In a garden, there once was a man and his wife. They lived happily in the garden, speaking with God and dwelling in his presence; God was theirs and they were God’s. Life was good. But something changed. Seeds of doubt were planted in their minds by an enemy. Did God truly love them? What happens if this paradise they now enjoy should slip away? They decided to take things into their own hands and reached out to make themselves like gods. But the likeness of God in which God had made them slipped from their hands and the image of God became obscured by mud. In their attempt to make themselves what God had already made them, they pushed away the one who gave them life and they died.
God promised them a redeemer and watched over their descendents. He gave them a law to teach and prepare them to dwell in his presence. He never tired of seeking them out, jealous God that he is. They built a temple and God’s presence dwelt there for a time. But sin had become their master. Caught in a vicious cycle of fearing Life and choosing the abuse and death they knew, God was again pushed away from those he desired most and his presence departed from their midst.
Finally, in the fullness of time, God sent the redeemer, a man from Galilee. Entering the temple, now only a symbol of God’s presence, he announces that he is the New Temple; he is Emmanuel, “God-with-us.” They could not dwell with God, so God had come to dwell with them. But he did not come that they might stay there in their slavery to sin; he became a slave like them in order to pay the price of their redemption. Freely giving himself up to death on a cross, he paid the price for his love and overcame their abuser. And God raised him up after three days.
My friend, this is the Good News proclaimed by Jesus, the words of everlasting life, as the psalm response says. God created you because he loves you and he wants you to be in love with him. But he has been pushed away by sin, by an unwillingness to return his love. Like the temple in the gospel, sin fills the soul and leaves no room for God. But this is not the end of the story. In his great love, God descended for you and took on himself your brokenness and he nailed it to a tree. He overcame sin, your abuser. No longer do you have to remain subject to him, for Jesus is stronger than him. Now, he invites you to come and dwell with him, not in the same garden, but in eternal happiness with him. He invites you to come home. How do you respond?
Daniel Phillips – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta.
Fot. Levi Meir Clancy/Unsplash.com