People who love God and follow the way of the cross understand bodies differently than those who do not love God and follow the way of the cross. For on the cross a specific body was tortured, mocked, and killed. This body held all the kingdoms of the world, carried all the sin of the world, and gave away his life to give us eternal life. Before the sacrifice of his body, he had to obtain a human body. He could have chosen anybody to indwell…a warrior’s body, a Roman body, or a body of inherited, earthly privilege, yet God chooses to indwell a teenage girl’s body and put on flesh as a tiny, helpless, vulnerable infant body born to family who will protect his body by running away to Egypt and becoming refugees in a strange land. As this body grows into an adult, Jesus knows how precious his body is and he shows us throughout the gospels how bodies are not separate from the Good News. He heals sick bodies, he raises dead bodies, re-engages broken minds, and he even touches and washes other people’s feet to demonstrate how important bodies are to spreading the love and message of God. To Jesus, physical bodies are not detached from the spiritual, and to have a body is good.
Our culture doesn’t understand bodies. Driving on I-35 is an education in our cultures distortion of bodies. There are billboards advertising how to make your body thin, billboards offering bodies to lust and pay money to view, and billboards enticing us to fill our bodies with the best hamburger or alcohol you’ve ever tasted. All of these billboards have one thing in common. They are seducing our bodies to become numb to the world around us. God gives us our bodies to better understand love and the creation which surrounds us. God gives us bodies to taste and see that he is good. God gives us bodies to experience handshakes, hugs, and kisses. God gives us bodies to hold puppies, kittens, and babies. God gives us bodies to feel the wind, the sun, and the rain. God gives us bodies to experience the love of a spouse, the developing of a baby, and the birthing of babies. God gives us bodies to scar, age, and break. God gives us bodies that give up breathing the breath he gives us, and our bodies are lovingly touched and prepared for burial on our deathbeds by people who love our bodies. From cradle to grave, our bodies are loved.
During this season of anticipating Christmas Day, meditate on the following hymn by Brian Wren. Remember that not only is Jesus’ body broken and his blood poured out for you every day of your life, but Jesus also experienced the human body in beautiful ways. He knows the love of a mother’s arms, the apprenticing of a father’s craft, the hugs of dear friends, and the taste of good food. He knows the pain of dying, and he knows the delight in living. As the Body of Christ, let’s discipline ourselves to be aware in this body life by greeting the day as the sun rises, thanking God for giving us our bodies, and asking forgiveness for how we numb our bodies to life.
“Good is the flesh that the Word has become,
good is the birthing, the milk in the breast,
good is the feeding, caressing and rest,
good is the body for knowing the world,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.Good is the body for knowing the world,
sensing the sunlight, the tug of the ground,
feeling, perceiving, within and around,
good is the body, from cradle to grave,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.Good is the body, from cradle to grave,
growing and ageing, arousing, impaired,
happy in clothing, or lovingly bared,
good is the pleasure of God in our flesh,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.Good is the pleasure of God in our flesh,
longing in all, as in Jesus, to dwell,
glad of embracing, and tasting, and smell,
good is the body, for good and for God,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.”