Now you are Christ’s Body - Sept 15

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31a

“Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually part of it.” 1Cor 12:27

Yesterday, I wrote about the significance of incarnation, but what happens when the incarnate one is no longer with us in the flesh? Does the idea of incarnation end after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus?

With the departure of Christ and the arrival of the Holy Spirit the church is born. Paul recognizes in this text that the incarnation has not ceased but Christ’s incarnate body is now found in the church. This idea, like everything about the incarnation is a mystery. How are we, or can we be Christ’s body?

This is a challenging idea because as we look at the disconnected and deeply flawed church of today, we wonder, “How on earth is this Christ’s body?” The church in Paul’s age was no less problematic; filled with division and false teaching. Yet despite that, Paul declared the reality that Christ’s body was present in that church. At times we seem to do our best to hide that reality, but it doesn’t deny the reality.

This image of the church as Christ’s body, or as Catholic teaching describes it as Christ’s mystical body, highlights the deep intimacy intended in our relationship with God. Our Christian goal is union with God, participation in God. With the church as the incarnate body the individual is important only as a part of the whole of Christ’s body. Christ is the head and we are all vital parts of the whole. As united as are the three persons of trinity, so too is our desired and destined union as the body of Christ.