Marriage in John: Becoming One with God (Part 5)

If you haven't yet begun to read this series of posts let me give you a brief recap. I believe that St. Athenasius and Hilary of Potiers were correct when they claimed that God became man so that we might become God. While this is a shocking statement to most evangelicals (I should know I am one) it is, I believe, a biblical position.. In this series of posts I have begun to show how an examination of John 19:34, the flow of blood and water from Christ's wounded side, in light of John's consistent marriage motif, leads to this conclusion. Christ's crucifixion, according to the gospel of John, is a wedding between God and man.

The Crucifixion

At last we come to the scene of Christ crucifixion; the "hour" of which we first heard Jesus speak about in John 2:1. And like the significance of the hour in that scene, this is the moment of Christ's wedding. The “mother of Jesus” or as we have already seen, the “mother of the groom” is present making this the fifth scene in which a woman plays a prominent role. It is here in the pierced side of Christ that we find echoes of Eve’s creation, the event which explains the basis for John's marriage motif. The comparison are as follows.

• Jesus is arrested, crucified and buried in a garden (John 18:1; 19:41) just as Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8). The importance of John placing Jesus in a garden should not be understated since none of the other gospels call it this. When they do refer to it they call it Gethsemane which means olive press and not a garden.
• Jesus has been seeking a bride throughout the gospel of John but thus far he has selected none of them. This I believe is mirrored in the creation story of Eve when we are told that Adam named all the animals but no suitable helper for him is found (Genesis 2:20)
• Jesus bows his head and gives up his spirit (John 19:30) just as God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep. (Genesis 2:21). In John's recounting of resurrection of Lazarus, we find that sleep is euphemism for death (John 11:11-14).
• Jesus is pierced in the side sending the flow of blood and water (John 19:34). The piercing mirrors the surgery that God performs on Adam. While asleep, God takes from Adam's side (not rib - surprisingly its the the same word used to designate the place where Jesus was pierced) to form His bride (Genesis 2:21)

And the story of the Eve's creation ends with this promise… “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis. 2:24)

These comparisons are nothing new. The early Church father's recognized them. As early as Tertullian (late second century) we find, "If Adam was a figure of Christ, the sleep of Adam was the death of Christ Who was to fall asleep in death; that in the injury of His side might be figured the Church, the true mother of the living." Hippolytus, at the same time, also writes, "Wishing to destroy the work of the woman and to raise an obstacle to her, who had previously issued from the side of Adam as bearer of death, behold, He opened His own sacred side from which there flowed blood and water, plenary signs of spiritual nuptials, of adoption and mystical regeneration."

Even Paul hints at such an interpretation when he writes on the relationship of husbands and wives in Ephesians 5. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the Church.

Thus, the flow of blood and water illustrates the marital union of Christ and the Church. It emphasizes the unity that we share with Him. For Evangelicals, this concept is nothing new since Paul himself explicitly talks about it in Ephesians 5. But in this series of posts were talking about the union of God and man. That in Christ man has in some sense become God. This concept goes beyond the traditional evangelical understanding. In order to argue this point we must unwrap the meaning of blood and water. What do these elements mean?

Post Script

Mary in the Garden

If a marriage theme is in fact found in every scene in John where a woman appears then we would expect to find it continued in Jesus meeting Mary in the garden. Mary’s introduction to Jesus in the Garden is the sixth and final scene in which a woman plays a predominant role in the gospel of John. And once again we find a connection to marriage. The scene echoes of the Song of Solomon as well as the book of Ruth.

The Story of Mary echoes the Song of Solomon 3:1-5 in a number of ways. Both Mary and the women in the Song of Solomon

• Seek their beloved while it is still dark.
• are found by watchmen (angels for Mary).
• tell the watchmen they are looking for their beloved. (note in both cases the watchmen do not respond. In Mary's case this is in stark contrast to the appearance of the angels in the other three gospels.)
• soon find their beloved and cling to him.

The similarities between the book of Ruth are also as follows…

• Jesus tells Mary to “Stop clinging to me” (20:17) ·
• Jesus says, “Go to (i.e. Return to) my brethren (20:17) · Say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.”

Ruth records…

• Orpah leaves her mother-in-law, but Ruth clings to Naomi. (1:14)
• Naomi tells Ruth to return after your sister-in-law (1:15).
• Ruth said…”Where you go, I will go and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God, my God.