04-05-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
April 5, 2024
There were a lot of confused folks in regard to the resurrected Jesus; at least that’s the implication when I read Jesus saying to his disciples, “Ghosts don't have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). Those words were probably important a century later, when a group began to push what is called Gnosticism. That is a term used to describe a large swath of ideas, but much of it was based around the words from Mark 4, where it speaks of Jesus taking some time to privately teach his disciples, offering them more information than what he shared publicly (vs.34). Many within the Gnostic movement believed they had special teachings and insights that were not recorded in the four Gospels. These teachings emphasized an internal search, often presenting a sharp dichotomy between the world of matter and the world of spirit, which included the ideal of escaping the world in pursuit of spiritual things. They understood Jesus to be the quintessential example of one who had reached spiritual perfection, and thus he did not have a physical body. That, of course, complicated the crucifixion, as bodiless people do not die.


Sorry, but that was a convoluted way of setting the stage for an interesting statement by the resurrected Jesus about having flesh and bones. Gnosticism was not yet around in any sort of formal expression at the time of Jesus, yet there were forms of Greek philosophy that held a strong dualistic thought, even some implying the spirit is the ideal. Could Jesus have been seeking to counter such thinking, or were there those who accused the Jesus followers of seeing what they wanted to see—seeing what was nothing more than a ghost?

For me (and let’s emphasize the ‘me’ part), the question presented here: What does it mean to be alive? I appreciate Rob Bell, who has done both a video and a book under the title “Everything Is Spiritual.” It is hard to completely move away from dualism: spirit vs. body, good vs. bad, light vs. dark, but I am trying to live in a mindset that does not immediately jump to strict either/or. Spirit vs. body has given us all kinds of negative thoughts about the human body; it is even the basis of unhealthy perceptions around sex, at least in some circles. What if the spirit/body divide is nothing more than a human construct? What if the human experience is one, like the language we attempt to use to describe the Trinity? We are one, whole, and inseparable, and though we might use language to help us parse and to seek an understanding of what it means to be human, what we describe as different aspects of our humanity cannot be at odds with one another. We are who we are, flesh and spirit woven together in an inseparable tapestry of life.

Holy God, O Model of Oneness, we celebrate this thing we call life, allowing our curiosity to explore what it means to be a human being created in your image. In our own journey toward a greater understanding of health, may we strive to know the perfect relationship of love that exists within the divine nature. This we ask in the name of Jesus, the one brought back to life with skin and bone. Amen.