I believe that God’s taking on a human body in the form of Jesus Christ, God’s own beloved child, sends a resounding, world-changing message: that God deeply and beautifully values our humanity and our physical bodies. God didn’t have to become human.
The body matters. Why else would Jesus have defeated death and the grave by coming back to life? He had his wounds to show his disciples that he was the person they knew. He wasn’t a ghost or a figment of their collective imagination. He ate meals to prove this, using his physical self to bear witness to who he really was and is—fully human and fully divine.
This, more than anything about my body as a temple of the Lord or the emphasis on my soul’s eternal nature, helps me to be grateful for my body. Studying how Jesus lived, died, and resurrected as a human being shows me that God values my physical self. That my body, as imperfect as it is, matters.
This message is excerpted from “What the Bible says about body image” by Jenna Pulkowski in the June 2021 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, missionary to Germany, martyr, 754.
Register before June 15 for the Just Love Gathering (in-person or online) and get the discounted early bird registration fee. Already registered? New info is being added to the website regularly, so stop by every week to see what’s been added.
Special note: The Daily Grace app will soon be retired. To avoid interruption, those who read Daily Grace in the app are encouraged to subscribe to receive Daily Grace via email.