2 – TWO
(DUALITY, UNION, WITNESSES, DIVISION)
DUAL NATURE
Jesus is God and human (Jn 1:14; 20:28; Phil 2:7).
The Word of God is a two-edged sword. “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Heb 4:12).
Humans have body and soul (Mt 10:28; Eccl 12:7). “I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want” (Gal 5:16-17).
God created humans as male and female. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen 1: 27).
There is good and evil (Rom 12:21; Gal 6:8), righteous and sinners in the world (Mt 25:31-46). So, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many” (Mt 7:13).
UNION
Jesus is in union with the Father: Jesus told Philip, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works” (Jn 14:10-11).
Jesus is the groom and church is his bride: “Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27).
Unity of husband and wife: God united Adam and Eve as husband and wife. “A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen 2:24).
Teamwork of two: “Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help” (Eccl 49-10). Moses and Aron worked as a team for the liberation of Israel from Egypt.
TWO WITNESSES
Two witnesses are needed to prove a truth: “A charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deut 19:15).
Jesus sent his disciples two by two to preach in villages ahead of him (Mk 6:7).
“Do not accept an accusation against a presbyter unless it is supported by two or three witnesses” (1 Tim 5:19).
DIVISION
“God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars” (Gen 1:16).
After return from Egypt, Abram and Lot separated to avoid quarrel among their shepherds (Gen 13:5-12).
When Isaac’s wife Rebekah consulted the LORD on her problem during pregnancy, the LORD answered her: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples are separating while still within you; But one will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb” (Gen 25:22-24).
After the death of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two as North and South or as Israel and Judea (1 Kgs 12:3-20).
The Bible has old and new Testament. “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17).
REFLECTION
We have good and evil in conflict within us. Paul wrote: “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, l but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Rom 7:19-20). Jesus, who overcame the temptation in the desert, will strengthen us if we are in union with him. He said, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me” (Jn 15:4).