(Audio)
The tabernacle had served as a visible reminder of God's presence among the people of Israel since their exodus journey through the wilderness.
And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you" (see Numbers 10:35).
In the time of Solomon their enemies had at last been scattered, and they dwelled in the peace of the promised land. Today's psalm about the repose of the ark in the temple echoes the words of Moses, but with the difference the ark is now going to rest rather than to battle.
Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place,
thou and the ark of thy might.
It was because of the presence of the Lord that the children of Israel were eventually able to attain the promised land. It was God himself, symbolically present in the tabernacle who scattered their enemies and brought them safely to their destination. It did not, however, go well for Israel when they failed to recognize the holiness of the ark or when they tried to make it serve their plans rather than they making themselves servants of God's plan. But when their trust was in the Lord and not themselves his dwelling place was their most powerful weapon against their enemies.
When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
The presence of the holiness of the Lord was so intense that the people could not come close, nor could even the priests minister. The presence of God was powerful, primary, but still somehow separated and finally unattainable. His holiness was something so dense and overwhelming that it could those who lived then could not enter it. They were very much still a people of unclean lips who needed the purifying coal from the alter before they could stand in the council of the Holy One. They could not yet enter into the presence of God's all consuming holiness without being themselves consumed.
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (see John 1:14).
The humanity of Jesus was the means that made it possible for men and women to enter the presence of God without being consumed, for it would be in him, united with him, that they would safely experience God's power. Therefore, the experience of the presence of Jesus was one of holiness, but drastically different than the ark, for the people were drawn toward and not pushed away from Jesus.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.
In Jesus the presence of God was brought near to us so that we could touch that presence and be healed. The tassel on the cloak of Jesus was a reminder of the law that was kept in the tabernacle. But to touch the tabernacle meant death whereas to touch even this tassel meant restoration and life.
Those in the land at Gennesaret may seem to have been at an advantage with the ability to physically touch the body of Jesus himself. But we should remember that Our Lady continues to be present among us spiritually, helping us to experience the presence of God for which she was designated as the new and more perfect ark of the covenant. When approached with appropriate reverence she can help us to touch Jesus more deeply than did anyone in those ancient crowds, for we actually receive his flesh, blood, soul, and divinity in every Eucharist. If the old ark could conquer worldly foes why is our faith in the power of this new ark so limited? God, increase our faith!
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