His Body

His Body

When I read the following I sat quietly for a few minutes reflecting on this thought. What a privilege to be part of His body.  I think it is a unique teaching of Muktiveda and it is a special privilege for every bhakta of the Lord.  In spite of all our differences, finally all the followers of the Lord are the members of His body and we are called to be His visible body on this earth.  Then I wrote this song [BT Song 538] reflecting this thought.  I need not compare this concept with other faiths. It is enough for us to realize our responsibility and be ‘His Image’ to this world.

This is from Fearfully and Wonderfully Made:

…We are what Jesus left on earth. He did not leave a book or a doctrinal statement or a system of thoughts; he left a visible community to embody him and represent him to the world.  The seminal metaphor, Body of Christ, hinted at by Christ and fully expanded by Pal could only arise after Jesus Christ had left the earth….Note that Paul, a master of simile and metaphor, did not say the people of God are “like the Body of Christ.”  In every place he said we are the Body of Christ. The Spirit has come and dwelt among us, and the world knows an invisible God mainly by our representation, our “enfleshment.”  “The Church is nothing but a section of humanity in which Christ has really taken form,” said Bonhoeffer { Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics (London: SCM Press, 1971), 64} (P.226) God is present in us, uniting us genetically to himself and to each other.  Where is God in the world?  What is God like”  We can no longer point to the Holy of Holies or to a carpenter in Nazareth.  We form God’s presence in the world through the indwelling of God’s Spirit. It is a heavy burden.— Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey, In the Likeness of God, The Dr. Paul Brand Tribute Edition of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image, Zondervan, 2004, 226-27

After World War II German students volunteered to help rebuild a cathedral in England, one of many casualties of the Luftwaffe bombings.  As the work progressed, debate broke out on how to best restore a large statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched and bearing the familiar inscription, “Come unto me.”  Careful patching could repair all damage to the statue except for Christ’s hands, which had been destroyed by bomb fragments.  Should they attempt the delicate task or reshaping those hands?

Finally the workers reached a decision that still stands today.  The statue of Jesus has no hands, and the inscription now reads, “Christ has no hands but ours.”

            I show you a mystery: “In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).–ibid.