“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me.”
Hebrews 10:5 (RSV)
God, the Father, who is invisible, planned for our Savior to have a visible body of flesh and blood. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary’s womb and His body was created from her DNA, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The eternal Word became flesh and inherited her physical features. Jesus probably looked exactly like His mother, except for being a man.
So there He was, the visible Son of God, fully divine because of the Holy Spirit and fully human because of the mother God created for Him.
God clothed His only Son in a human body, and with that body, He would touch and save the world, becoming our sacrificed Lamb. The body the Father gave Him, served a twofold purpose, to save us, and to express God’s own love for us.
Many of the miraculous healings Jesus performed, involved Him touching others or being touched by others. Every miracle Jesus did could have been done by the invisible God, but He wanted it done through His son.
He prepared Jesus’ body so that people could encounter Him physically. He let His feet get washed with tears of gratitude. He allowed His head to be lovingly bathed in oil. His arms held little children on His lap, talking to them and making them laugh. With His body, He became engaging and approachable to all. He hugged friends and strangers, putting His arms around them, touching all who received Him.
God intended for His son to be more than a leader or a public speaker, He intended to draw people close to His heart, both physically and spiritually. With His hands He touched the eyes of the blind, and they received sight. He touched the hand of a little dead girl, and she opened her eyes and rose from the dead. A woman who was bent over and crippled for years, stood up straight when Jesus laid His hands on her. He touched the lepers, who no one else would dare to touch, and they were all healed.
His hands did more than physically heal, they spiritually resurrected and transformed many lives, like Matthew, the tax collector, who left his materialistic driven lifestyle to become His disciple. Mary Magdalene was given a new life, being delivered from demonic possession, and prostitutes surrendered and changed their lives to follow Jesus.
Without having a human body, to touch humanity with, these moments of touching, feeling, healing and freeing, would not be as beautiful.
Those hands that brought so much love, joy, wholeness and healing, were the same hands nailed to a cross. The feet that walked toward the outcasts were pierced with nails, and the eyes that looked at people with such compassion, were in a sacred head that was pierced with a crown of thorns.
His Father prepared the body of His son for us, knowing exactly what His body would undergo. The blood that poured from Jesus was the same blood type of Mary, according to God’s deliberate plan. There was divine planning in every aspect and detail of that body which was prepared for all of us.
Jesus’ body was God’s love letter to the world. He is God’s greatest expression of the Father’s love for us. Since God prepared and gave the world His son, by giving us His body, in every possible way, how could we doubt that He still desires intimacy with people today? Every love letter requires a response and God is still waiting for the response from many, to His love letter.
We may have missed out in being among those who touched Jesus, since we weren’t there to experience being hugged by Him, but He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He still touches people spiritually, and wants us to reach out and receive all He has to give us today.
Lord, we are thankful for your body that was prepared for us. You were born of Mary, lived among people in this world, then suffered and died for us. Your same body was resurrected for us, and it will be the same body that returns one day, in glorified form, among the clouds, to take your people home with you for all eternity. Amen