Shame and Shamelessnes: The Spousal Meaning of the Body as an Antidote to Lust
My favorite Gospel is John. Some scholars say it is simple enough for a child to
wade in, but deep enough to drown an Elephant. I once did a paper years ago on how the
Jewish people saw the Temple as a microcosm of the universe. Lately I have been seeing
how John connects the Temple and Jesus’ body. Let’s begin.
John 19: 34 reads, “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a
sudden flow of blood and water”. In 1 John 5:6-8, we read”: “This is the one who came by
water & blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it
is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is Truth. For there are 3 that testify, the Spirit,
the Water, and the Blood, and the 3 are in agreement.” Ezekiel adds to this imagery, Ezek.
47:1-9: “I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the Temple towards the
East…The water flowed down from the right side of the Temple”.
The Church-approved Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska depicts Jesus appearing to
Faustina, opening the cloak at His breast, and two rays issuing forth, one red and one
Pale. He said this was the water and blood flowing from His Heart, which represents
Baptism and Eucharist respectively. He asked this image be painted, signed “Jesus I Trust
in You” and hung in every chapel in the world. A strong reminder of the Blood and Water
poured out for us.
In John Bergsma’s book Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, on pg. 65, we read:
“During Jewish High festivals, the priests sacrificed so many lambs in the Temple that they
had to use buckets of Water to wash the blood down drains in the Temple floor, and a
torrent of blood and water gushed out of the side of the Temple Mount, into the Kidron
Valley below. Ancient Jews, reading John 19,would see the blood and water as marking
the Temple and Jesus’ body as the New Temple (John 2:21).
So then, what specific connection do the Scriptures make so that we can claim
Jesus’ body to be the New Temple? In John 2:19-21, “Jesus answered, destroy this
Temple, and I will raise it up in 3 days; but the Temple He had spoken of was His body”.
The Book of Revelation shows this glorious Temple in action; Revelations 22:1;”Then the
angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the Throne of
God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the main street of the City”. Now the water is
flowing both from the throne of God AND the Lamb.
At the Council of Chalcedon, they defined the Dogma of the Hypostatic Union. What
does this mean? And what, if anything, does it have to do with the Temple? It means Jesus
Christ is One Person, with 2 Natures, Human and Divine. The teaching of
Jesus’-body-as-Temple actually utilizes both Natures to show this beautiful combination.
The blood and water obviously relates to his Human nature, the fact that His resurrected
body is the New Temple showing His Divine nature.
In the recent Christology course I took, we studied the following passages from the
Catechism, very relevant to our study: CCC 583-586: “For Jesus, the Temple of His Father,
was a House of Prayer; and was angered over the commerce. ‘Zeal for your house will
consume me’. (John 2:17). He announced the destruction of the Temple. He announced
this a sign of the Last Days. He identified Himself with the Temple by presenting Himself
as God’s dwelling place among men (John 2:21, Matt 12:6). His being put to death (John
2:18-22) foreshadowed the destruction of the Temple, which brings about a new age in the
story of salvation. (John 4:21) (Heb 9:11, Rev.21:22). When Jesus died, the Veil of the
Temple was torn, showing God’s presence had left, and ushers in a new era of God’s
salvation. And what, in particular, does this mean for us as believers?
Through Jesus’ grace, and His passing to the Father, OUR BODIES are now
Temples, as Christians, and we should treat them accordingly: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Do
you not know that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit,
lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy them, for the Temple of
God is holy, and so you, as His Temple are holy”. Our bodies are now holy Temples,
especially after Communion, and Paul says we must be aware, particularly to avoid
desecrating them through sexual immorality. As believers, ”Whoever believes in Me, as
Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them”(John 7:38-39). Not only
are our bodies now Temples, but Living Water will flow through them, too!!