Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
How many people can remember back to when they were a two-cell organism? Of course—no one. But is it not a marvelous thought to ponder? That is exactly where we all began—in a secret place, as a result of the very intimate relationship that Jesus reiterated earlier in today’s reading—“that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (19:4-6).
A fresh thought occurs to me in this regard—as though Jesus is making indirect reference to the procreating miracle of micro-biology. Consider conception—the mysterious joining of a single female egg cell with a single male sperm cell—and suddenly those two independent microscopic parts form to commence a brand new single entity—“and the two will become one flesh.” I’m inclined to say, WOW! How could dirt have conceived of this concept? (Puns intended)
Just the other day I heard that the average adult human body is a composition of about 3 trillion cells. If my math is correct, that would be equal to about 15 billion cells per pound of body weight. You’ve come a long way, baby! Think of it. (And, as a parenthetical note, think of this: I just Googled the question: How many sperm cells are contained in a single deposit? Answer: Approximately 200 million. Go ahead and let your little mind be boggled!)
Now—once these miracle entities emerge into the real world by another miracle process we know as birthing, they need a lot of help. They obviously don’t begin infancy as adults. They need nurturing, food, clothing, cleaning, protection, training, and love in order to grow and develop properly. That is a very good reason why Jesus stressed that husband/fathers and wife/mothers should not separate. Even secular studies prove that children raised in a father/mother home environment face a far greater likelihood of excelling, achieving, and succeeding as balanced adults—with a far greater likelihood of reproducing the same environmental qualities in their own marriages and families.