The Body of Christ

At a glance

Summary

This long, densely theological chapter works through Paul's claim that the baptised become ‘members of Christ's body’ with unusual care, because Bonhoeffer wants to avoid two opposite errors: treating the phrase as a loose metaphor for an organisation with Christ as its inspirational founder, or treating it so literally that it dissolves the distinction between Christ and the church into some kind of merger. His actual claim is more precise: because the Son of God genuinely took human flesh in the Incarnation, and that same body died, rose, and now lives, believers united to him by baptism are drawn into a real, if entirely spiritual, participation in that one body.

He spends considerable space establishing that this communion is not a diminished substitute for the physical presence the first disciples enjoyed, as though later Christians were unfortunate to have missed the earthly Jesus. On the contrary, he argues our communion with the risen and glorified Christ, mediated through baptism and the ongoing life of the Spirit, is richer and more secure than mere physical proximity to Jesus of Nazareth ever was on its own — physical nearness to Jesus, after all, did not save Judas.

Bonhoeffer works carefully through Paul's vocabulary of being ‘in Christ’ and Christ being ‘in’ believers, showing how thoroughly it recasts a Christian's entire identity: no longer simply an individual who has decided to imitate or admire Jesus, but someone whose life, death and future resurrection are now bound up with his. Every claim the earlier chapters made about discipleship's total, undivided character is, in this chapter, given its fullest theological grounding: the disciple is not merely following instructions from Christ but has been incorporated into Christ's own body.

The chapter closes by drawing out the practical weight of this for how believers must then treat one another — since union with Christ's body necessarily means union with everyone else who shares it, the individualism that might otherwise attach to a personal decision of faith is ruled out from the start. Being ‘in Christ’ always and inescapably means being bound to the rest of the body, preparing directly for the next chapter's account of the visible, mutually accountable community this actually requires.

Key points

• Paul's language of being ‘members of Christ's body’ is neither a loose metaphor for an organisation nor a literal merger erasing the distinction between Christ and the church.
• Because the Son genuinely took human flesh in the Incarnation, believers united to the risen Christ by baptism share a real, spiritual participation in that one body.
• Bonhoeffer argues communion with the risen Christ is richer, not a diminished substitute, compared to mere physical proximity to Jesus of Nazareth — physical nearness alone did not save Judas.
• Being ‘in Christ’ recasts a believer's whole identity: no longer simply someone imitating Jesus, but someone whose life, death and resurrection are bound up with his.
• Union with Christ's body necessarily means union with everyone else who shares it — ruling out an individualistic faith detached from the rest of the church.

Related Scripture

• 1 Corinthians 12:12–27
• Ephesians 5:29–30
• John 15:4–5
• Colossians 1:18

For reflection and discussion

1. Does the idea of a real, if spiritual, participation ‘in Christ's body’ feel more concrete or more abstract to you than simply ‘believing in Jesus’? Why?
2. Bonhoeffer argues our communion with the risen Christ is richer than physical proximity to the earthly Jesus would have been. How does that reshape any wistfulness you might feel about not having lived when Jesus walked the earth?
3. Where does the claim that being ‘in Christ’ always means being bound to the rest of his body challenge an individualistic instinct in your own faith?