Clearly, the Law of Moses permitted some form of divorce. Jesus however, referred them back to God’s original plan of creation. In creating human beings male and female, it is evident that, in God’s purpose, man and woman are made for each other, for communion in an unbreakable bond. In a real sense, the union of man and woman in marriage reflects the ‘image of God’. God also is communion – a union of relationship between the Father and the Son. Over the centuries the Church has come to understand that the love that unites the Father and the Son is no less than the Holy Spirit. By referring to the Creation, and so the time before the Fall of humankind and the entrance of sin into human relationships, Jesus is also announcing the salvation he has come to bring about and its effects within the relationship and vocation of marriage.
In a profound way, we can see a link between today’s reading and the reading from Luke yesterday, which spoke of our participation in the heavenly life of the Trinity. The work of redemption brought about by Jesus, in which we are given a share through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, has the effect of restoring to humanity the full purpose of God’s creation because in Jesus the power of sin and the Fall can be overcome, and because the gift of the Spirit enables us to live again as ‘the image of God’. The love and communion which characterises the relationships within the Trinity can be reflected now within the relationship within marriage.
This profound truth does not automatically transform the marriage relationship so that it is no longer without difficulties and trials. It is, however, a revelation that married people have access to an immense resource. The power of the cross of Jesus can overcome the power of sin, which threatens to break down our relationship. The gift of the Spirit brings into every marriage open to the Spirit, the very love of God himself. This gives a whole new meaning to the proclamation from the marriage service ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’.
