Introduction
In this brief article I’d like to make a case that the Body of Christ 2000 years ago is the same Body of Christ today, alive and continuing in the same activities, in the Universal Church.
That sounds pretty good from the onset, as it presents a mystical transcendence from one time to another. Jesus Christ had a body. He was flesh and blood. He did many things in that body. He healed the sick. He discussed apologetics with skeptics. He evangelized the lost, encouraged the downtrodden, and blessed children, orphans, widows, and sinners. For each of these actions he used a different part of his body. He used his hands to heal the sick, his mind to interact with skeptics, his passion to evangelize, works of service to encourage the downtrodden, his feet to go from village after village proclaiming the Good News.
In everything he did he used his Body. That was 2000 years ago. Now he turns to us, followers of the Way, and says, “You are my Body.” Fair enough, that sounds quite wonderful and remarkable. We are the Body of Christ. And our activities prove it. We are each given spiritual gifts that correspond with the continuous action of Jesus through the ages. Some of us are healers. We are his hands. Some of us are debaters of the Truth. We are his mind. Some of us find our place in the street helping prostitutes break free from the yoke of slavery. We are his works of service. And so on down the line.
Through us the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ has continued through the ages. Jesus is still doing the same things as before – still experiencing the same blessing, persecution, and death – and it is still being played out in his Body; with one exception: his Body looks different than it did back then. It’s been diffused through time and geography. He is still doing the work that the Father has told him to do – no more/no less. The difference, however, is that we are the present day body wherein he is doing all these things.
Is Christ still teaching? Yes. And how does he teach? Through his Body. And who is his Body? You and I. Is Christ still restoring? Yes. And how does he restore? Through his Body. And who is his Body. You and I. And so on with every ministry of Christ.
I would dare to suggest that the life of Christ is a continuous stream of activities performed through his Body. Whether those acts are performed in the Body of 2010 or in the Body of 30AD make little difference. The accumulative work of the Father is altogether made complete in both the Christ and the Body of Christ through the ages. All work is Christ’s work. All Christ’s work is connected – from past to present and back to present – indeed, perhaps into the future. It makes little difference if the water of a certain river flows from this tributary or that tributary. For, at the end of the Day, it is seen as One River – many streams united by a common lake far below.
So as we take the first corner of this paper this is what I am proposing: From the time of Jesus, and right up through the ages, God has been dong his work through the Body of Christ. It has been the same work of redemption all along – a continuation of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. This makes us “partakers” in Christ. It is an interesting observation that, as the Body of Jesus is mystically made manifest in the Church today, so is the Church today mystically made manifest in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ 2000 years afore-hand. We are in him and he is in us. We are both a reflection of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and a PARTAKER in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.. He in us and us in him..
Take a bit of time now and let that sink in. Follow the time line backwards and forwards and see little difference (perhaps no difference) between the Body of Christ, working out the Father’s Will, through the ages and the actual Body of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is one – both forward and backward, united mystically as One in the Holy Spirit.
Biblical Oneness
There is a strong sense of identification with the life of Christ in the life of a disciple. Scripture reminds us that we die in Christ – as Christ died – and have been made alive in Christ – as Christ was resurrection. Paul writes, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11
There is a oneness here. It’s so much more than a pipedream, or a nice thought. No, Paul is saying (and says it elsewhere much more eloquently) that we are dead in Christ and raised to life in Christ. He might as well be saying, “You, being a part of his Body today, were a part of his Body back then. When he healed the sick, you healed the sick. When he taught in the synagogues, you taught in the synagogues. When he blessed children and had compassion on the sinner, you blessed children and had compassion on the sinner. And – let’s kick it up a notch – when he died, you died. When he was raised to life, you, my brothers and sisters, we raised to life.
Hear how the Apostle Peter fleshes it out, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” 1 Peter 4:12-14
And, again, Paul. “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows” 2 Corinthians 1:5. And also, “…but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel…” 2 Timothy 1:8
This is more than just a quaint affiliation with an event that we can look to as a model for our current situation (though, at the least, it is that). It is a pronunciation that this is who we are as the Body of Christ. We die because Christ died; because we hung with Christ, we participated in the sufferings of Christ, on the Cross. And we live because Christ lived. When he walked out of the hallowed tomb that misty morning, we walked out of that hallowed tomb that misty morning. We were as much there, as he was; as he is, here as us. Oh the magnificent mystery of the timeless, transcendent, Body of Christ!
Pastoral Implications
With the above being held true and recognized in the life of the Church, situations warranting pastoral guidance can be prophetically infused and linked with similar situations in the Life of Christ. We will first look at the practical implications and then move into more of the mystical connections.
When listening to a person describe their current life situation a sensitive listener will be scanning what s/he knows of the life of Jesus, looking for where this person’s particular challenge is found in the Gospel Narrative. In the case of a person who is on the edge of death, yet does not want to leave her beloved family behind – but, all the same, knows the flow of her life is speaking contrary to her desire – a link to Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane may best articulate her situation. Christ, too, prayed, “Not my will, but your will oh Father.” He, too, didn’t want to release himself to the Plan. But when he did, he was given grace in the Hanging. That is called a Prophetic Linking; a transcendent communion with the One who is also experiencing the same pain (perhaps at that same transcendent moment?). In this way, the one on the edge of death on her sick bed becomes co-yoked with the One who is also on the edge of death hovering over a rock in the garden and, thus, finds comfort and grace. Only then does the yoke become easy, and the burden light.
I’ve mentioned that the mystical life finds a fluid continuity between the Life of Jesus and the Body of Christ. We are One in the same, he in us and we in him. Thus, in the example above, Jesus – in praying for himself – is praying for the dying woman, since she is a part of his Body. She, too, in her linkage to Jesus becomes a mystical participant in the Garden. His prayers have become her prayers; her prayers have become one and the same with his prayers. Both pray the same prayer and are encouraged by the same.
Whether it can be said that the identification with the two praying people are so intertwined that one could not happen without the other… Well, it is here that we are stepping into the portals of mystery which demand a most humbled sensitivity. For, the above being true – and with the knowledge that the Universal Church is a living transcendent member of Christ’s Body – a glorious integration where all of us are in him healing the sick, cleansing the temple, and rising from the dead; how else could it be but that, in the Garden, we are present with Christ, and perhaps encouraging the Christ through a common strength?
A Similar Pastoral Transcendence
Akin to the alignment of a person's life experience with the Life of Christ is the Spirit's power to overlap one's experience with a text within the Scriptures. This varies from the puristic transendence as the Body of Christ into the Body of the Christ of Palestine - yet it is just as effective as both an incarnational and healing moment.
For example, in the case of a person who comes to you confessing a sin, a spiritually discerning pastor may reflect,"Where in the Scripture is there something similar to this man's situation and how did our Lord respond to it? In the case of a person who has ad an affair and is now confessing the error of his heart and behavior, one is drawn to the text in the Gospel where a half-clothed woman was "caught in the act" and thrown on the ground before the One who knew no sin. In Pastoral Transcendence, the person who now confesses his or her crime has now become that woman - tossed before you (as Christ's Body) onto the dusty lane in Palestine's blazing summer heat. What do you do? The sinned is pleading mercy before the Sinless in you. Well, what did Jesus do? Do that. When you do it becomes a healing, pastoral transcendence - not because you were clever and brought to life a section of Scripture which speaks into the situation at hand, but because, through the transcendent power of the Spirit, this sinner has become the adulterous and the Forgiver in you has sent her away, marveling after having experienced such a severe mercy from the eternal Word of God.
In a similar case, one becomes aware of starving men, woman, and children living on a garbage dump in Juarez, Mexico. As your group studies Scripture the Spirit brings alive the text that says, "When you have a feast, don't invite those who can repay, invite those who cannot." So you mount a team and go to the dump to feed the poor. The miracle of multiplication of ham and tortilla's is a direct link to the multiplication of bread found in the Biblical Text. This event has set you both at a dump in Juarez and on a hillside in Galilee. And, to be sure, Jesus is multiplying; both times, both places - and perhaps in future places as well, though in our human condition, we perceive it not.
Suffering
If we are integrated – prophetically linked – with the Life of Christ; how much more are we in the death of Christ! As he hangs, we hang. Through the power of the Ageless Spirit, we die when he died. We rise in his resurrection.
Some of us carry stigmata – the oftentimes blood-laden wounds of the Christ’s Passion in our own bodies. As he suffered, we are suffering. Some of us are angry – rage-filled and deeply grieved – at the hypocrisy of the Church. As he raged in the Temple, throwing down kiosks and religious profiteers, we also are sickened. Regardless of who we are, each has a place in the Ever-Living Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Portal
And how does one come to transcendence in Life? For a life that is unidentified with the Life of Christ is no life at all. How am I to become spiritually integrated with his Life?
We understand that all life begins at the Cross. The Cross is the Fountain Head. The Cross is where his Blood flows, forgives, and fulfills us. But the Cross is a certain death. It is a place we willingly hang where our agendas, our hopes, our childhood dreams are violently surrendered – no, not strong enough – are violently executed. It is the sacrificial surrender to the Fathers will, for the salvation of the world around us, which comes only from peering into the portal of the empty tomb and letting your pupils dilate in the darkness until your eyes make out the shadowy outline of the Passion.
Many seek to bypass the power of the resurrection to get to the sacrifice. But a faith that lies solely in death will breed death. Others seek the tomb only, saturating themselves in a experiential and oftentimes selfish spirituality. This leads to a cheap grace mentality and produces an anemic faith which understands little of the bleeding heart of the Gospel.
The portal is both Cross and Resurrection. Life begins by embracing the Cross as made accessible by the reality of resurrection of Christ.
Summary
I have suggested that Christ's Body is our body and our Body is his Body - even in the most "out of the box" extremes. As we are adopted into the Body as sons and daughters of God through redemption we then become "family." "Family" is too light a term for what I'm suggesting here. I'm thinking more of an exact Oneness. As Jesus is one with the Father, we are one with Christ - not in a nice neat way, but in a way that is essentially the same being with Christ.
This in no way butts heads up against the exclusivity of Christ and his forever role in the Trinity as the Only Begotten Son of the Father. That is the one part that we can never sync up with. However, we are so included in him, and he in us, that one might argue we are at one with his Person, and not his Being.
I also maintain that the life and work of Jesus Christ is an ongoing activity up through the ages and right into our age. Christ is still healing, still redeeming, still sacrificing, still blessing. And, since we are his Body, and he uses his Body to further the work of the Kingdom, then that is what we are doing as well. Christ in us today; us in Christ yesterday.
When a discerning pastor integrates a crises into the Heart of the Gospel - whether it be in the Life of Christ or a situation of a Christly Encounter, true transcendence occurs wherein past and present prophetically snap into a healing, hoping, and restoring reality. All life can be integrated into the life of Christ because, at any given moment, eternal now-ness forever nurtures the sould of the brokenhearted.
Finally, transcendence rocks back and forth, like a wave in a chamber, through time and space. Through the unifying linking of the Holy Spirit, we are sometimes co-yoked with the Palestinian Christ, as he is sometimes yoked with the local the fellowship of the faithful. One day we will realize that there is no difference between the two extremes. It is all integrated as One event, forever present, in the unfathomable mystery of I AM.
