“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” George Orwell


Wednesday, October 05, 2011

"every one of them"

I was preparing a presentation for a local Christian high school that has begun to offer a special education class.  When thinking through what I wanted to say, I turned, as I often do, to 1Corinthians 12 about the body of Christ.  For some reason, verse 18 of the passage really jumped out at me this time.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
 There is an emphasis it appears to me in verse 18 that is present in most of the translations of this veres.  It doesn't say,
But in fact God placed the parts in the body just as he wanted them to be. 
Rather it says,

But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
It appears to emphasize every one of them are placed just as he wanted them.  It appears to emphasize this point as if in the face of questions that might be raised to the effect that "Surely this part is not placed correctly" or "Surely there is no place for this part."  No mistakes, no one without place or purpose, every one of them as they should be for placement into the body. 

As I indicated to the students, there is a mystery in this.  But it is a desire for discovery to understand the mind of God, to understand his purposes, to understand how he put his body together, to see the contribution of all.  Good stuff.

McNair


1 comment:

ArtworkByRuth said...

Very encouraging and fresh insight! Thanks for sharing!