CoreyZallow said:
His coming that all understand Jesus to have meant in Matt.24 and Luke 21 was when Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple also.
The Resurrection of Christ: Physical or Non-physical?
This discussion opens a can of worms doctrinally speaking, as this doctrine lies at the very core of the Christian faith, supposedly - according to Creedalists and traditionists anyway. If you deny the PHYSICAL resurrection of Christ (they say, authoritatively) you deny the Christian faith, and are no more than a heretic or worse. SO...this idea that Christ Jesus rose from the grave PHYSICALLY (which I subscribed to myself, for many years) must be examined and critiqued carefully and with the utmost care taken to evaluate the language, inferences and context associated with all texts relevant to this event.
One of the most popular passages of Scripture associated with this subject is 1Corinthians 15. Paul goes engages in a lengthy homily on the subject of the resurrection, and in actual fact - at no point in this passage does he specify that CHRISTS resurrection was, indeed, PHYSICAL. In fact, he does the opposite. Without going through the passage verse by verse, suffice it to say that Paul clearly states (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that Christ was raised a SPIRIT being.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual .47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. (1Cor. 15:45-50)
In the context, then, of Pauls homily on the resurrection concept, he clearly states (above, in v.45) that Christ Jesus was made a life-giving SPIRIT. The argument that Christ ascended into heaven in bodily, physical form, then, is totally defeated by this statement. Pauls subsequent statements, as highlighted above, further emphasize and reiterate the point that physical bodies ARE NOT PERMITTED entrance into Gods Presence in heaven. Those who dwell with God in the heavenlies have spirit forms, NOT physical bodies.
Christ Jesus Himself made this very clear in His defense of the resurrection to the Sadducees, in Matt. 22:30, For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven . There is no marrying or giving in marriage in the resurrection (the place to which the saints were resurrected, in the First Century - the heavenly Promised Land) because those who participate in it and dwell in heaven eternally ARE LIKE THE ANGELS OF GOD IN HEAVEN. They do not PROCREATE, because they are NON-PHYSICAL SPIRIT BEINGS, like the angels. We know the angels are non-physical spirit beings through the clear statements of many texts such as Heb. 1:7, And of the angels He says: Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.
Christs tomb was empty because the angels spirited His physical, pre-death body away (the physical body He possessed during His earthly ministry). NO-ONE witnessed Christ walking out of the tomb and handled him physically to verify that at the moment of his exiting the tomb He possessed His previous, physical body. In actual fact, Christ rose from the dead (the place of the dead - Sheol) as a Living Being, in SPIRIT form. He could assume any appearance He chose, which is why the disciples on the road to Emmaus didnt immediately recognize Him as He conversed with them, and why when they DID recognize Him, He immediately VANISHED OUT OF THEIR SIGHT (as SPIRIT BEINGS are capable to do, but which action PHYSICAL BEINGS are not capable of).
13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him ... 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us? 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
It COULD be argued that this instance of His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples was evidence of Gods hand upon THEM, in blinding them to Christs true identity until a specific moment in their interactions. In other words, some might argue that this anecdote doesnt speak directly to Christs post-resurrection form, but to His disciples perceptions, as governed by God. But let us consider other texts in conjunction with the one above, to see if there is further clarification elsewhere.
40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God , even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead (Acts 10:40,41)
This Jesus who was raised from the dead was an interesting Being. He was not readily visible to just anyone alive in those days. Rather, it was necessary to SHOW Him to people (i.e. to MANIFEST Him to people). Spirit beings have always had the capacity to take on physical form for brief periods of time, MANIFESTING themselves in physical form for various reasons. We see this in Gods appearance to Abraham, where He appeared to him in the form of three men and actually LUNCHED with Abraham. We see the angel physically WRESTLING with Jacob in Genesis also, and other instances of spirit beings taking on physical characteristics and appearance for a time, to accomplish a specific purpose. I believe the bulk of the Scriptural evidence (which hasnt been presented here in this introductory post by any means), shows that Christ Jesus ALSO had this type of form.
The one text most commonly used to attempt to refute the idea that Christs resurrection was strictly spiritual is His appearance to Thomas and His words to Him, found in Luke 24:39, Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. Christ Jesus SEEMS to be stating that He is NOT a resurrected spirit being here. But if we consider His actual words carefully, it becomes evident that He is inferring, or implying, that He is not a disembodied ghost or deceiving spirit, but that He WAS, in fact, the risen Lord. The whole point of these manifestations of Himself, physically, to His followers, was to confirm that His PERSON was raised from Sheol, and His spirit was NOT still imprisoned, awaiting the resurrection, like their forefathers.
Christ was concerned that His followers understand that the Person with whom they were interacting was HIM, and not just a phantom or spectre, tricking them into thinking that He had risen. A mere spirit of a departed person does not manifest physical qualities (not until it is resurrected and glorified, anyway) but a resurrected SPIRIT BEING (a person who has experienced resurrection) and has taken on a heavenly form, is essentially spirit in essence, and yet has the capacity to manifest himself physically, at will.
If Christ possessed the IDENTICAL physical body He had on the cross and before, during His earthly ministry, He would NOT have been able to pass through closed, locked doors and materialize in front of His disciples (John 20:19ff.), nor could He dematerialize in front of their eyes (like He did with the disciples on their way to Emmaus).
If Christ possessed the very same physical body that went INTO the tomb, it would not have been necessary for God to MAKE HIM VISIBLE to select witnesses to His resurrection (per the statements in Acts 10, above).
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