Resting and Divine Intimacy - Lent Journal (Tuesday, Holy Week - 36/40)

One of [Jesus's] disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,“Master, who is it?” (Jn 13:23-25)

The presence of God in the Old Testament was always fearful to approach - you couldn't touch Him, you couldn't see Him (except in part), you certainly couldn't rest against Him. God's presence protected Israel, but the Ark of the Covenant couldn't be touched. When you go outside on a clear night and see the vastness of the universe, you experience the numinous - a spiritual experience of the divine - but it is always distant, something to be observed.

I love that the Incarnation makes God tangible. I adore the images of those who get to touch Him - Simeon and Anna holding him; John baptizing him; the woman who experienced hemorrhaging; the little girl he raises; Mary, who anoints His feet and dries them with her hair; Thomas, who gets to explore his pierced side. Even the centurion who nailed Christ to the Cross came into contact with the Divine in a way no prophet or king of Israel ever had.

John, the beloved disciple, got to rest his head against Jesus's chest. The operative term is rest - this is an image of Divine Intimacy, of total vulnerability and drawing near to his Sacred Heart. We are meant to place ourselves in the narrative - we are the beloved disciple.

But even that pales in comparison with what is being offered once our redemption was won. John rested his head on Jesus's chest; we have entered into Christ's body. And, in turn, Christ has entered into ours.

I'm leaving this post short tonight because I think Our Lord wants to speak to us through this image. I think He wants us to pray with this in mind: that we, even now, can rest against a lover who truly cares for us and longs to embrace us - the Bridegroom embracing his Bride.