After St. Paul was shipwrecked off the island of Malta (Acts 27:42, 28:1-10) he left for Rome on a ship displaying the figurehead of the twin Greek gods Castor and Pollux. In one version of the story of these twins, they are identical, with the same mother but with different fathers. Pollux was said to be the son of Zeus, while Castor was the son of Tyndareus, a human king and the husband of their mother Leda. One boy was half god; the other all human, but identical in appearance and manner. When Castor was killed in battle Pollux begged Zeus to restore him or allow Pollux to die also. Zeus agreed to place both in the constellation Gemini so that they could be together.

There are several versions of the story but the idea of identical twins each representing either deity or humanity was interesting to me.

In Christianity, our God brings both together in one person, Jesus. When the risen Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene, “Tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17), he placed his closest friends firmly in the very family of God as his own brothers and sisters. He knew that God had made him the single authentic link between holy God and all of humanity.

In the Bible there are twins whose stories have shaped the history of Israel. Jacob and Esau, twin sons of Jacob, through their story of the birthright reflect the character and intentions of God by contrast to each other. Given the same parents, Esau fails to see beyond his own appetites while Jacob grabs hold of an invisible God and hangs on. Both twins are entirely human, but one becomes the patriarch through whom God will send His very real son.

The myths of the pagan gods can show us much about human nature, but Zeus’ idea of immortality was to place his son and his son’s brother in a constellation . God’s idea of immortality is to offer His son so that humanity could share His immortality , becoming his own family.

Today we give names to a constellation to represent Castor and Pollux. Today we find actual eternal life in the name of Jesus, our brother, the living son of the living God, because He loves us.

Love in Him,

Prue