The Favorite Arrow

Learning how marriage is key to unlock the Scriptures

01/16/2023

Mk 2:18-22 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Jesus gives a very curious answer to the people who ask about his practice of not fasting. And he gives the answer from the perspective of a wedding, and shows himself to be the Bridegroom. Now, that is a very curious answer because Jesus has a quiver of many arrows that he could have used to answer that question. Notice how he gives all kinds of different answers on different occasions.

He talks about how a king going into battle should count if he has enough soldiers to defeat a king coming against him with more soldiers. He uses another arrow about constructing a tower and whether you have enough resources to complete it. On another occasion he speaks about a sower who goes out to sow. In other words, Jesus has all kinds of arrows in his quiver, but Jesus again and again returns to his favorite arrow, which is that of a wedding, and declares himself to be the Bridegroom.

It’s highly suggestive, this particular favorite arrow of Jesus, that he uses to explain who he is, what he is doing, and even who we are. Who is the Church, and what is the Kingdom? In many ways, it is a lot of things, but ultimately, we are the Bride, and the Church is the Bride of Christ. And Jesus declares himself the Bridegroom who wants to marry us. Now, this beautiful arrow explains why Jesus dies on the cross, and how he has come to save us, because ultimately he wants to marry us. A good husband dies for his wife.

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from Fr. Daniel Wendel. Some of you may remember him. He was Deacon Daniel Wendel while he was serving here at Immaculate Conception a couple of summers ago. Well, now he is the associate pastor of St. Raphael in Springdale. He called me and asked if I would come and give a retreat at St. Raphael on marriage to married couples. He asked that I especially talk about John Paul II’s theology of the body. And I was very happy to hear that because I’ve read the theology of the body.

Now, do you know what the theology of the body is all about? It is about Jesus’ favorite arrow in his quiver. That again, and again, and again, Jesus explains himself, he explains the mystery of salvation, and he explains the entire Bible in terms of marriage. That is, God’s purpose from the beginning to the end of time, the history of salvation from the book of Genesis to Revelation, can be understood best of all in terms of a marriage. Why?

Well, Genesis 2 recounts the marriage of Adam and Eve, and Revelation 22 concludes with the marriage of the Lamb and his bride, which is the Church. And so in Rv 22 it says: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’ [Lord Jesus]’.” The marriage is about to begin. The end of time is a great wedding banquet. And that is why Fr. Daniel Wendel and a group of people organizing this retreat on March 11 want me to speak about Jesus’ favorite arrow in his quiver, the arrow of the Bridegroom and his wedding feast.

We might also think of it like bread crumbs throughout the whole Scripture. If you are picking up the bread crumbs from Genesis to Revelation, this is where that trail of bread crumbs leads: to marriage with Christ. All of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament has been trying to direct us to Jesus, not just so he can forgive us for our sins, and not just so he can save us. But ultimately, so he can marry us! And we need to accept that marriage invitation, otherwise, we would indeed be a foolish virgin as in Matthew 25. Jesus is like the man down on one knee, holding out a ring to us and asking: “Will you marry me?” And he’s waiting for a response from us. Will we marry him?

That is why it is so critical that we get marriage right. That is why the Catholic Church is such a stickler about marriage and getting marriage right. Why she has so many teachings about why different things that attack marriage are wrong. Because if you cannot get marriage right, you won’t understand who Jesus is, you won’t get Jesus right.

You will miss all the bread crumbs in Scripture, if you are confused about marriage. You won’t pick up what the Holy Spirit is putting down throughout all the pages of the Bible. You will miss Jesus’ favorite arrow that he shoots from his quiver when he speaks about himself being the Bridegroom, and we are the bride. You will miss everything. Anyway, you might want to come to that retreat on March 11, and see why this is Jesus’ favorite arrow.

Praised be Jesus Christ!