Why did Jesus need a body? It's such a foundational question, but it's also one we typically don't dwell on, except maybe around Christmas. It's a question we need to dwell on. We need to linger here for a moment. In 1995, John Piper expanded on this question at the end of a sermon on Ephesians 4, 32-5, 2.

Here's what he said in explaining why Jesus needed a body. Now turn your attention for just one last minute or two away from the life to the sacrifice. The sacrifice, the costliness of this life being laid down. You know, one of the differences between the 19-year-old boy and Jesus is that in order for Jesus to suffer and die, he had to plan it way ahead of time, because as the logos who existed before creation, he couldn't die.

Immortal. He didn't have any body. He could not die. And yet he wanted to die for you. So he planned the whole thing by clothing himself with a body so that he could get hungry and get weary and get sore feet. The incarnation is the preparation of nerve endings for the nail.

That's what the incarnation is. The incarnation is the preparation of a brow for thorns to press through. He needed to have a broad back so that there was a place for the whip. He needed to have feet so that there was a place for spike. He needed to have a side so that there was a place for the sword to go in.

He needed cheeks, fleshy cheeks, so that Judas would have a place to kiss, and there would be a place for the spit to run down that the soldiers put on him. He needed a brain and a spinal column with no vinegar and no gall so that the exquisiteness of the pain could be fully felt.

I just plead with you. When you're reading the Bible and you read water toy texts like "He loved you and gave himself for you," you wouldn't go too fast over it. You would linger, linger, linger, and plead with him that your eyes would be open. Let me close with a question.

Can you, will you now take this personally for yourself? You know what Satan wants to do right now? He has not been able to stop me this morning from describing to you the love of Christ and its depth. What he could do right now, maybe, is in a subtly, even spiritual way, get into your brain and cause you to put that picture that I've just tried to paint for you, of the love of Christ for you, on your coffee table like a big glossy book of canyons.

Called "Canyons." "U.S. Canyons." And you flip through the book and you go, "Oh, I've got those wonderful canyons." And then you walk away to the kitchen and you murmur and you act unlovingly and your voice is unkind. Here we are standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon this morning.

We've seen some of it. We need wings now. We need wings. We don't want photographs. We don't want to say, "The love of Christ is great." There it is! There it is! It's on the screen! And we say, "Wow!" We do a worship thing on it and we do a teaching thing on it.

And it's still on the screen! It's in the book! And Satan would be... If that's what he's got to settle for, admiring Jesus from a distance, and having no root, no involvement, no hang gliding, in and through the Grand Canyon, he would be satisfied. So I'm going to close with a testimony from the Apostle Paul, and just pray with you as we close that it would become true for you.

Galatians 2.20. I remember back in 1966, when I got mononucleosis and was in the hospital for three weeks. And Chaplain Welch came in, and as he was leaving, the first time, he turned and looked over his shoulder and said, "John, what's your favorite Bible verse?" And I hadn't thought about what my favorite Bible verse was.

And out of my mouth came Galatians 2.20. I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who now lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, nitty-gritty daily life that everybody has to live, the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me.

Would you take that, please? Take that personal pronoun. Don't say "you." Don't say "us." Those are true. Would you say "me?" The life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's the love that I want you to send your roots down into.

It will make a great difference in our church, in your life, in your family. I would do that, I pray it. All the people said, "Amen." Yes, amen. That clip was from John Piper's March 26, 1995 sermon titled, "The Depth of Christ's Love, Its Cost." And it was sent in to us by Wes Vitito in Louisville, Kentucky.

Thank you, Wes, for the clip. You can find the full message at DesiringGod.org, of course. On Wednesdays, we dip into the archive and pull out a classic clip for the podcast. I welcome your suggestions. If you have a favorite clip from a John Piper sermon, old or recent, email us the name of the sermon and the time stamp of when and where the clip occurs in the audio.

And email it to me at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast with author and longtime pastor, John Piper. (end) (music) (music) (music)