Flesh and Spirit (5th Sunday of Lent)

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Click here for this Sunday’s Old Testament Reflection (The Valley of Bones)

In our epistle reading, St. Paul contrasts those who live in the flesh with those who live by the Spirit. Paul’s use of the word “flesh” should not be understood to mean that he regards the human body as sinful, although the word “literally denotes physical flesh,” his use of the term “figuratively represents humanity’s sinful earthly state.”¹ The Catholic Bible Dictionary further elaborates that this word “was used to drive home the contrast between the weak and transitory nature of humanity and the eternal strength of God (Psalm 78:39; Isaiah 40:5–8; 2 Chronicles 32:8).”²

According to Paul, this flesh cannot please God (v. 8). In the preceding verses, he explains why:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot (Romans 8:5-7).

In speaking of the believer as being made alive in the Spirit, one cannot help but detect an echo of the Valley of Dry Bones in our Old Testament reading (Ezekiel 37). Those who live in the flesh are like dead bones, who cannot bring themselves to life. God’s Spirit breathes life into us, enabling us to live according to God’s law.

Thus, Paul elsewhere speaks of the “works of the flesh” (sinful behavior) contrasted with the “fruit of the Spirit” which is good works (Galatians 5). If we are made alive in the Spirit, we ought to demonstrate that in our lives by producing the fruit of the Spirit. In so doing, we prove ourselves to be partakers in Christ’s Resurrection.

J. Luis Dizon

Notes