme that is presented is that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s glory, revealing to the world for the first time the true nature of God. The earlier prophets are still to be revered, but their teaching was only partial and fragmentary. In Jesus alone, we have the fullness of truth.

The author also makes the further implication that Jesus lost nothing by being made for a time less than the angels. But being identified with humanity, he rather gained the ability to understand, as only we can, the ability to taste the pain of suffering and trial, even death, through which he consecrated both Himself and us to the Father.

Understanding of human nature can perhaps be no better understood than through the human mystery of marriage. And as Christians we have to deal with it as Jesus would.

He was well aware of our human condition, a condition not so different from the time of Moses. Jesus, as well as the Pharisees, were familiar with the Sacred Scriptures and the intent of the author in Genesis. Two individuals, one male and one female leave their home of origins and vow a loyalty to each other until death.

Both partners are equally responsible for the unfolding of their marriage; both are called to remain faithful until death. Sometimes love turns sour and hatred becomes a form of death. Humans are hardwired for relationships; but just like your VCR or other electronic gizmo, their transistors sometimes malfunction. Humans make mistakes. But the ideal holds. We are called to keep our promises in the face of all that belittles them. We are called to be true to our word; perhaps even sometimes, though surely not all times, even in the face of death.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it were possible for a husband to divorce his wife (or in our society today, a wife to divorce her husband), they probably cared little about this hotly contested argument. Their main objective was to trap Jesus into some new teaching that would violate the Mosaic tradition.

Notice that Jesus does not condemn Moses, or divorce, or those who divorce. He simply states as fact what God intended from the beginning. Jesus uses the phrase: "hardness of heart," to indicate a concession to human weakness and sin. With the revelation of Jesus, sin looses its power in the world. By grace we are empowered to return to an earlier ideal of living.

For us today, it may seem impossible to conceive of human nature as the author of Genesis did. We have an ingrained dualistic point of view between flesh and spirit, or even flesh against spirit. The early Hebrews by contrast saw marriage as the formation of one whole integral person.

Becoming one body implies that one is incomplete without the other. This teaching about the complimentary nature of men and women in Genesis is much stronger and radical than one might think. This notion that woman was taken from man’s side has supported viewpoints of male domination; but this is not a Christian position. It was only from the flesh of man that a suitable partner could be found. The author of Genesis presumes that personal wholeness can be found only in the union of man and woman.

Today, we, as disciples of Christ, must remain true to the roots of our faith in his teaching on the sacramentality of marriage; the sacred bond of husband and wife sealed by God. What God has joined together, let no man dare to separate.

Yet, the Church as minister of Christ must also be compassionate as Christ was compassionate. There are those who through no fault of their own find themselves in the deplorable situation of a ruptured marriage. The physical and emotions scars of this trauma need not be complicated by spiritual ones, so Jesus calls us to healing.

As Christian Community we experience the tensions of living the ideal and living the reality of the human condition at the same moment. The function of this community is compassionate ministry to real human beings, hurting human beings.

Marriage itself is one of the most fulfilling and demanding of relationships. It is a prime opportunity for communicating and evangelical witnessing between spouses. But it is all too easy for a husband and wife to settle for less; one partner dominating the other, to the selfish pursuit of each one’s separate goals or settling for co-existence rather than loving cooperation.

Conversely, when a married couple strives to grow together in love, they are a sacrament of what living and witnessing Christ is all about. It can be something as simple as sharing a meal together at a restaurant. Perhaps you’ve seen couples who simply share each others presence, hardly a word is exchanged. Perhaps he spears a French fry from her plate. She smiles or frowns; hopefully doesn’t scowl. He orders apple pie with ice cream. She is watching her weight; nevertheless, she scoops a dollop of ice cream from his plate. They move back and forth like a kind of dance they’ve been dancing for years. They can always anticipate their partners next move. The two have become one.