Jesus' View of the Church

Jesus had a high regard for the Church. Consider how when Saul, the young Rabbi full of orthodox zeal sought to destroy the Church (Acts 8:3)and was breathing out murderous threats against followers of Christ (Acts 9:1), was shocked to hear the accusation made from the Lord on the road to Damascus. "Why are you persecuting me?" It is a most important question, because it is not meant only to suggest Paul's call to believe in Jesus as His Lord and Savior, but what Jesus identifies as the nature of the Church. There is in the mind of Christ an unbreakable link between him and the Church. Jesus so identifies with the Church, (yes not just the universal, triumphant Church of glory, but the messy, dirty bunch here in the flesh) that to mistreat, disparage, and beat up the Church, is to slander, spit on and bruise the face of Jesus Christ.

I wonder about all the trendy theological views out there we see that continually want to make a distinction between the Church and Jesus, as though we can take Jesus, because he is cool, but leave the Church, because it it just a pain, full of hypocrites and not on my personal agenda. Just wondering about that because the Bible never lets us make that distinction. Biblically, the two come together. It is heresy to separate them. It is fatal and tragic to think one can. Once Paul caught on with what Jesus was saying, he spent the rest of his life, building, preserving, praying, preaching his heart out for the Church. It was worth pouring out his life as a libation because this was the Body of Christ, the called out ones, redeemed by Christ and His own possession. "I love thy Kingdom, Lord, the Church of thy abode."