The Names of Jesus - Elmer Towns

CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE CHURCH NAMES OF CHRIST
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock 1 will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16.18).
Several names of Christ focus upon His unique relationship to the church. The church is
described with many metaphors - such as, the body, a flock of sheep, a bride, a temple or
building, and a garden or vineyard. In this connection, Jesus is the Head of the Body, the
Shepherd of the Sheep, the Bridegroom of the Bride, the Cornerstone and Master Builder of the
Building, and the Vine which gives life to the branches.
THE HEAD OF THE BODY
One of the common images of the church, particularly in the epistles of Paul, is the body
of Christ. The word “body” is the key word in I Corinthians 12, where the apostle sought to
resolve problems at Corinth concerning spiritual gifts. The theme of the Epistle to the Ephesians
is the church as the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23). In the Epistle to the Colossians, probably
written at the same time as the Ephesian epistle, Paul's theme is Christ as the Head of the Body
(Colossians 1:18).
The “body” is the best known and most used symbol of the church in Scripture. When
Paul called Christ “the head of the body,” he emphasized the authority of Christ in and over His
church. It was a reminder of the distinctiveness and supremacy of Jesus. To comprehend this
name more fully, we must understand how the apostle used the word “body” to describe the
church.
The Greek word soma is used in several ways in the New Testament. On many occasions
it refers to the physical body (cf. Romans 1:24; I Corinthians 5:3; Galatians 6:17; I Thessalonians
5:23), but Paul also uses this word to identify the total personality of a man, not just his physical
being (cf. Romans 12:1; I Corinthians 13:3, 9:27; Philippians 1:20). It is interesting to note that
Paul never uses this word to describe a dead body as is common in Classical Greek and the
Septuagint.
Within this context, the church is a living organism, the body of Christ. She has a
personality and identity which is intimately related to Christ her head. She is a living entity
indwelt by Christ Himself. Although we must be careful not to make the church more
authoritative than the Scriptures (as is common in Catholic traditions), it is important that we
recognize the living reality of the church as the body of Christ.
If the church is the body, Christ Himself is the head (Colossians 1:18; 2:19; Ephesians
1:22-23; 4:15; 5:23). As the head is the determinative center of one's physical being, so Christ is
authoritative in the church. He does not build His church independent of His body but directs and
controls the actions of every muscle, organ, and nerve so as to accomplish His will. Part of the
mystery of this name is that Christ, who is in His nature and attributes omnipotent, should
voluntarily choose to limit Himself to working through human beings who, although they are