The Sign of Three

MRS HUDSON (excitedly): So – it’s the big day, then!
SHERLOCK (taking a sip of tea): What big day?
MRS HUDSON: The wedding! John and Mary getting married!
SHERLOCK: Two people who currently live together are about to attend church, have a party, go on a short holiday and then carry on living together. What’s big about that?
MRS HUDSON: It changes people, marriage.
SHERLOCK: Mmm, no it doesn’t.

(From Sherlock Season 3 Episode 2)

I love this scene because it touches on something deep within our culture, something that our culture is starting to question: 

What is the point of marriage? 

I really ask that honestly. Why get married? Is it because it is the "right thing to do?" Is it because it makes financial sense? Is it because you are finally convinced that this person could make you happy for the rest of your life? 

If the answer to the above questions is "yes," then I believe that your reasons are tragically insufficient. 

Gen. 2:18, 21-24

"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'...and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." 

It makes sense that Sherlock was so disenchanted at the prospect of marriage. For John and Mary, the gift had already been ruined, the check already cashed. They jumped ahead of God's timing and therefore the triumph of marriage is somewhat foregone for them. That is not to say that God cannot work through their choices, but they have also sacrificed something inestimably precious. 

Marriage is a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:22-23). It is a picture of the glorious relationship between the Savior of mankind and His people, and it portrays the beauty and the truth of the eternal relationship we have with God. When we enter into matrimony as pure and virtuous, we are offering up a sacrifice to God. We are saying, "I value Your ways above mine, and I am honoring You with all that I am." This is a blessing not only to God but also to your spouse. 

So, while the "sign of three" in the case of Mary and John is a child, a Christian marriage has a very different "sign of three." The third person should always be the Holy Spirit, for only by loving Him more than your spouse can your marriage truly prosper.