Any marriage is a joining link of love between two partners, who commit themselves to live in truth caring for and loving each other. This love increases over passage of time and is evidenced in day to day living. With old age the physical beauty changes but their focus remains on the inner being of each other, that draws them closer in a stronger relationship. The spirit, soul and body of an individual is also bound in a similar closeness as in a marriage to fulfil the plan of God for him.
Factors affecting our relationship with self and others – Angel Gabriel had brought the greatest message to Mary in Nazareth, that any woman of that time could hear. She was blessed to be the mother of the much-awaited Messiah, for all of Jewish nation and the world eagerly waited for that. This was about the merging of heaven, the infinite and the finite, of the spirit in its fullness and the body on earth. Gabriel talked about the way of this conception to Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’ (Luke 1:35-38). Mary, an earthly human being, a virgin like many others of that place and time, was to have a union with the power of God as manifested through His Spirit.
God created everything from nothing, the heavens, the earth and all that is in them, through His infinite power and might. The angel Gabriel informed Mary about her relative, Elizabeth, a barren woman, being pregnant in her old age, as a blessing from God. With that, he also made the statement about God’s power, to say, ‘For with God nothing will be impossible’. The moment Mary surrendered to God’s command, the Son of God was there in her womb, without any great magical display of God’s presence. This was the direct working of God’s will in and through an earthly being. Lord Jesus grew up in the womb like any other child to be born after the due time. At His birth the union of the heavenly was manifested in a human body.
Talmud, the collection of Jewish writing on law and tradition, was written in 3rd to 5th centuries. As per that, ‘the sage Shmuel said to his student Rabbi Yehudah, ‘Sharp one! Grab and eat, grab and drink! The world that we are passing through is like a wedding’. It was not about indulging in sinful gluttony or other desires of the body but living in the moment, though not for the moment. Abraham’s death in old age was as ‘an old man and full of years’ for he lived each day committed to God and doing His will (Genesis 25:8). Thus, he filled his years with life and his life with years and it is not about the number but about the fullness of the real outcome of those years.
Life is like a wedding that quickly passes and most people are never able to enjoy what they have, waiting for the ‘tomorrow’, which never comes. Every human being has a body, in which is a spirit from God, connecting both to each other through the soul. The soul has feelings and longings that can be controlled by either the spirit or the body. The birth of a child is the marriage of the spirit and the soul with the earthly, the body. In this relationship, like a marriage, both must ensure the good of the other. However, with its sinful nature, the body desires to indulge in the fulfillment of its desires, while trying to ignore the needs of the soul to connect to the heavenly. A life lived with perfect balance in this relationship is the one governed by the voice of God through the Word of God and His Spirit.
The age for a priest to join service in the Temple of God was fixed at thirty years and he could be in service till fifty years of age (Numbers 4:35). At the age of twelve years, Lord Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the yearly ‘Feast of Passover’. At the end of the festival, while they returned, unknown to them, He stayed on, discussing the finer points of Scripture with the ‘teachers’ in the Temple (Luke 2:42-52). Since women would move separated from men in the caravan, both Joseph and Mary realised His absence at the first halt, after a day’s journey. They returned to Jerusalem and after searching for three days, they found Him in the Temple with the teachers of the Law. On being asked, Lord Jesus told His parents, ‘Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’. But then He went with them ‘and was subject to them’. With this submission to His parents, till the right time, He ‘increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men’.
During the early years of life, it is essential that one stays obedient to his parents. The Fifth Commandment defines this, ‘Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long’ (Exodus 20:12). It is also about the fruit of your labour and the Son of God came to fulfil the entire Law. This brings balance in our feeding of the soul with spiritual food just like the body needs food for its nourishment to fulfil both aspects of our life. Rabbi Yehudah was told to ensure food for the soul regularly to avoid any imbalance in this marriage of the earthly with the divine.
Believers need to fast for long periods – At the right age to enter service as a priest, Lord Jesus was baptised, not for repentance for sins but ‘to fulfil all righteousness’ (Matthew 3:15-17). With this, two things happened; first was the descending and staying of the Holy Spirit upon Him. The second was acknowledgement of God’s pleasure in His Son and it was an expression of appreciation of His life till then. Lord Jesus came as our Redeemer, the Lamb of God, who took away our sins and the impact of His work is worldwide for all generations. His battle was not with some agent of the devil but directly with the devil himself. He is our Redeemer; The Good Shepherd and King David identified his own role as a shepherd.
David told Saul about his sheep being attacked by a lion and a bear. He said, ‘I went after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by the beard, and struck and killed it’ (1 Samuel 17:34-35). The Saviour Lord’s crucifixion was a battle of the most difficult kind with Satan himself to free His sheep from the clutches of the devil. When He was baptised, He had a perfect balance of the earthly relationship and the heavenly. With the Holy Spirit in Him this balance had to tilt towards the heavenly, for the battle was spiritual. He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where He fasted for forty days and forty nights, being tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2).
Satan and his agents, the demonic forces are always opposed to all who are actively involved in the word of the heavenly kingdom. Depending on the level of one’s involvement is the level of the demonic agent/spirit. Apostle Paul was challenged by these forces and he has identified their different levels. He identified four levels of demonic forces’ command and control structure with the devil himself at the top. To my understanding, the lowest level is the ‘principality’, something like the lowest level of magistracy. Above this is the ‘powers’, that have authority over the principality. The second rung of the ladder of this authority is ‘the rulers of the darkness of this age’. These are given authority over a specific region and must stay in that same area. The man from the ‘country of the Gadarenes’ was troubled by a legion of evil spirits, totalling around six thousand (Mark 5:1-10). Such a group will obviously have a commander and ‘he begged Him earnestly that He (Lord Jesus) would not send them out of the country’. This is like a country head in-charge of that specific area. In the first place or the top are the ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ and each one of these controls a large grouping of countries. The church is responsible to make known to these ‘principalities and powers in the heavenly places’ about the ‘eternal purpose of God (salvation) which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Ephesians 3:10).
Anyone is responsible for himself and others who are attached to him spiritually, in his family, church or any other larger organisation. The larger the impact of that person’s influence, the higher will be the level of opposition. Like in the marriage of the body and the soul, in the marriage between two people, there are boundaries. Satan’s attempt is always to lead us to cross these boundaries and fall into his trap. As the family grows, a man wants to earn more to meet the additional expenses. In most of the cases, this causes less time spent with the family as also with God. The seventh day of creation, God blessed and sanctified, for ‘in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made’ (Genesis 2:3). God does not get tired, for He is above all such bodily weaknesses, but He set apart this one day of the week, for man to bring an equilibrium in his earthly and spiritual life. The visits of God to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden ‘in the cool of the day’ was for this purpose. They had a big task ahead ‘to fill the earth and subdue it’ and have dominion ‘over everything that moves on the earth’ and this would include the forces of evil under Satan.
Every believer must be responsible to bring His family, including the children at a very early age, into the presence of God, every day. His own closeness to God must be better than the rest of the family to lead them. In like manner, when the area of influence of a church increases, the Pastor and others in its administration must move closer to God. We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to devote time in fasting and prayer. People go on holidays to visit various places and even on religious pilgrimages. But how many spend that time in close fellowship with each other to get closer to God? A wife who is neglected by her husband would feel punished/neglected and so is the case of a soul in the case of its marriage to the body.
A believer need not fast for forty days and forty nights like our Saviour Lord, but there is a definite need for close relationship. It need not be accompanied by fasting as long as one can separate oneself from the daily distractions to worship the Lord God.
The care of body and the soul – A farmer married a princess and both loved each other. On the first day, he taught her how to milk the cows; the second about the care of the hens and collecting eggs and so on. But he found that the princess was not very happy because she longed for a different life-style that she was used to. Our body provides the soul great comfort, good food and all earthly pleasures but the soul longs for the union with the Divine. It finds no pleasure in these things and looks towards the ego death of the body who is busy and content in itself. A body submitted to heavenly bliss works in unity with the soul inside. Lord Jesus emphasised on this to say, ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33). It is this attitude of commitment that Rabbi Yehudah was taught, grab and feed the soul in doing good to others, reach out to quench the thirst of others. It is a wedding and at death, the contract will break, use the relationship to better things in others’ lives.
Everyone is blessed with inherent potential inside that is given in the soul and we polish this by recognising our way and using that for the good of others. Every day we must reach higher and higher still in its use and submission to God’s will. The result of forty days in the wilderness was Lord Jesus’ absolute alignment of body, soul and spirit with the Holy Spirit. Just before calling out to Lazarus, to raise him back to life, Lord Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me’ (John 11:41-42). In a close relationship, the wife understands the needs of her husband, without being told and vice versa. This may appear insignificant to some, but the total fusion of the earthly with the Divine in Lord Jesus was a gateway for both to act in unity. This world is for us that gateway, for the light of His glory to shine and separate the darkness of sin from within us. The miracle of being chosen by God must act daily in us to live as those sanctified by Him for being His own.
The body being composed of earthly elements is sinful by nature, but the spiritual from above, connected and controlled by the indwelling Holy Spirit fills with ‘power, love and self-control’. The fruit of this is then revealed in our daily life as ‘love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23). A young woman, after her marriage in a very rich family, was insulted badly before the guests. In retaliation, she prayed for strength to God and showed kindness to all in the family, old and young alike. It was hard work but the result was seen after sometime, that everyone started praising her before all who came into their house.
God is patient with us and helps us to walk in His ways but we must never forget that a fruitful branch is only pruned (John 15:5-6). However, a branch that does not change, is cast off and burnt, and the marriage is a disaster. Like in a marriage, restrictions and limitations are opportunities to jointly rise high. This temporary separation from the heavenly fills us with a deep yearning to be more like Him here on earth to bring joy to Him. That is the real purpose of our life on earth!
In a marriage the reality comes out in day to day living together and facing all ups and downs together. The other members of the family support but rarely take over the battle. The soul and spirit are given a body to dwell in and jointly move on to do God’s will. We grab the fruits of bringing joy to others and in the process add to our joy. Our Father in heaven has provided all that we need in the heavenly places in Lord Jesus. We reach out to Him, receive and thankfully keep moving forward!
