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The Bodily Resurrection Of Jesus Christ
Denny Kees
Elder at Cedar Creek Church of Christ
In
Mark 16:15 we are told to preach the
gospel, or good news. What is the
Gospel? Is it not the life, death,
burial and resurrection of our Lord? Every
time I have been exposed to this passage it is with the intent of challenging
me to proclaim this good news, and therein does indeed contain a worthy
task.
However,
I once heard a prominent preacher in our brotherhood mention in his sermon
about the glorified body that Jesus had after the resurrection, and how
wonderful it will be when we get to heaven and all have our “glorified
bodies.” This did not set well with me,
as it was not the image that I had neither physically, nor theologically, in my
mind. Were my images incorrect? It seemed to me that one of us was mistaken,
so this topic needed further study.
This lesson is by no means exhaustive, but is conclusive in its findings
that Jesus arose not with a glorified body, but for the 40 days He was here on
earth after the resurrection, still had His earthly body.
Please consider these 5 factors:
1.
This
particular preacher had used the instance when Jesus came into the room, though
the doors were locked in John 20:26. But does this require for Jesus to possess a
spirit-body? Consider the miracle of
Jesus walking on the water in Matthew
14:25. How about in Luke 4:30 when the crowd drove Him to
the top of a cliff to throw Him down and He just walked away, through their
midst? He didn’t have a disguise in His
pocket. Our Savior could perform any of
these miracles with his earthly body.
Would the stone have been rolled from the tomb if Jesus’ risen body were
spirit only? Some say this was for mans
benefit, but couldn’t man have moved it to look in without the angel doing it
for him? Clearly, although this is the
spirit-only resurrection’s strongest claim, it is very weak!
2.
Jesus’
body still had the nail marks and the sword wound. When I get to Heaven, I don’t plan on my body having the
shortcomings that my earthly body now has and that list is growing with my
age. My grandmother will not be 97
years old, with failing eyesight, as she was when she left here. No one that I know will argue that disease
or deformities will accompany ut into Heaven.
If Jesus had His glorified body after the resurrection, why did He offer
to Thomas, His wounds for examination in John
20:27?
3.
Jesus,
anticipating this debate appeared to His disciples and plainly tells them He is
not a Spirit. Luke 24:37-39 states, “touch me and see” He asks, “a ghost does not
have flesh and bones as you see I
have.”
4.
Later
in this same passage, Jesus is eating in their presence to further prove to
them that He had physically arisen from the dead. It could have simply been hunger, but verse 41 suggests that He
was trying to make a point. If it is
important to Jesus that the disciples grasp this truth, I consider it important
to me.
5.
It
is common knowledge that upon death your spirit leaves your body. If Jesus’ spirit were all that arose, the only
miracle that took place would have been for the disciples to be able to see
it! We are normally unable to see
spirits in our midst. Read II Kings 6:15-17 and we plainly see
that Elisha prayed for the miracle of his servant to be able to physically see
the flaming chariots that God had sent.
The miracle was of the servant’s eyes being opened. The same would be true if all that happened
was that Jesus’ spirit arose. The
resurrection would be reduced to a miracle of eyesight of those who witnessed
it, if it was spirit-only!
Friends do not be mistaken. Satan would dearly love it if he could get
us to deny the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, to limit your belief of the resurrection to spirit-only,
you are essentially denying the “Good News” which we are to proclaim of Jesus’
victory over the grave. The fact is,
and remains, Christ Jesus came from Heaven, became a man, was put to death and
on the third day, arose form the grave, winning the victory over death and over
Satan and now reigns in Heaven waiting for us to become His bride.
Let us always bear true and unwavering testimony
that the “Good News” is worth telling!