Jesus Loves His Body
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When we feel pain in our body (whether it be heart ache, a broken hand, stubbed toe), that does not make us hate our body does it? We are not going to stab our heart If it hurts us will we? We are not going to cut our hand or toe off it I s broken or in pain will we? Rather we care for it and try to sooth/heal the injured part so as to bring comfort to the whole body.
In the same way, we are Jesus body. Thus, He feels our pain when we our hurt. At times, we may even cause Him pain. Still, He does not wish to cause us pain in recompense for He would only be hurting Himself. Instead, He comforts us and tends to our wounds so that His pain can subside in return. As it says in 2 Timothy 2:13, If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
How do we apply this lesson to our present circumstances? Just because you may feel alone and heart broken right now does not mean that Jesus has left you nor has He forgotten about you. In fact, he feels your pain just as if it is His own for we are so interconnected with Him.
That being said, this does not give us license to cause Him pain with impunity. Just like it may be necessary to cut off ones hand if it has become infected with gangrene beyond recovery, so too we may be subject to being severed from the body if we pose potential spiritual harm to the rest of the body members. Even so, there is still hope for reattachment after amputation. (Compare Romans 11:11-24; 1 Corinthians 5; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:17-18)
As Jesus said, It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into [Lake of Fire]. (Matthew 5:30) Basically, Jesus will not put the entire body in jeopardy for the sake of a member that clearly has no regard for the health of the other members.
After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. - Ephesians 5:29, 30
Categories: Jesus, Exegetical Studies, Survival of the Faithful