Marriage as a Covenant. What if JESUS was an ELIGIBLE BACHELOR?
“…marriages that have survived the test of time have not necessarily been a bed of roses. They have simply been those dependent on the fortification of the Lord Jesus, the First Husband and Commander-in-Chief of every marriage…”
We live in a world where seeds of evil are sown among God’s people facilitating the growth of even more wickedness, giving birth to vices like jealousy, hatred, envy, betrayal, recalcitrance and all the misdeeds that reward the devil with a happy pay-day. Among the many covenants of the Lord that have suffered intoxication and is fast becoming an endangered species is Marriage. In the world today divorce seems to be more popular than marriage; separation seems to be easier to manage than reconciliation. A world where marriage itself stands accused for being the main factor favoring divorce. No one is free of the blame. All parties stand accused. Women have been unfaithful, men have cheated, and children have back-stabbed their parents, pitching one against the other for trivial reasons. Unknown children have popped up on marriage anniversaries turning the joys of the woman in the house into sorrow and sometimes preventing the celebration of more wedding anniversaries.
There’s hardly any woman who has not dreamt of her own wedding day, hardly a real man who hasn’t prayed for a proverbs 31 wife. Even the best Romeos and Juliets of our times have wished for a happily-ever-after. But what usually happens? Why is it that as soon as the marriage happens, challenges surface?
Sometimes it’s the couples themselves. Other times it’s all the other stuff that we cannot see with our naked eyes but whose impact is felt by vulnerable hearts. Also to blame are third parties, wrong counselors, too many fingers in the pie, and of course who else cashes in on the jackpot but the “spiritual engineer” of destruction himself – the devil – one that has been made a winner but who was designed to be a loser.
Ever noticed that when couples are single, and indulge in premarital relationships, oblivious of the spiritual repercussions, it always seems like an unending fairy tale? That when they encounter problems, they are somehow able to sort out their differences? The perfect solutions often seem to be found as long as couples remain unmarried. But as soon as they get married, problems emerge from everywhere and suddenly, no solution except separation and divorce seem to work. Isn’t it obvious who is behind these problems? Not saying all divorces are a bad idea. It is best to run away from an abusive relationship, a serial killer, a wife beater, a hopeless witch, a child molester, a husband beater etc who can push us into the hands of the devil.
But when in-laws, relatives, uncles, aunts, cousins, sisters and brothers contribute to destroy the covenant of the Lord, this becomes another story altogether. A redeemable situation becomes transferred from the frying pan into the fire while horrible situations become overlooked and people perish for good.
Marriage a severely endangered species?
A woman gets married to a “man” and finds out a few years later that their man was a woman. Men get married to women and find out years later that their woman had in fact been a man. Both get married to their dream partners and find out on their 10th anniversary that their partners were attracted to members of the opposite sex. What then is becoming of marriage? Marriage seems to be so trivialized that the intended value of this precious covenant is fast going down the drain. A severely endangered species is an understatement for the plight of marriage.
In some cases, people are forced to marry only from within their tribes, race, professional class, interest groups, circle of childhood friends, the same educational class, age group, the same or even better social taste, and sometimes, hopelessly reclined to believing they can only marry someone like them if they have a physical or mental disability. The checklist for marriage is becoming more and more man-made than God-made. Last time I checked I never saw anywhere in the book of Genesis where God commissioned man to leave his father and mother and be cleaved to a woman from his village, tribe or the aforementioned categories. Rather the Bible says “…a man shall leave His father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31; Mark 10:7).
Comic Relief
Let’s have some fun hoping this would keep our minds wondering why Jesus never got married or what could have happened had He actually announced His eligibility for the nuptial world. Since He was a celebrity, I am just imagining what would have happened to him, to His choice of bride, or even to the rest of the world. Looking at the events surrounding marriage nowadays, I couldn’t help coming up with the following theories. Let’s have some holy fun:
Maybe these were some of the complications Jesus foresaw and stayed far away from marriage. Or God had already seen that Jesus would have more than enough on His earthly plate and did not want to add the trouble of a woman to it. Eve had already dealt Adam a big blow when giving the cunning serpent a chance to infiltrate their marriage, (Gen 3). Things have never been the same since then. And since marriage is a union that glorifies God there is no doubt that the Devil is still restless and will remain restless until he ensures that the covenant of marriage brings nothing but disgrace to the name of God.
Jesus as the Foundation
Should we therefore go to sleep and do nothing to secure marriages when the enemy is working 24/7 to destroy marriages? This doesn’t mean that the absence of divorce signifies that married couples are happily married or are saved for eternity. No mistake should be made whatsoever between lasting marriages and salvation. That’s a totally different discussion for another day.
On the same platform, marriages that have survived the test of time have not necessarily been a bed of roses. They have simply been those dependent on the fortification of the Lord Jesus, the first husband and commander in Chief of every marriage. The husband who ensures that nothing can pull down the home built on Him as the foundation. Perhaps that explains why He remained single after all. To be married to every woman without the jealousy from any other woman.
However, let’s imagine Jesus were an eligible bachelor after all. We have watched the scramble for engagement rings during popular TV shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette; we have seen how women snatch other women’s husbands and men snatch other men’s wives; we have heard stories of men “falling in love” with the bridesmaids of their brides on their much-anticipated wedding day.
As if what He already had to go through would not be enough, if Jesus had dared to make himself an eligible bachelor I can only imagine what would have happened.
I cannot even imagine how many women would have claimed He came from their tribe/race and so deserved to be the woman in His house.
I cannot imagine the number of women who would have scrambled to be the wives of the wine-maker, the one who turns all water into wine; the one who could cast out demons, make the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, turn stone into bread and maybe even stones into jewelry that cannot be found in the shops! All those miracles and magic, performed by one woman’s husband! Wow!
I can imagine Mary the mother-in-law having to deal with all that pressure, the need to protect her son, corrupted by all the potential brides in the village of Nazareth. Some bringing gold, others silver, some speaking her language others presenting their family background, credentials and bank accounts to justify their bridal edge over his choice of bride. I can imagine the mother of the bride making sure Jesus turns all her enemies into pigs, render them blind, deaf and dumb.
Jesus’ power would have been corrupted and He would have probably lost His anointing like Samson via Delilah. I can imagine some women wishing Jesus could just come back to earth, to live again like you and I, make some better use of those divine talents, those powers, that anointing, and of course GRAB A SEAT on the Bachelor’s Show. But alas, that’s just imagination…maybe someone’s nightmare right now is the truth that He will come again, but not to be a groom for one woman. He is already a groom for all women and a role model for all men so marriages could stand the trials of time.
No need to scramble, He is married and at the same time remains an eligible bachelor for all women who aspire to be called a bride- not forgetting widows, single women, priests, abandoned wives, nuns and all those dedicated to serving Christ- you are all happily married to Christ forever.
LIA
LIA
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Irine Lum Asanji (aka LIA) is a freelance writer and journalist based in Brampton, Canada. Born and raised in Cameroon the daughter and sister of Pastors, LIA immigrated to Canada in 2006. She holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism (University of Buea, Cameroon) and a postgraduate degree in Visual Anthropology (University of Tromso, Norway). She has worked as a journalist and Communication Officer with the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC). LIA recently designed and launched a website talktolia.com geared towards Marriage and Family enrichment services, which serves as her ministry and her private business. She is an employee with Broan-Nutone Canada and became born-again in 2011 making her more evangelistic in her approach to writing. She speaks English, French, German and Norwegian. She is a mother of two and enjoys singing, cooking, dancing and a good laugh. She writes under her name and her pen name LIA which also means Lord Is Able.
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