14 February 2019 - to the rescue

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The LORD God said:  
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."

From the beginning we were made for relationship. We were made to be able to leave the comfortable and routine in order to pursue relationship. This archetype is at the heart of so many stories of romance. But our loneliness runs deep. After the fall Adam and Eve could be side by side but still feel alone. Being together suddenly became the potential occasion of shame. The relationships for which we were made were broken and needed to be restored.

Jesus is the one who leaves his Father to seek out the bride. He does so to restore our relationships to God, to one another, and even to ourselves.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:31-32).

The Syrophoenician woman was unwilling to let this heroic figure pass without his helping her. In this she demonstrated the faith that we all need. She had confidence in Jesus as the one who had come to set things right. Her faith allowed her to persist even when she met first with apparent rejection. But it was only that, apparent rejection.

Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.

Jesus wanted to restore the relationship of mother and daughter. But even more so, he wanted this woman's faith, because that faith is what would restore her relationship to God. He took her into the deep waters of humility but she did not sink. She kept her eyes on Jesus.

Jesus can restore us to relationships where shame is no longer much of a threat. He can sustain us in the powerful love of the Trinity. But for this to be possible we must enter the waters of humility as well. We must allow ourselves to be rescued by the bridegroom who has come to save his bride.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.