Again, more from Walter Wink and the "son of Man" or the "Human Being." Wink again draws on T.W. Manson.
When Jesus speaks of the suffering of the Human Being...he means something in which he and his followers would share (Mark 8:34-35). "By dying Jesus has brought the Son of Man into existence, given to that dream-figure a body, a local habitation, and a name. It is the Church, his own body, of which he is the head."
This is quite like the material on "indwelling" that was used several weeks ago. There is a real close bond - a sharing - a life so together...it is one life. So the community becomes the body that leads us into the day. The Human Being and the suffering of that one is not isolated to Jesus. Jesus is for us the ground of the image and the life but it now becomes us...all of us. There is to be nothing other-worldly about this image. Rather, because we know of this life and suffering in the shape of the one we call Lord, Jesus, we come to see and understand how this Human Being takes shape among us. I would say that we are pulled into Jesus' presence and the Holy Spirit begins to make us into such a Humankind. In the meantime, we retell the stories of Jesus in order to see again the life we are handed in his name. Church is not a building - as the song goes - it is the people who are alive in the shape of the one who is alive and down to earth in all those stories of healing and compassion and, yes, suffering.
Connection: Stepping into the life of the Human Being is always an adventure because it is always unfolding in new ways within the contexts of our lives. We are able to look back at how Jesus was this Human Being in his day...in his way. We, on the other hand, are still within the story of our lives and today is part of that journey.
Come again, O God, and help us to remember the gift we have been given and the gift of life we bring to the world as we are empowered by your Spirit. For now, we await the ongoing transformation that is a part of your eternal renewal. Amen.
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