To have a body

A thought I had this Christmas season ...

It is a glorious time of year to celebrate and reflect upon the greatness of our Lord to have come and become Jesus Christ for us - the infinite God unbound and unlimited in every aspect of character, metamorphed into the form of one of his own creations. A human being with muscles that cramp, a bladder that fills, a bowel system that moves, eyes that see, ears that listen, a voice that speaks in the physical realm of our world.

But what gets me lately is this: Jesus Christ still has a body! And many of you might say, yeah, so? SO! I have never before considered the ramifications of this aspect of our Lord's sacrifice. I have so often viewed Christ's life here as a gloriously humble life of a little over 30 years, death, a remarkable victory over death and sin and his life returned to him by God our Father with the body he was killed in, then taken from us to sit next to God in heaven. And then we focus on the Spirit coming to help us here, still bound and fettered by our fleshly vehicles until we too might ... might what? Become unfettered? With what did our Lord return to God in if not his body he was raised? Does not Jesus Christ still have his body on? And will he not now have this body wrapped around him for eternity?? Though not directly stated, it seems well implied that when Christ gave of his life, it was not only to gain the ability to die and return from death, but to forever live as we live, forever encased in flesh (a body that now lives forever without disease or death) and so forever upholding our case and need for life and compassion before our awesome God. "Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because jesus lives forever, he has a permanent preisthood. Therefore he is able to save those completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to interecede for them." Hebrews 7:23 - 25 "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. ... And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven." 1 Corinthians 15:42 - 44, 49. "Dear friends, now we are children of god, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2

These are some thoughts and it may be that I am in great error. And I will definitely plead a near inexhaustable amount of ignorance on this subject. But it seems to me that, though I do not consider Jesus to be any less limitlessly powerful or limited because of his eternal existance with a body, he made this part of the sacrifice for our salvation: to live forever as we are and will be and were intended to be.

Dust

I have lately been privileged to own a number of short teaching video's done by a young pastor by the name of Rob Bell. They have short misleading names like Flame or Noise or Bullhorn. They are all no longer than 15 minutes or so and focus on a simple theme or concept that Rob explores. They are quite insightful.

One particular video, Dust, is excellent. Through it I have gained a greater understanding of the relationship that Jesus Christ had with his disciples. The video gives some clear description of life in first century Palestine - (Spoiler warning - I am going to describe the video Dust here in detail). If you've never seen the video, I encourage you to do so. Rob begins by sharing what religious education was like for a young jew: first, around the age of 6 or so, young jews were expected to memorize the Torah (the first 5 books of the old testament) by the age of 10. Then at the age of ten they entered the next phase of religious education (each has it's name that I can neither pronounce or spell) wherein they are expected to memorize the REST of the old testament: all 30 some odd books - most of the bible. So then, at the age of around 15 or 16 or so, if they've done well and have shown great aptitude in this oral memorization, they would greatly desire to be apprenticed by any one of a number of Rabbi - religious teachers. The idea being that this young teenager, if they showed promise, would dedicate their life to becoming like their Rabbi! They would then begin to follow this Rabbi around everywhere, living with, eathing with, debating with, learning from this teacher. But only if the Rabbi first thought this young person had what it took to be like him. To become like the Rabbi. To carry his 'yoke', as they called it. If they young person was not shown to have promise to be like the Rabbi, didn't have what it took to become like the Rabbi, they would be encouraged to go home and take up the family trade or business.


Well, when Jesus approached Peter as he was fishing, he said, 'follow me'. That was what a Rabbi would say to a new apprentice who had just been accepted! The reality is, though, that Peter, fishing in the family trade with his father, was one of those who didn't make the cut ... he didn't have what it took to become an apprentice of a Rabbi. He was probably no older than 20 years old! And Jesus, a Rabbi, comes to him, and essentially says - 'I believe you can become like me - follow me'. No WONDER Peter just drops his nets and follows! This is the most coveted and honoured profession of his time and some respected and esteemed Rabbi comes to him and says these words. God is saying to him - I believe you can be like me!

Death

Why is it that when someone dies, those that go to honour that persons death tend to, it seems to me, over-exaggerate their life's good attributes. It's almost as though the deceased was always 'a friend to everyone!' and 'loved by all!'. They could never have done any wrong, it seems, while they were alive. When, as we all know, there is no perfect human being on this earth. I have no problem with respecting life and honouring people and what they've done for others. But why do we remember all these great things - or ...

Perhaps our perspective changes when someone dies, for a few brief moments, or for maybe close to a day or two. While we remember a beloved lost to us, maybe, just maybe, God has made it so that for a brief moment we have a glimpse into the true value of every human being - of that human being that we loved so dearly. And the only way we can seem to describe this new perspective is to hyperbolize their character and relationship to others.

Just a thought.

Haggard

Where the word came from as described in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. I have to admint, I have found myself spending a ridiculous amount of time reading Uncle John's while warming the porcelain throne.

"Haggard

Meaning: Appearing tired or worn out

Origin: 'When the Normans conquered England in 1066, they brought with them their own style of falconry. The Old French word falcon referred only to female hawks, while the male was called a tercel (that's where Toyota got it). A wild bird trapped for falconry was called a haggard. These haggards were often uncontrollable and difficult to train, an soon haggard was being used to describe unruly, intractable people, and, eventually, the gaunt appearance of an exhausted person.' (From Once Upon a Word, by Rob Kyff)"

Busyness and Morality

Would you agree with this statement: That we put an excessive moral value on the amount of activity we are engaged in ... that is, busyness. We feel pleased with ourselves somehow and are expecting others also to be busy and are somehow pleased with it. After a number of good discussions on this topic with a friend, I've come to view much of my busyness as actually at least somewhat detrimental to my livelihood and general health and wellbeing. There is no greater moral benefit to being busy to me and yet I feel a pressure around me from others to believe there is. Do you agree?