Clothesline 288 "Body of Christ: Feet"

Over the six Sundays of Lent, we will be looking at The Body of Christ. I’m sure when you hear that you think of one of two things: the church family as the Body of Christ or His Body in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. But this Lenten series deals with exactly what it says: The Body of Christ, his physical body.

Have you ever given much thought to the “human” side of Jesus? Think about it… Even though He was a perfect God, He chose to become an imperfect man. And why did he do that? How else could he understand mankind, if he had not become man himself. How else could he appreciate the joy of relationships, or deal with the everyday stress and strain of life, or even the pain of losing a loved one unless he had experienced it all himself. Jesus’ relationship with us would be a total farce if he had not made the incredible choice to become fully man. He put aside his godliness and took on our imperfect body…all for the love of those he created. Can we ever understand such a love?

Let’s look at this human body of Jesus…in particular, his feet. They were definitely over-used! He walked hundreds of miles with his disciples with very little respite. My feet sometimes hurt after a long walk on a paved road, yet Jesus walked on the difficult roads of Israel for three years…and I’m sure he never had the opportunity to soak his hurting feet! I’m reminded of the one time someone cared for Jesus’ feet. A woman came into a home where Jesus was, washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. What an incredible imagine…a perfect God coupled with an imperfect woman…all in the image of love.

Our loving God in Jesus, who by virtue of being God, perfect in his divine nature, chose an imperfect nature—a human body like ours—to come to earth. He was born into it, he lived in it, and he died in it. He chose a body like ours and became God’s saving love to a sinful and broken world and he did it by using an imperfect, sometimes painful human body.

This week, while thinking of the feet of Jesus, remember the image of the Good Shepherd…the shepherd who rescues you from every possible danger. He is pleased to stand beside you, but what you don’t notice…are his feet. They are scratched and cut and bruised because he had to walk through briars and rocks to rescue you from the matted thicket in which you were caught.

Jesus promised he would take every step necessary to save you from this broken world. Make sure you thank him for his ever-present help—one step at a time.