Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Grasping The Significance of “The Body”
By Susan Klein

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus is God. This is a profound mystery to the human mind. I’ve heard people try to explain the Trinity using various analogies, but if we’re to be truly honest with ourselves, it is something we can only begin to grasp by faith alone. I believe God intended it that way.

One aspect of this mystery is “Christ in bodily form.” Was He all of God in His human body, or only a portion of God? (I’ll let you wrestle with that one.) What color His skin was or how tall He was are insignificant. What is  significant, however, is that He, being perfectly God, chose to walk the earth in an imperfect human body, just like ours. And, as stated in the above verse, He did it for us.

He says, “This is my body, which is for you…” He could easily have expounded on that by stating:
“This is my physical body, which is for your little faith, so that you can actually see me and touch me and know that I really do exist.”
“This is my imperfect body, which will experience physical suffering so that I may experience all that you feel and cry with you in your pain.”
“This is my body, which was created with hands to hug, and hold, and help, and serve, and lead… so that you might see that your bodies were also created to do these things.”
“This is my physical body, which will not just take on the sins of every person who ever lives in a figurative sense, but will literally bear the punishment of beatings and suffering and persecution on your behalf.”
“This is my body. I didn’t need a body, but I was given one, for you.”

This passage occurred as Jesus was speaking to His disciples while He broke bread with them on the night in which He was betrayed, because He was present in bodily form. He is telling them to remain in the habit of breaking bread together, remembering His broken body in all of its significance.

What are you doing in remembrance of His body, which was for you?


GOING DEEPER:
1. Take some time to sit and ponder what Jesus’ physical body means to you personally.
2. Talk to Him, and share your gratefulness for this special gift!

FURTHER READING:

Susan is married to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of the Peace Team at Oakwood and also co-leads an on-site small group.