church of Christ at 26th and Connecticut
Joplin, Missouri

Phone
417-781-2326

1819 E 26th
Jopin, MO  64804

   Worship Schedule

Sunday
    Bible Class              9 am
    Morning Worship    10 am
    Evening Worship      6 pm

Wednesday
     Devotional & Class   7 pm

Upcoming Activities

THE BODIES OF JESUS

His Earthly Body

In Hebrews, we read, “when Christ came into the world, he said to God, ‘You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.  But you have given me a body to offer’” (Heb. 10:5 NLT).  We also read, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death” (Heb. 2:14 NLT).  In fact, this body is just like yours and mine—“it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters” (Heb. 2:17 NLT).

His Heavenly Body

The Bible teaches that there’s a great day coming when our bodies will be resurrected and changed—changed into bodies that are suited to be in heaven.  Paul wrote:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50-53 ESV). 

Well, this “imperishable” body, this “immortal” body that Paul is describing is the same body that Jesus now has.  Paul elsewhere wrote, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philip. 3:20-21 ESV).  And John wrote, “what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2 ESV).

The Church

Paul plainly said to the Ephesians, “The church is Christ’s body” (Ephesians 1:23 NIRV).  He also told them, “There is one body” (Ephes. 4:4 ESV).  And he told them, “Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Ephes. 5:23 ESV).  Likewise, writing to the church in Corinth, Paul said, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27 ESV).  He also told them how one gets into this body—baptism: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13 ESV).

The Bread of the Lord’s Supper

Lastly, Jesus Himself spoke of the bread of the Lord’s Supper as being His body.  Matthew writes:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:26-29 ESV).

Notice that after Jesus calls the beverage “my blood,” he goes on to call it “this fruit of the vine.”  This indicates that the beverage was not literally blood.  Literally, it was fruit of the vine.  But symbolically, it was blood.  Thus, the bread also is not literally Jesus’ body.  But it symbolizes Jesus body.  And just as the worshipper should think of Jesus’ blood when drinking the fruit of the vine, so the worshipper should think of Jesus’ body when eating the bread.  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26 ESV).