LESSON 9: THE BIBLICAL IMAGE OF THE CHURCH

LESSON 9

THE BIBLICAL IMAGES OF THE CHURCH

I. GOD’S MESSAGE
Body of Christ: Romans 12: 4-5
For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though
many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.
Vineyard of God: John 15: 1, 4-7
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as branch
cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the
vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you
can do nothing. Anyone who does remains in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather
them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask
for whatever you want, and it will be done for you.”
Flock of God: John 10: 1, 14-15
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and
I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life
for the sheep.
Temple of God: Ephesians 2: 19-22
So, then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and
members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the capstone. Through Him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in
the Lord; in him you are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

II. EXPOSITION
The Body of Christ
The Church as the “Body of Christ” is one of the Scriptural images if the Church. It deals with those
who belong to Jesus Christ through baptism, faith and profession. In Romans 12: 4-5, believers are
described as “members” of the body of Christ. Despite of the diversity of the individual members, as the
members of the body of Christ, we care for, and are united with, one another: “But now indeed there
are many members, yet one body” (1 Corinthians 12: 20).
https://bit.ly/3hwnZns In the letter of Paul to the Ephesians 1: 22-23, Christ is shown as
the head of the church and the ruler of the things. This builds on the
hymn recorded in the epistle to the Colossians which says: “He is the
head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1: 18). In this imagery, the
church of Christ is equated with the “body of Christ”. It shares in the
perfection of its Lord.
The growth of the body occurs through the activity of God
(Colossians 2: 19). This growth is oriented towards Christ. As the head,
He is the Lord, the standard, and the goal (Ephesians 4: 15). For the
edification of the body of Christ, God provided ministries and
commissions.
Christ’s body can refer to:
a) PHYSICAL BODY of the Historical Jesus
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b) EUCHARISTIC BODY, making sacramentally present to us the Person of the Risen Christ
c) MYSTICAL BODY, the Church
Read Romans 3.29-30, Read Romans 12. 3-11, Within Christ’s body, the church, there us a
great variety of members and functions (PCP II 91-94)
Vineyard of God
In the Gospel of John 1: 9, Christ is the true vine is the sense that He is “the true Light”. There have
been many times when God revealed His truth before, but
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Christ is its perfect revelation. All that could be conceived in
the concept of spiritual light is realized in Christ. He is the
highest essence of spiritual light, as opposed to physical light
and to believers, who are lights in the world (Matt. 5:14).
Similarly, Jesus called Himself the “true bread” (John 6:35).
Christ is the vine in the New Testament and He is “the
same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13: 8). He is the vine
that will never wither. The kind of vine that we want to attached to. He is the source of life for all the
branches. Only by abiding in him, the Vine, do the branches live. He assumes that alive branches produce
fruit. If a branch does not produce fruit, God the Father, removes the branch from the Vine. 3
The Flock of God
“Flock of God” portrays Jesus Christ as the good shepherd. He knows His own and gives His life for
them. He continuously calls upon human beings to believe in Him and His church. In the end, there will be
one flock and one shepherd (John 10: 11-16). Jesus speaks to His own through the Holy Spirit. Those who
believe and follow Him will receive eternal life from Him (John 10: 25-28). It also shows the church as a
community that follows Christ. It receives its care, protection, and leadership through Jesus Christ, the good
shepherd.
Before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the Risen One entrusted His lambs and sheep to the care of the
Apostle Peter (John 21: 15-17). This Apostle bore responsibility for the care of those who belonged to the
Church of Christ. As the flock of Jesus Christ, the faithful remained His people.
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In 1 Peter 5: 2-4, the ministers of the church are called
upon to shepherd the congregation as the “flock of God”. In
doing so, they are not to act as lords over the congregation,
but rather serves as examples. They fulfill their tasks with a
view to the return of Jesus Christ, the “Chief Shepherd”.

Temple of God
St. Peter tells us that when we choose to follow Christ, we become citizens of the Kingdom of God
as well as members of God’s household. As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we become vessels through which
God shows Himself to our world and become members of God’s household. When we are in Christ, He is
forming His character in us, and then churches will be places in which there is an abundance of forgiveness,
healing, comfort, wholeness, faithfulness, freedom,
generosity and peace.
Christ Jesus is the cornerstone of the church for
us. The foundation and position of the Church as a
whole, and each stone is hinged on Christ.
The temples where people came to learn about God,
experience God, and see His power, and now Paul tells us
that we are the temple. The Church is not a building, we
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are the church. All of us are being built together to be the body of Christ on earth. We are being made into
the place where people will learn about who God is. We are the place where people will experience Him. We
are the place where people will see God’s power.
St. Paul wrote: “You are the temple, and spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16/ 1 Cor. 6. 19-20).
Traditional teaching of the Church declares “As Christ is the Head of the church, so is the Holy Spirit its souls”.
The church is the creation of the Holy Spirit. It is the action of the Holy Spirit that creates the church.
4
CHURCH TEACHINGS

The nature of the kingdom of God, or the Church established by Christ, is conveyed and depicted by
the Lord via the use of metaphors. “The Church is a sheepfold whose one and indispensable door is Christ.
It is a flock of which God himself foretold he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, although ruled by
human shepherds, are nevertheless continuously led and nourished by Christ himself, the good shepherd
and the prince of the shepherds, who gave his life for the sheep. The Church is the Building of God, as Christ
refers to himself as “the stone which the builders have rejected which has become the cornerstone”, and
this edifice is built on the foundation of the apostles. Consequently, “the try vine is Christ who gives life and
the power to bear abundant fruit to the branches, that is, to us” (LG 6).
The Church, Body of Christ, is communion with Jesus (CCC 787-789)

Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and
gave them a share in his mission, joy and sufferings. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between
Him and those who would follow him: “Abide in me, and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches. “He
proclaimed a mysterious and real communion and real communion between his own body and ours: “He
who eats my flesh and drink my blood abides in me, and I in him.” Jesus promised to remain with them until
the end of time.
Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all
her members with each other because of their union with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church
as bride of Christ.
The Church is the Temple of The Holy Spirit (797-798)
“What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.”
“To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are
joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole
Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members.” The Holy Spirit makes the Church “the
temple of the living God”:
https://bit.ly/3ecKJHc The Holy Spirit is “the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part
of the Body.” He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God’s
Word “which is able to build you up”; by Baptism, through which he forms Christ’s
Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ’s members: by “the
grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts”; by the virtues, which
make us acts according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called
“charisms”) by which he makes the faithful “fit and ready to undertake various tasks
and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church.”
It is important to remember the Christ is the whole vine and the believer is a branch. To abide in Christ
is to abide in the body of Christ, the church. Our involvement in Christ through the life of his Body, the church,
nurtures us as members of His flock. Certainly, isolated from the body of Christ none of the branches can do
anything to significantly impact the world with Christ.
Through the sacrament of baptism, we become members if thus mystical body of Christ, for we are
baptized by the same and one Spirit. In this oneness in Spirit and as members of the Church, we are called
to perform variously ministries and different role. These gifts, ministries and roles account for the existence
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of the diversity in the Church, a diversity that is not lost even as the members are united by a common
aspiration, a common goal.
The Holy Spirit accounts for the solidarity found among the members of the Church. The Spirit gives
life, move and unifies Christ’s body, the Church. The Holy Spirit that dwells in the Church, produces and
motivates love among the faithful. It follows then that each member must give reverence to the Church,
respect to himself and to teach member of the Church, so that the Spirit’s work of sanctification in and
through the Church may be realized.

III. POINTS FOR REFLECTION

Do activity # 1 (Day 1)
IV. INTEGRATION
Do activity # 2 (Day 2 & 3)