Song of Solomon 1:2
O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
The Song of Songs is one of those books that doesn't usually get a close study in Sunday school. Similarly, most people in the media are stunningly innocent of contact with it (probably because their education in Scripture or the Christian faith is not as advanced as a typical Sunday School student's). Media guys who do stumble across it love to get scoops on the steamy passages out of the Song of Songs and inform Christians that the Bible has some pretty erotic moments. The poor dears think we'll utter a piercing shriek and faint dead away when we find out and are so terribly disappointed when the stunt fizzles. Christians snort and say, "Of course the Bible has some erotic passages! It's about real life and sex and romance are part of real life! What else should we expect?" The Song is not just about real life though. It's about Real Life: it has long been read as an image of the relationship between Christ the Groom and his Bride the Church (just as early rabbis saw it as an image of the relationship between Yahweh and Israel). That's because all earthly marriage, no matter how passionate, is only a dim foretaste of the Cosmic Marriage that awaits us at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. That's the real news. Break it to the media gently or they'll utter a piercing shriek and faint dead away.
