4 March 2022
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Today’s Gospel passage presents an interesting situation in which the disciples of John the Baptist approach Jesus and his disciples in order to question their adherence to Jewish religious observances, namely fasting. A properly detailed explanation of the specific practices in question would entail a much longer discussion, but one of the really important aspects of this passage is that Jesus is identifying himself as the divine spouse of a New Covenant Church that is to be forged through the consummation of his Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The wedding imagery used by Christ is intended to draw our attention to the profoundly deep, meaningful way that God has inextricably and eternally bound himself to mankind while simultaneously signifying the inexplicable joy that is proper to the accomplishment of this incredible act of love.
It’s easy to make the mistake of taking the redemptive work of Christ for granted simply as a matter of fact and it’s critical for us to recognize that it did not occur out of any kind of necessity. God could literally have chosen to do anything with us. Despite the continued disobedience, ingratitude, and unfaithfulness of humanity throughout the history of our relationship with Him, God doubled down and intentionally chose to send his only begotten Son to assume our very nature and to take on the flesh and blood of our humanity. As such, he didn’t simply come to us on Earth; he came to us as one of us and in so doing bound us to himself for eternity.
Today, let us ponder and render appropriate thanks to God for the absolutely inconceivable love that he has shown for us through the person of Jesus.