The Body of Christ

“The body of Christ.” What do we mean by that? We could mean his physical body, while Jesus was here on earth — the body that was broken for us, was buried, and was resurrected again on the third day.

But when we say “the body of Christ” we very often mean us — Christians who love, trust, and follow Jesus.

The New Testament teaches us that after Jesus resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father in heaven, something remarkable happened: Jesus’ physical body was removed from this plane of existence (so-to-speak), and now we are his body here on earth. Jesus is the “head” (Ephesians 4:15), and we are the shoulders, knees, and toes.

Here’s how the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 12:4–5,

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

To get at what he’s saying, we need to understand that when speaking about a body, the word “member” means things like fingers, arms, toes, etc. Your own body has many members; Jesus’ body has many members, too. All who believe on Jesus.

And just like each of your members plays a different and invaluable role in the working of your body, so you and I each have different and invaluable roles in the body of Christ. And each of those strengths is a gift from Jesus. Some of us are gifted with a heart of nurture and sympathy, and some with a sharp mind for academic endeavors; we need both. Some are incredibly gifted at just “getting things done,” while others are big-picture strategy whizzes. Some have the gift of preaching, and others hospitality, or administration, and so on. That’s the beauty of the body of Christ.

Only in Christ’s body do we get both deeply united into one organization (or “organism”) and maintain a strong individuality. As a part of Christ’s body, “you” don’t disappear into a homogeneous blur. “You” both become more truly “you” and more truly are made into the image of Jesus.

Paul reflects more at length on this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27,

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

We can only become a part of this wonderful body of Christ if we are somehow made to be a part of him. Theologians call that “union with Christ.” That best approximation of that on this earth is marriage. In a marriage ceremony, the couple is united to each other in such a way that his good is her good, and her good is his good. What happens to her affects him, and vice versa.

The same is more wondrously true of us in Jesus. When we believe on Jesus, his Spirit unites us to him in such a way that what affects him affects us, and where he goes we go.

So being a part of the body of Christ means (at least) three very important things:

First, that you matter among the people of God. No matter your gifts, strengths, capacities, or title — you have a place here.

Second, that because Jesus is holy, you are holy (that means “set apart” and pure). So the way we treat our bodies matters, because we’re part of Jesus’ body (you can read more about this in 1 Corinthians 6:15–20).

Third — and maybe best of all — is that because we are Christ’s body, we can be assured that where he goes, we’ll go. Because Jesus was raised from the dead in a glorious New Creation body, so will we! Because Jesus is going to enjoy the Father forever in eternity, so will we!

I’ll leave you with this poetic reflection on the body of Christ from a song by The Porter’s Gate:

Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes with which He sees
Yours are the feet with which He walks
Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world