I think Jesus was serious when he said: “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and do not drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him to life on the last day.” “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit, for you can do nothing without me.”
Saint Paul apparently believed Jesus. “You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ.” “All of you are Christ’s body, and each one is a part of it.” “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ. When he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory.” “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” “And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings, I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ’s sufferings on behalf of his body, the Church.” “As far as the Law is concerned, you have also died because you are part of the body of Christ; and now you belong to him that was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God.”
John in Revelation wrote: “For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it.” “Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” “And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.”
I can imagine this bride, bonded to Jesus, as it formed through the years. First there were those who, through Baptism, had died to the old human nature and had risen, still in this life, but now within the mortal flesh of Jesus that is still suffering because sin is still operating in this world. They are joined to Christ in his suffering. They were the first fruits as also were those who had been killed as Jesus had been killed, martyred pursuing the mission of Jesus the Savior. At first they were a very small number but now, centuries later, they are a vast multitude from every nation and every tongue.
I can visualize this bride of Christ, his Mystical Body, where Christ, even in his divinity, resides, the new Temple not built by human hands, the new holy city, the new Jerusalem as it will appear in eternity. These human members of his Church are united to Christ’s body, his blood, his soul and his divinity, becoming one thing with many parts, all working in unison doing the Father’s will to, throughout the Church age, bring salvation to all. Anyone lost in sin and overwhelmed by guilt can appeal to this presence of the Savior for forgiveness and rescue.
Maurice A. Williams
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