The conversation turned to the Eucharist, and several of the Jewish folks present were making comments about eucharist-ish elements of Jewish life and worship in an appreciative manner. One Christian fellow made some fairly benign comment about the body metaphor in this connection, and pretty quickly a Jewish woman stood and suggested that “body” imagery tends to make Jews very nervous. This was confirmed by several of the other Jewish folks in the room.

I took that nervousness to be rooted in memories of Christendom (and the vestiges of Christendom) in which Jews, as paradigmatic others, are seen as a contagion, a foreign body to be expelled from “the body.”

Ever since, I’ve thought that it would be worthwhile to think carefully through the body metaphor in relationship to continuity/discontinuity between the people of God in the church and the people of God in Israel. Particularly in the theological connection between the Jewish body of Jesus (circumcised and baptized by John) and the mystical body of Christ in the church.

Jenson has some comments in a Pro Ecclesia article from a few years back that regard the metaphor as a positive site for overcoming supercessionistic thinking, but I’ve seen little else (not that I’ve been looking real hard.

But really, you should probably re-read some Sanctorum Communio.

For a “classical Reformed” eccleisology, MIchael Horton “People and Place” (it won an award from Christianity Today, which may or may not say much about it).

Tonight I am planning on finishing Webster’s dogmatic treatment of holiness. He devotes a chapter to the church, & while he doesn’t address the idea of the body of Christ directly for the most part, his perspective on the church is quite germane to this discussion. As I was reading it, the dialogue from the comments here kept popping up in my mind.

I would love to write up a post on this.

I’d be happy to contribute a small something on the kenotic body of Christ–especially with Lent and Holy Week looming on the horizon.