The Body of Jesus

The body of Jesus was taken down from the cross. It was cold; lifeless; heavy.

They washed his body clean with water and anointed it with spices, wrapping it in a shroud from head to toe.

They laid his body in the cold, dark tomb and rolled the stone over the door. In the silence that followed, the body of Jesus did not stir.

Outside of the tomb, life went on as usual. Most people celebrated the Passover feast with their families, laughed with their friends, played with their children, argued with their neighbors, went through their normal, everyday lives, oblivious to the significance of the cross.

As the lifeless body of Jesus rested in the tomb, people wept for lack of hope.

As Jesus lay motionless, they suffered the unbearable pain of loneliness.
As Jesus’ body did nothing, they fainted from hunger.
As the body was unmoved, they cried out for mercy but no one answered them.

Later, people would claim that Jesus was alive. But when those in pain looked, the body of Christ was motionless.

Some shouted that Jesus had risen from the dead. But then some of those who were hungry noticed that the body of Jesus wasn’t concerned with their needs.

Others waved banners and sang songs about the resurrection of Jesus. But then those in prison wondered why the body of Jesus was still wrapped up and hiding behind a large stone wall.

Is the body of Jesus alive today? Or is the body of Jesus still nestled in the dark of the cold tomb?

We are the body of Jesus. If we want the world to know that Jesus is alive today, we are the physical evidence of his resurrection. If Jesus lives in us, then He must live through us.

If Jesus was truly alive today, where would He be found? In the houses of the poor; beside the beds of the HIV infected; holding the hands of the homeless; comforting the lonely; visiting the prisoner.

And if Jesus is there, wouldn’t it be strange for His body not to be there, too?

-kg

Signs of Life

Checking the pulse of Jesus.

Anything?

Is His Body still breathing? Are His lungs full of life?

Is His Body in motion? Does it still go to those same dark places where He once brought hope? Does His Body still soothe the broken heart? Does His Body still reach out and touch those who are forgotten and lonely?

Tell me, is the Body of Christ still stretching out arms of love and forgiveness to those who need it most, but deserve it least?

Listen for the heartbeat of Jesus. Do you hear anything? Are His vital signs growing stronger? Or are we losing Him?

Just how strong is the heart of Jesus beating within the bosom of His Body today? Is the Body full of compassion for the orphan and the widow? Is the Body of Christ acquainted with grief? Is His Body still weeping with those who weep and comforting those who mourn? Who does the Body of Christ cradle in loving arms today? The AIDS orphan? The Cancer victim? The Afghan mother who lost her husband? The Iraqi Grandfather who lost his family? The motel children who have no food? The illegal immigrant who goes to bed hungry every night?

Look at His Hands. Are they still open and accepting, or do they clench tightly into hardened fists? Are the hands of Jesus still motioning for wayward disciples to put away their swords? Are His hands still reaching out to heal the wounds of those who have been caught in the crossfires of war and hate? Where are His hands?

Look at His feet. Do they still walk the same alleyways where the drunkards stumble and the prostitutes sell their bodies to support their children? Are His feet still taking Him to mother’s who have lost their only sons? Do His feet ever cross the threshold of poverty? Do His feet carry Him to the addict or the prisoner? Where are His feet?

Examine His Body. Can you tell me how healthy it is? Does His cleansing blood still flow powerfully through veins that intersect and refresh every capillary? Is every part of the Body of Christ nourished and fed by His healing and holy blood, or are there parts of His Body that are suffering and forgotten today? Are there members that are beginning to fall off due to abuse, or neglect?

I hear people saying that this Jesus who died for the sins of the world on a Roman cross is alive again. Is it really true? I know they host concerts to sing about it. They publish books about it. But the best evidence for the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is simply to look at His Body and tell me what you see. Are there any signs of life? Is Jesus still laying motionless in the dark safety of the tomb with the stone rolled firmly in place? Is He licking his wounds in the darkness, or is He full of joy and life? Is He out in the real world with the rest of us?

Is it possible that Jesus is actually still walking this Earth today? Is it really possible that the life of Christ continues to thrive in every corner of this globe? When we look at His Body do we see that same vibrant, active spirit of love and mercy in the flesh? Is the Body of Christ visible? Is the Body of Christ moving along the same paths of restoration and hope as before?

Can someone show me Jesus today? If I can see Him, then maybe I could believe that He is still alive. If I can see His Body. If I can touch His Body. If I can experience the presence of Jesus in such a tangible and authentic way, then I will believe that this Jesus who died is now alive forevermore.

So, before you try to convince me that Jesus is Risen, please just show me His Body and let me examine it. Then I will know if He is really alive.

Has Christ risen from the dead? Is He alive and breathing today?

Tell me what you see.

-kg

HOLY WEEK

Honestly, I really love Holy Week. Every year I look forward to this time because it always moves me and reminds me of God's amazing participation in human history because of His great love for each of us.

This year, as we've done the last 4 years, our house church family will gather to observe the various touchstones of Holy Week and particpate in the Passion of our Lord together.

Here's what we have in store starting on Monday of the coming week:

Passover Seder - On Monday evening we will share a Passover Seder dinner together to remember that God ordained the fulfillment of the shadows in the exodus - thousands of years in advance. I am always moved to tears we we see Christ revealed in the Passover Seder. Who taught the Jewish nation to observe this Passover? God did. Who told them what day to remember this? God did. Who fulfilled the promise of the Passover Lamb? God did. Wow. Not only this, but Jesus fulfilled all of these promises on the very day - even the very hour - thousands of years after the first Exodus, just exactly as God had promised. Awesome.

Good Friday - On Friday, we host an interactive and meditative experience in our home. People enter quietly and visit several stations spread throughout our home. They drive nails into wood, they hold a crown of thorns, they taste vinegar, they tear cloth, they cast lots for Christ's robe, they partake in the break and the wine (juice for kids), and they reflect on the sacrifice Christ made for them by dipping their hands in red paint and placing their handprint on a white sheet of paper. Afterwards we sit quietly in the dark, holding candles, and sing songs of thanksgiving, share scriptures remembering His sacrifice for us, and extinguish candles one by one with a word of grateful remembrance. All exit in silence.
Note: To see photos of the stations from our previous Good Friday meditations just click HERE

Easter - On Resurrection Sunday we meet in a local park early in the morning, sing songs of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord and share together about how we (the Body of Christ) must be alive and moving in the World we live in if we are to bear witness to the living Christ within. Then we go back to our house and we have the kids make "Resurrection Rolls" as an object lesson. The kids take a marshmallow which symbolizes Jesus and we tell them that, after his death on the cross, his body was annointed with oil (and they roll in it melted butter) and spices (they sprinkle it with cinnamon) and then he was wrapped in a shroud (they wrap the marshmallow in crescent roll dough). Then we bake these in the oven and when they come out the retain their shape (rounded humps of dough). When you break them open they are hollow - the tomb is empty! *Plus they are totally delicious to eat. :)

What does your church family do to celebrate and observe the Passion of our Lord during Holy Week? I'd love to know. Share it here in the comments, please.

Blessings,
Keith

RISEN?

We as Christians have an unusual fascination with the death of Jesus. I know that what Jesus did for us, on the cross, is an astounding act of love and sacrifice. Without this, none of us would have any hope, and yet Paul the Apostle declares that, "..if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (I Cor.15:17)

I wonder if our fascination with his death has something to do psychologically with our view of what it means to be a Christian?

For instance, the modern church, especially in America, can't seem to go on enough about the death of Jesus. It seems that all the television preachers can talk about is the fact that, "Jesus died on the cross for your sins".

When a Christian person is interviewed on television or stands to talk about Jesus, inevitably the only thing they can find to say is that, "Jesus loves you and he died on the cross for your sins".

At times it all starts to sound monotonous and cliche. I can almost hear the lost saying, "So what?"

The message we send most loudly to the world is the idea that Jesus died.

Even the most prominent media message in our lifetime, Mel Gibson's mega-evangelistic "Passion Of The Christ", which was dubbed "The Greatest Evangelical Message in Two Thousand Years", was all about the death of Jesus. The resurrection scene at the end was so vague and quick that most of us, even those of us who know the story, were left going, "Huh? What just happened?"

At Easter this overt focus on the death of Jesus is most noticeable. For me, when we spend those two weeks before and after Easter talking about the irrefutable fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it almost seems strange. Like, "Oh yeah! He DID rise from the dead, didn't he?", as if this most historically provable event is something we need to be reminded of, but only once a year.

This has got me thinking. Why is it that we focus so much on the death of Jesus and very little on the resurrection of Jesus? I mean, why isn't the resurrection the main thing we talk about? Why don't we go around proclaiming that "Jesus is Risen!" and argue with people about the fact that there's no refuting the fact of Easter?

Here's my theory:

We, the Church, are the Body of Christ. We are the physical representation of Jesus in the world today, and I think we're more comfortable being the "Body at Rest" than the "Body in Motion".

As the Body of Jesus, we're more comfortable in the dark of the tomb, wrapped in our own shroud, meditating on this death of our Lord, with the stone rolled shut across the door.

We ignore that what we are called to do, as the living Body of Jesus, is to go out and proclaim, demonstrate and testify with our lives the awesome miracle that "Jesus is Alive!" and that we are living examples of this fact.

What I long for is the day when we are bold enough to declare, as one people, with one voice, that Jesus is Alive, and that our conduct in the world would bear witness to this fact.

Our inactivity, our apathy, our aversion to serve others and live out the compassion of Jesus, sadly proclaims that Jesus is dead.

It's when we live for Him, when we continue to love the way He did, when our lives are in sync with His, that we proclaim by our actions that, yes, indeed, Jesus is really alive!

Is Jesus really alive? Has He really come to live in your life? And how would anyone know this to be true if you never actually demonstrated the life and love and ministry of Jesus in your own life?

Do we, as individual followers of Jesus, feel safer within the quiet of the tomb? Or are we willing, even eager, to roll away the stone and begin to live the truth of the power of the Gospel?

If we, the Body of Jesus, do not act as a living Jesus would, within this world, loving those He loved, sharing with those He spent time with, continuing His ministry of transformation, then we do not demonstrate that Jesus is alive, we simply testify that He has died.

What we must do is to wake ourselves from our slumber, shake off the apathy, and begin to proclaim, with our own lives, that Jesus is truly alive.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing."- John 14:12

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."- 1 John 2:6

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Peace,
Keith
www.keithgiles.com

**
Originally sent to the faithful subscribers of the [subversive underground] newsletter on Monday, March 20, 2006

RESURRECTION SUNDAY 2009

Once again we met in El Camino Real park near our home with our Mission House Church family to worship, share and read God's Word together in celebration of our Risen Lord.

It was a bit sad that Mary Anne wasn't with us this year, and a few other families were out of town, but for those who did gather together, it was a blessing to be together.

I'm reminded of how we are called to be the ambassadors of Christ to the world. I'm not so good at it, frankly. I'm still learning how to love as Jesus loved and give and forgive as He has forgiven me.

This is the journey, I guess... and I wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone else but these awesome people.

Shalom,
kg

RISEN?

We as Christians have an unusual fascination with the death of Jesus. I know that what Jesus did for us, on the cross, is an astounding act of love and sacrifice. Without this, none of us would have any hope, and yet Paul the Apostle declares that, "..if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (I Cor.15:17)

I wonder if our fascination with his death has something to do psychologically with our view of what it means to be a Christian?

For instance, the modern church, especially in America, can't seem to go on enough about the death of Jesus. It seems that all the television preachers can talk about is the fact that, "Jesus died on the cross for your sins".

When a Christian person is interviewed on television or stands to talk about Jesus, inevitably the only thing they can find to say is that, "Jesus loves you and he died on the cross for your sins".

At times it all starts to sound monotonous and cliche. I can almost hear the lost saying, "So what?"

The message we send most loudly to the world is the idea that Jesus died.

Even the most prominent media message in our lifetime, Mel Gibson's mega-evangelistic "Passion Of The Christ", which was dubbed "The Greatest Evangelical Message in Two Thousand Years", was all about the death of Jesus. The resurrection scene at the end was so vague and quick that most of us, even those of us who know the story, were left going, "Huh? What just happened?"

At Easter this overt focus on the death of Jesus is most noticeable. For me, when we spend those two weeks before and after Easter talking about the irrefutable fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it almost seems strange. Like, "Oh yeah! He DID rise from the dead, didn't he?", as if this most historically provable event is something we need to be reminded of, but only once a year.

This has got me thinking. Why is it that we focus so much on the death of Jesus and very little on the resurrection of Jesus? I mean, why isn't the resurrection the main thing we talk about? Why don't we go around proclaiming that "Jesus is Risen!" and argue with people about the fact that there's no refuting the fact of Easter?

Here's my theory:

We, the Church, are the Body of Christ. We are the physical representation of Jesus in the world today, and I think we're more comfortable being the "Body at Rest" than the "Body in Motion".

As the Body of Jesus, we're more comfortable in the dark of the tomb, wrapped in our own shroud, meditating on this death of our Lord, with the stone rolled shut across the door.

We ignore that what we are called to do, as the living Body of Jesus, is to go out and proclaim, demonstrate and testify with our lives the awesome miracle that "Jesus is Alive!" and that we are living examples of this fact.

What I long for is the day when we are bold enough to declare, as one people, with one voice, that Jesus is Alive, and that our conduct in the world would bear witness to this fact.

Our inactivity, our apathy, our aversion to serve others and live out the compassion of Jesus, sadly proclaims that Jesus is dead.

It's when we live for Him, when we continue to love the way He did, when our lives are in sync with His, that we proclaim by our actions that, yes, indeed, Jesus is really alive!

Is Jesus really alive? Has He really come to live in your life? And how would anyone know this to be true if you never actually demonstrated the life and love and ministry of Jesus in your own life?

Do we, as individual followers of Jesus, feel safer within the quiet of the tomb? Or are we willing, even eager, to roll away the stone and begin to live the truth of the power of the Gospel?

If we, the Body of Jesus, do not act as a living Jesus would, within this world, loving those He loved, sharing with those He spent time with, continuing His ministry of transformation, then we do not demonstrate that Jesus is alive, we simply testify that He has died.

What we must do is to wake ourselves from our slumber, shake off the apathy, and begin to proclaim, with our own lives, that Jesus is truly alive.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing."- John 14:12

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."- 1 John 2:6

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Peace,
Keith
www.keithgiles.com

**
Originally sent to the faithful subscribers of the [subversive underground] newsletter on Monday, March 20, 2006