When a Tomb Becomes a Womb

“A time to be born, and a time to die.” (Eccl 3:2)

Today, the focus of our reflection shifts from “giving birth” to “being born.”  Advent is a time to be born.

With Nicodemus we ask:
“How can a person once grown old be born again?  Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” (Jn 3:4)

Jesus speaks of birth “from above,” or spiritual rebirth, which involves making a transition from one stage of life to another.  We are familiar with the concept of stages of human development, from the infant to the toddler, from the young child to the school age child, from the adolescent to the young adult, and from middle age to old age.  According to Erik Erikson, each stage has its conflict between personal and social needs, which if resolved, forms within the personality key virtues.  An example would be the conflict between trust and mistrust in infancy, which when resolved forms hope.  At the other end of the scale lies the conflict between integrity and despair in old age, which when resolved forms wisdom.  Completing each developmental task allows us to move forward, to continue to grow and develop.  We are also familiar with the concept of stages in the spiritual life, most fundamentally, the “three ways” of purgation, illumination, and union, as explored by different spiritual traditions over the centuries.  Our own Cistercian tradition names steps of humility and pride and steps of truth, among others, which shed light on our conversion and growth in intimacy with God.  This process of spiritual development likewise contains conflicts to be resolved and choices to be made so that progress can continue.

The point is that we are not fully formed when we emerge from the womb or reach adulthood, when we are baptized and confirmed, or make solemn vows.  Whether physically, psychosocially, or spiritually, we are always on the move, always changing, becoming, growing toward the fullness of God’s creative intent.  But this development is not a smooth, linear process.  Looking back, we can see the change that has occurred more clearly in some areas than in others, and we can recognize growth spurts, times when a rapid transformation takes place, as well as times when our development is imperceptibly slow or even stuck in one spot.  The most interesting moments are the transitions, which Benedict Groeschel calls “spiritual passages,” when the challenges and conflicts being navigated in our inner world are so discombobulating that we cease to understand ourselves or where we are going.  As such moments, we are called to take “the next good step” beyond what we are currently capable of.  If we have the courage to endure the “death” this entails, we will be reborn.

Today, I would like to offer three scriptural stories that shed light on the passages we must make. Christian art based on these stories can help us to draw out the significance of our own experiences in the light of the gospel.  The stories of the three youths in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion’s den, and Jonah in the belly of the fish all play on themes of life and death, rebirth and transformation.  Examples of catacomb art, Romanesque sculpture, and contemporary iconography make use of these stories to express faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection over the life of the Christian.

The two stories from the book of Daniel give us the fiery furnace and the lions’ den as images of capital punishment – means of executing the king’s enemies by burning or by being devoured by wild beasts.  But God’s faithful servants choose allegiance to him over submission to the king, and so are preserved from death, in one case by a cool, damp breeze that prevents the fire from touching the young men, and in the other case by the refusal of the lions to touch Daniel.  What seemed like a tomb is transformed into a womb, with Christian artists rendering the protagonists of these stories as sharers in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.  Having faced death, they are reborn in Christ.

For me, the story of Jonah is the most powerful of the three.  Jesus compares himself to Jonah explicitly in the gospels, and Lyuba Yatskiv’s icon makes a clear parallel between the key events of Jonah’s life and the Paschal mystery.  Christ’s death on the cross, three days in the tomb, and harrowing of hell pictured above, interpret Jonah being cast from the boat and into the fish, calling out to God from within its belly, and emerging to complete his mission of preaching to Nineveh, pictured below.  Besides the strong Christological dimension, we feel invited into this story because Jonah is no idealized figure, such as Daniel and his friends, but rather one like us, prone to resistance, complaining, and veering from one extreme to another.  Having been sent East by God, Jonah goes West “away from the Lord” (Joh 1:3) but is caught sleeping in a ship’s hold when a storm strikes.  To his credit, Jonah recognizes what is happening as a battle of wills between God and himself and asks to be thrown into the sea.

Jonah’s return to the womb is memorably illustrated by his being swallowed by a fish, and later spewed up.  The central panel of the icon focuses on Jonah’s confinement – he is the picture of anxious claustrophobia.  Even Jonah’s halo is squished to fit within the fish’s belly.  As in most images I have seen, Jonah goes into the fish headfirst, but also comes out headfirst, so like the infant in the womb, he must turn to face the exit.  But in the dark, confined space, he doesn’t know which way is up or down, never mind the way out.

As these stories indicate, returning to the womb to be born again can be a terrifying experience, calling for great faith and trust in God’s power and willingness to save us – not from the frightening passage we are facing, but by means of it.  We must feel something of the destructive heat of the fiery furnace and hear the growling lions in their den to learn that God is greater than they are, that he can use all things for our good.  Everything depends on how the time in the tomb/womb is spent.  Look at the three young men, standing amid the flames in their matching outfits, like dancers at a wedding.  We know what they are doing: they are raising their hands and their voices in a prayer of praise and supplication to the God who overcomes death, as we do every Sunday at Lauds.  Look at Daniel, sitting calmly between two lions in the den as in Eden, just like a new Adam who is Lord over the beasts.

With Jonah, God’s initiative is even clearer – it is he who sent the fish, and he who will command it to release him.  And it is only through facing the “womb of Sheol” (Joh 2:3) as he calls it, that Jonah is converted to face the Lord, to cry to him in prayer, and to confess that “deliverance is from the Lord” (Joh 2:10).  There he finds a way through death to life and goes on to complete the mission given to him by God, namely, to bring others from death to life through the word of God.

Knowing that we all have passages to make in life, I offer you these three stories and their artistic renditions as an encouragement for your own journeys.  May you make good use of this Advent to let God carry you through death to rebirth in Christ.

Sources:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html
Groeschel, Benedict J. (1983). Spiritual Passages: The Psychology of Spiritual Development. (The Crossroad Publishing Company).
https://thevcs.org/fiery-furnace
https://compostela.co.uk/symbols/daniel-in-the-lions-den/
https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/jonah/

Images:
The Three Hebrews in the Furnace (c.250–300), Fresco, Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome
Daniel in the Lion's Den (1100-1125), Capital from the Church of Ste-Geneviève, in the Louvre Museum, Paris
Jonah in the Belly of the Fish (2020), Icon by Lyuba Yatskiv