And he is the head of the body, the church …
Summary: Paul points us to an important fact about the church: Jesus is the head!
In this passage, Paul writes that Jesus is the “head of the body,” and then he equates “the body” to “the church.”
This is an important point.
Paul often speaks in metaphors. He can, at times, be confusing. It helps to take advantage of passages like this one to help “decode” what he is talking about. For example, in his letter to the Church at Rome, he writes:
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5)
In our personal lives, it is easy to forget this. We can become confused and associate the church with a building or a particular faith tradition.
Paul is clear. Jesus is the head of the body. This does not mean that there are no authorities in the church body. True authorities are easy to spot. Jesus, himself, tells us how to recognize them when he says, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
Jesus, of course, is the perfect example of this.
Nowhere in the Gospels do we see him pointing to himself as an authority. In fact, Jesus is so humble about who he is that the Pharisees are continually pressuring him to clearly state who he is.
The Body of Christ functions the same way.
We each look to Jesus for daily guidance and sustenance, both spiritual and physical. Jesus is both our shepherd and our redeemer. Shepherds don’t tell sheep what to do. They serve the sheep by leading them to water and pasture, all the while watching over them. As sheep, we all have the same master and we all know his voice.
Application: Seek Jesus, and when you find him, follow.
Food for Thought: What happens to a church when its members learn to listen to Jesus and obey?
What happens to a church when its members learn to listen to Jesus and obey?
Unity!!!!! A happy shepherd, or a less stressed shepherd.
Thank you, Tim!
Unity is soooo very important! John quotes Jesus saying:
“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
— John 17:23
Unity is the hallmark of the Lord’s church.
We don’t get lost running around in the woods
Thank you, Anon!
Very true! 🙂
What happens to a church when its members learn to listen to Jesus and obey?
Christ is seen in all we do.
2 Corinthians 4:11, For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Philippians 1:21, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Thank you, Ron!
It is great to be reminded that our job is to be a lamp for the LIGHT of CHRIST!
Good devotion and I like the comments made so far: unity and direction and purpose [or whatever the opposite of lost is 🙂 ].
A thought that came to my head when I read the question was an old quote by Chabrias (by Plutarch) that used to get thrown around when I was in the military:
“an army of deer commanded by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions commanded by a deer”
In the church, when its members learn to listen to Jesus and obey, we are all commanded by the Lion of Judah.
Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
In kneeling before the King, we are given the wisdom in His commands. Jesus has demonstrated to us His righteousness and victory over death and sin. In following His commands we can be assured of the same victory.
1 Corinthians 1:24: “But to us who are called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Colossians 2:3: “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
In the united body of Christ, in obedience to Him, He brings life to His words:
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Thank you, Chris!
Great conclusion: With God all things are indeed possible!
Jesus never points to himself as an authority? We are reading different scriptures!
John 4 – Jesus not only claims to have living water, but has the authority of correcting everyone’s understanding of how worship for God will be conducted in the future, and claims to be the Messiah.
John 11:25 — Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies”
John 14:6 — Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Mat 16:16-19 – Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 8:26 — He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Luke 11 – He rebukes the Pharisees.
Every time He forgives sins, He is claiming authority.
Every time He heals, He is claiming authority. On the Sabbath, even more so.
Mark 1:27 — They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
The Pharisees needed Jesus to make certain claims in a specific way to legitimately charge Him with a crime, they had a problem with His authority and looked for ways to stop Him.
Hi, hope you are well. I am little confused by your first couple of statements “Jesus never points to himself as an authority? We are reading different scriptures!” Could you please elaborate a little as to why you say that?
The first is a statement quoted from the blog post this morning. The second is my astonishment because that is not what I see in scripture, followed by a list of scriptures where everything Jesus is saying and doing is ‘screaming’ “I have the power and authority, listen to my teaching”
Thank you for your response! When I read that paragraph, I understood it to mean that although Jesus is given authority by God, He demonstrates that authority in His life, and in the life He gives us. I think the verses you shared are a testimony to that. Even though in John 1 we read that the Word was with God and was God, all things were made through Him, and Jesus Himself gives glory to God in His teachings. I believe the point of the statement is that Jesus demonstrates humility for mankind, in that He recognized His authority comes from God. He did not build Himself up, but gave glory to the One who sent Him.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
John 17:2. Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
Thank you, Angela.
You are quite correct! I worded my point poorly. I was trying to draw a contrast between people who put themselves first and people who put themselves last.
In Jesus’ case, he is making statements of fact. When he says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” he is speaking the truth. He is not making a “claim” or pointing to himself as someone who is “important” in any sense related to ego.
( I see that Chris has already commented on this.)
I sincerely appreciate you making this point and I apologize for the oversight. Language can be tricky, and I strive to keep a neutral tone to my writing. In this case I allowed my thoughts to get pigeon-holed in a particular perspective.
As a post script, I would add that I see another statement that can be taken several ways. I wrote:
“Shepherds don’t tell sheep what to do.”
In my mind, I was thinking literally. Shepherds do not talk to sheep as we talk to each other, or even as someone might talk to their dog. Sheep don’t learn “tricks” as far as I know. They tend to go their own way.
What I didn’t mean was that “shepherds” in the sense of church leaders should not tell their parishioners what to do.
Here again this falls into two categories.
There are those shepherds who speak Scripture to the people, like Pr. Rich, and in my personal experience others who make authority claims not based on Scripture.
Hebrews 13:17 says “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.”
Where those in authority rely on Scripture, the people in their care can have confidence in what they teach.