PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

Prepare to be bored…and then surprisingly enlightened and excited by the very facts that bored you.

I am not a big fan of counting how many times a word occurs just to force us to carefully read the text. That might force me to also take off my shoes to enable me to count that high. But more importantly, how many times a word appears, for example, “and,” is nonsensical to the spiritual meaning and application of the text. There is no spiritual benefit. And yet, such a boring exercise just might lead to a bonanza of enlightenment if it is the right word we are counting.

The word “body” occurs 148 times in the NT (NASB).  Let’s briefly look at the count and where the term “body” is used indiscriminate of its meaning:

• Matthew – 16
• Mark – 7
• Luke – 14
• John – 5
• Acts – 3
• Romans – 13
• 2 Corinthians – 9
• Galatians – 1
• Ephesians – 9
• Philippians – 3
• Colossians – 9
• 1 Thessalonians – 1
• 2 Thessalonians – 0
• 1 Timothy – 0
• 2 Timothy – 0
• Titus – 0
• Philemon – 0
• Hebrews – 4
• James – 6
• 1 Peter – 1
• 2 Peter – 0
• 1 John – 0
• 2 John – 0
• 3 John – 0
• Jude – 1
• Revelation – 0
• 1 Corinthians – 46

Now simply counting the number of times a word appears can be a waste of time and numbingly academic.  Some facts are factually useless. I doubt there is a huge lesson to be learned by noticing that even though Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus about local congregations, he never used the term “body.” But consider again the extreme difference between 1 Corinthians and the rest of the New Testament books.  Several books never use the word “body.”  Only three books mention it up to the count of the teens (Matthew, Luke, Romans).  And then there is 1 Corinthians…46 times. Such an extreme dissimilarity and extreme repetition must mean something. Why did Paul use the term “body” so very often to the Corinthians? Before answering why, maybe it might be helpful to discover how the term is used in order to draw distinctions and comparisons.

How is the word used in 1 Corinthians?

• Paul’s bodily presence – 5:3 (this is probably the only one totally disconnected from all the others, and yet Paul still purposefully used it and yet maybe the connection is that Paul uses both “body” and “spirit” to describe himself)
• Physical body and sin – 6:13,16,18 (fornication, a huge problem in Corinth)
• Physical body and holiness – 6:19,20; 7:34 (body temple of the Holy Spirit)
• Physical body and marriage – 7:4
• Physical body and discipline – 9:27
• Physical body of Christ (L.S.) – 10:16; 11:24,27,29(?)
• Spiritual body of Christ (L.S.) – 10:17; 11:29(?)
• Spiritual body of Christ (church) – 12:12-20,22-25,27
• Physical body – 13:3 (physical body burned but without love nothing)
• Physical body and resurrection – 15:35,37,38,42,44

So why so much emphasis on “body?” Within NT letters, there is no church more troubled than the Corinthian church.  There is no church more instructed using the analogy and reality of the body than the Corinthian church.  Is this a coincidence?  They were troubled because their bodies, and their “body” did not “embody” Christ, His spirit or His physical body.

When you look at the variety of ways that the word “body” is used in 1 Corinthians, it might not appear as if there is any connection, after all an analogy can be stretched in many different directions.  And maybe that is true even of the analogy of the body in 1 Corinthians.  But I can’t help but think there is a connection.  And that connection is the connection of the spiritual Christ with the physical Christ.  By that I do not mean there were two different Christ’s.  And that’s the point.  Jesus Christ had a physical body and a Divine Spirit that when put together defined Him as the Son of God and at the same time the Son of Man. The divine was made flesh. There is a unity of spirit and body in Christ that is to be reenacted and exemplified in:

• Our Physical Bodies
• Our Spiritual Body as the church
• Our Memorializing Christ’s Body in the Lord’s Supper

His physical body is present among us today in the Lord’s Supper. His body housed His holy Spirit. His body is compared to another analogy, that of marriage. His body has been resurrected. But most importantly, His body was used for the glory and purpose of God.

Christ’s body was as pure as Christ’s spirit.  There is no divide between the two in purity, even if there is a divide between the two “naturally.”  Just as the body did what the Spirit commanded, the body did what the Head communicated. That unity and purity between body and spirit, the physical and divine, allowed Christ to be the Passover lamb.  That unity and purity is what defines our lives, our congregation, and the power and force of the Lord’s Supper.  Let’s look at some of the passages in 1 Corinthians which focuses on the body and hopefully be amazed at the unity of the spirit and the body.

Several times the word “body” is used in reference to the Lord’s Supper.  And here another number’s game we can play.  Which book in the New Testament speaks more on the Lord’s Supper than any other?  Again it is 1 Corinthians. I suggest to you that it is not only because they abused the Lord’s Supper, but also because the Lord’s Supper is a cure to their abuse of their bodies and the body of Christ.

The first time the word “body” is used in 1 Corinthians is in reference to Paul’s body (5:3). And yet, although this reference might be the only one without any real connection to the overall and overarching uses, within this chapter are many of the themes found elsewhere – i.e., physical bodies, our spirits, the body of Christ, and very possibly the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 HCSB  (1)  It is widely reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even condoned among the Gentiles–a man is living with his father’s wife.  (2)  And you are inflated with pride, instead of filled with grief so that he who has committed this act might be removed from among you.  (3)  For though absent in body but present in spirit, I have already decided about him who has done this thing as though I were present.  (4)  In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, along with my spirit and with the power of our Lord Jesus,  (5)  turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.  (6)  Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast permeates the whole batch of dough?  (7)  Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, since you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.  (8)  Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast, or with the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  (9)  I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people–  (10)  by no means referring to this world’s immoral people, or to the greedy and swindlers, or to idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.  (11)  But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a reviler, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.  (12)  For what is it to me to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are inside?  (13)  But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves.

Listed below are the rest of the uses of body found within 1 Corinthians.

• 1 Corinthians 5:3 NASB – For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
• 1 Corinthians 6:13 NASB – Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
• 1 Corinthians 6:16 NASB – Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:18 NASB – Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
• 1 Corinthians 6:19 NASB – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
• 1 Corinthians 6:20 NASB – For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
• 1 Corinthians 7:4 NASB – The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
• 1 Corinthians 7:34 NASB – and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
• 1 Corinthians 9:27 NASB – but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

What was command about every single use of the term “body?” It referred to the individual, physical body. We are about to see the switch in emphasis on how “body” is used.  That is why it is very important how we use our bodies outside. Much of the first part of 1 Corinthians in discussing the body is discussing the physical body of each individual Christian and its relationship to either sin or holiness.

We can never appreciate the spiritual application of us as the body of Christ if we do not first appreciate that our physical bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit much like Christ’s physical body housed His own holy Spirit.

• 1 Corinthians 10:16 NASB – Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
• 1 Corinthians 10:17 NASB – Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

The Three-fold body of Christ has the physical, representative, and spiritual.

• Incarnation – physical body and divine spirit
• Representative – physical bread and divine spirit (Christ with us)
• Church – Physical bodies and saved spirits

We can further examine this connection by remembering the emphasis on body and spirit. The Lord’s Supper has bread representative of the body. It is physical bread but spiritual meal. The church has a physical presence on earth with spiritual purpose from heaven.

Let’s see how the three-fold body of Christ keeps manifesting itself. The Lord’s Supper is the physical body of Christ represented in the representative “body” of Christ observed by the spiritual “body” of Christ

• 1 Corinthians 11:24 NASB – and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
• 1 Corinthians 11:27 NASB – Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 11:29 NASB – For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

How should we understand the use of “body” in 11:29? Does 11:29 include the three-fold body of Christ? An improper observation of the Lord’s Supper is an improper treatment of the body of Christ crucified, the body of Christ spiritualized, and the body of Christ memorialized.

Embroiled through all this is the concept of relationship.

• Relationship – physical body & representative body.
• Relationship – physical body & spiritual body.
• Relationship – spiritual body & representative body.

There is a unity of spirit and body in Christ that is to be reenacted and exemplified in our lives, individually and congregationally as we observe the Lord’s Supper. The Supper gives us our identity as the church. The Supper combines each body of Christ into 1 body. There is to be a purity and unification of our souls/spirits and bodies into one spiritual body purified in Christ.

Having seen the threefold body of Christ exemplified within the Lord’s Supper, maybe the other passages dealing with the body and its various meanings within 1 Corinthians might have a great spiritual impact upon us. Here they are and you will notice at the very next use within 1 Corinthians, the emphasis is on unity of purpose, each part working together for the good of the whole, something the Corinthians greatly lacked in their observance of the Lord’s Supper with each taking his own supper first.

• 1 Corinthians 12:12 NASB – For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB – For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 12:14 NASB – For the body is not one member, but many.
• 1 Corinthians 12:15 NASB – If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
• 1 Corinthians 12:16 NASB – And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
• 1 Corinthians 12:17 NASB – If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
• 1 Corinthians 12:18 NASB – But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
• 1 Corinthians 12:19 NASB – If they were all one member, where would the body be?
• 1 Corinthians 12:20 NASB – But now there are many members, but one body.
• 1 Corinthians 12:22 NASB – On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
• 1 Corinthians 12:23 NASB – and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
• 1 Corinthians 12:24 NASB – whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
• 1 Corinthians 12:25 NASB – so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
• 1 Corinthians 12:27 NASB – Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

Sometimes humor can help us better understand. To paraphrase our Head, the kingdom of God can be compared to a man who suffers from rebellious body parts. He who has ears to hear, let him hear the parable of the rebellious body:

“I never should have gone to the party, not feeling like I did. If I’d stayed at home, those headlines might never have appeared. I’d been wanting to get a new pair of glasses, needed to get some. I saw some that complemented my face, but I couldn’t get them and that new pair of shoes I’d been wanting, too. I got shoes.

“I noticed trouble brewing as I got dressed. My eyes started blurring on me. I should have gotten worried about that, but I was sidetracked when my left arm informed me it wasn’t going to the party. Said he was staying home to nurse a mild ache he’s had for a couple of weeks. I argued that he’d worked with the rest of my body with that same ailment for awhile now, why should that stop him tonight? He said he just wasn’t going. Of course, that meant I also lost the use of my left hand, as it had to go with the arm. Hand didn’t want to be “left out” either, but what can I do? I’ll miss those guys, I thought, as I left them behind. It would be hard to balance a plate and eat from it with just one hand, too.

“My vision worried me, once I got outside. It would blur, then focus, then blur again. I even suffered total blindness a few times that night. I guess my eyes were telling me they were upset by my decision to shoe the feet instead of getting new glasses. They never would talk to me about it, but I assume that was the problem. Those eyes of mine never have been good at talking things out. Guess I should be thankful they are eyes and not my mouth.

“Most of my body was glad to be at the party. Hand enjoyed clasping fellow hands in greetings. Feet were proud to move about the room, showing off the new shoes. Stomach was hungry and ears enjoyed the sounds of laughter, conversation, and music. In one of their clearer moments, eyes spotted a tempting dish on the table. Looked delicious. I’d never seen a dish like that. Nose took a whiff and declared it worth tasting. But when the spoon reached my mouth, teeth refused to open. They wouldn’t budge. I told them I was hungry, stomach was growling, eyes and nose chimed in, begging teeth just to try it. No way. Teeth said it didn’t matter if the whole body was for eating it; it had to get past them first. They’d never had that food and weren’t about to have it now. Even when I forced a bit past the clenched jaws, they barely chewed it, then declared they were spitting it out in five seconds, so I ran for a napkin. I had to give in. Teeth never gave that food a chance.

“It was then noticed I wasn’t hearing anything. Ears were on strike. Said nobody ever paid them any attention, so they were shutting down till they got some respect. I told them a lot of my body parts are like them—valuable, not always appreciated—but they weren’t listening to me, either. I was really having a hard time functioning now, trying to read lips through blurred eyes, unable to hear a thing. Stomach was steadily increasing volume in growling for food, but teeth insisted we only eat the same old stuff we could get every day at home.

“Suddenly, a pain ripped through my side. My intestines informed me that it was just a sample of what they were capable of inflicting. I asked what they wanted and was told I had hurt them by feeding on some raw peanuts. I assured them I’d eaten nothing that night, but they said this was a week ago. I’d hurt them and they wanted me to know it. They’d tried sulking about it, but when nobody noticed, they decided to make waves and get revenge. Boy, did they.

“I left the party, stumbling, bent over at the waist, not hearing the goodbyes of my hosts, hungry, angry at the parts of my body which made the evening a disaster. I went home, determined to see a doctor soon. I can’t go on living like this. (Parablius) 

The very next use reverts back to the very beginning, in talking about the individual physical body of the Christian. This time the emphasis is on even if it is used properly physically, but the purpose is missing the divine spiritual love, then the result is empty. Of course we can hear the echo of Christ’s crucifixion caused by His love within these words.

• 1 Corinthians 13:3 NASB – And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

And the final use the discussion on the resurrected body, both of Christ, and of ourselves.

• 1 Corinthians 15:35 NASB – But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
• 1 Corinthians 15:37 NASB – and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
• 1 Corinthians 15:38 NASB – But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own
• 1 Corinthians 15:42 NASB – So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
• 1 Corinthians 15:44 NASB – it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

I would like to close this lesson by going back to the beginning, not of 1 Corinthians, but of the gospel. Jesus incarnate. The Word becoming flesh. The emphasis will be on how we are to use our flesh in the same way as Christ used His. To live the gospel.

The Gospel is not words, parables, philosophies, or platitudes; although the gospel is told in all those forms. The gospel is flesh, lived in the flesh, suffered and triumphed in the flesh; the purpose to be ultimately imitated by us in our flesh.

That is the real transforming power of the gospel. God did not send a prophet or story teller only. God did not send just a teacher or philosopher. God sent God. The Father sent the Son in a form foreign to Himself to teach us how to live contrary to ourselves. And in living contrary to ourselves, the paradoxical truth is learned that in such living we live truly to ourselves. In denying ourselves we find ourselves. We learn to live like Jesus lived; and to die like Jesus died.

The weakness found in so many Christians’ lives is that the gospel is learned but not led; understood but not undertaken. To truly be a Christian, we must be Christ-like. Power is found in not just telling the story of the woman caught in adultery, but to be that woman, and to be the Christ who forgave her. Supremacy above self is discovered by not just seeing ourselves as the Pharisee who did not wash Jesus’ feet, but to become the woman who covered His feet with her tears. The weakness in so many of us is that we know the gospel story intellectually but fail to see the heart of it. The gospel is not just about knowing who Jesus is, but why Jesus came. It is more than just coming to save me, but encompasses coming to lead me to save others.

Too many Christians live weak lives because they fail to see the power in how the gospel story is told. It is told by being lived; and retold in us by being imitated to where the imitation becomes our reality. We become the gospel.

Is there a threefold body of Christ experience in baptism?  Absolutely.  We again have the physical body of Christ, our physical bodies, and the spiritual body the church.  Being baptized into the body of Christ, we are baptized into His spiritual body.

Tags: Communion, Sermon

This entry was posted by PHall on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 12:02 am and is filed under I Corinthians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.