THE
LIVING
WORD
Reading Scripture from the Heart of the Church
Flesh, the Instrument of Our Salvation
M
Dr. Mary Healy
any religions and philosophies
throughout history have sought to
provide an escape from the “fleshiness”
of human existence. Biblical revelation, in
contrast, attributes an astonishing value and
importance to the flesh. Indeed, God’s respect
for the human body has scandalized some
who would prefer that God act on a purely
spiritual plane.
A Great Paradox
The flesh is the physical dimension of our
existence, that which we have in common
with animals. In biblical thought, flesh thus
stands for the fragility and weakness of what
is human in contrast to what is of God. “All
flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the
flower of the field” (Is 40:6). But because of
our common
descent from
one couple,
the flesh is also
the basis of
human kinship,
forming a powerful bond. Adam expresses this
fact in his hymn of joy upon encountering his
bride: “This at last is bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh!” (Gen 2:23). Paul alludes
to it when he expresses his affection for the
Israelites, “my kinsmen according to the flesh”
(Rom 9:3).
In the New Testament, the flesh becomes the
bearer of a great paradox. The flesh represents all
that is most ungodlike about human existence.
Yet John proclaims the unfathomable truth
that “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). The
Son of God took on human existence with
all its weakness so as to make it a bearer of
his own divine life. He came not to remove
our fleshliness but to redeem and divinize it.
Through his death and resurrection, his flesh
becomes the very instrument of our salvation.
As Paul expressed it, “sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, God
condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3). The
futility of human flesh is changed into the lifegiving power of the flesh of Christ.
Source of Life
In the Gospels, Jesus shows his care
for the human body by healing people of
disease and disability. Often he does so in
a shockingly “fleshly” manner. He spits,
forms clay, touches people’s hands or
tongues or eyes or ears. His healings reveal
the sacramentality of matter—its ability to
be a visible sign and instrument of divine
grace. They also reveal that salvation involves
the whole human being, soul and body.
The ultimate sign of God’s care for the
flesh is the Resurrection, in which Christ’s
flesh was not
jettisoned but
transformed,
as ours will be
on the last day
(Lk 24:39; Phil
3:21). From then on, Christ’s divinized flesh
is the source of our life, as Jesus promised:
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the
last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:54-55).
In the sacraments, Christ’s flesh continues
to touch ours. As the early church theologian
Tertullian wrote, “The flesh is the hinge of
salvation. . . . The flesh is washed so that the
soul may be made clean. The flesh is anointed
so that the soul may be consecrated. The flesh
is signed so that the soul may be protected.
The flesh is overshadowed by the laying on of
hands so that the soul may be illumined by
the Spirit.
“The flesh feeds on the body and blood of
Christ,” Tertullian continues, “so that the soul
too may be filled with God.”
“His healings reveal that salvation involves
the whole human being, soul and body.”
Dr. Mary Healy is
associate professor of
Sacred Scripture at
Sacred Heart.
Read Mosaic online at mosaic.shms.edu.
36
MOSAIC