Christ has no body but yours
Christ has no body but yours
February 15th, 2026 – Communion Meditation
The Old Testament tells us that we, all of humanity, were united to Adam in creation. When Adam fell, we all fell in him. The New Testament tells us that in Jesus Christ we have been given a new identity.
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 – “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
In Christ we are no longer united to Adam; we have been brought into a new humanity. Don’t miss that. Because Christ died for all, we, the human race, have been brought into a new humanity. In Christ we have been given all the riches of God’s grace to transform us into his likeness. Ultimately, we will be brought into the fullness of union with Christ when we see him face to face.
I want to share two treasures with you concerning our union with Christ.
The first is from systematic theology scholar Sinclair Ferguson, “When Christ comes, he unites us to himself, first by taking on our flesh so that we can speak about an incarnational union—he bonds himself to us by taking our humanity. Then Christ does everything that is needed for our salvation, sends his Holy Spirit, and bonds us to himself by the Holy Spirit so that we begin to taste and enjoy everything that he has done for us.”
The second is from Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church, mystic, and reformer, who wrote this beautiful poem 500 years ago:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
The powerful truth of our union with Christ extends even to those we think of as enemies. We love our neighbor as ourselves not just because Jesus taught us to do so but because our neighbor is us. There is no exception to this call to love. In union with Christ, we put love into action, working with God to save and heal the world.
At the Last Supper, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to those with him and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Let us eat together.
Jesus then took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Let us drink together.
