Grasping The Significance of “The
Body”
By Susan Klein
“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
1 Corinthians 11:24b (NIV)
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.
