Matthew 17:1-2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
All agree this was a prefiguration of Jesus' Glorified form, yet it is
wholly different from ANY eyewitness account of His post-crucifixion, pre-ascension resurrected Body.
It had yet to undergo "some" appreciable change prior to the ascension, that the Transfiguration pre figured.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now we are children of God; and
it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that
when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is.
John, an eyewitness to the resurrected flesh body of Jesus, here testifies infallibly that it had not been revealed to him what Jesus presently, in Heaven, looks like. This indicates plainly that some sort of appreciable change to His physical appearance happened at or after the ascension, otherwise, John would not have said so.
Later, John was brought to heaven and witnessed Jesus Looking like this:
Revelation 5:6
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
So here again we have the apostle infallibly testifying that, In heaven, Jesus has taken the non-human form of a Lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes.... Unquestionably different physical features than he had when He ascended.
Again, John himself, who witnessed His post resurrection, pre ascension Body first hand with His own eyes, Indicates that He had still NOT seen His Glorified Body:
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now we are children of God; and
it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is.
At this point, after the Ascension, John is clear that He had NOT seen Jesus "as He is" presently, so, some sort of Appreciable Change to Jesus' body took place AFTER John last saw Him in the flesh.
As to the timing of Christ's glorification, we have the following scriptures:
John 7.39. 'But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was
not yet glorified.'
Here we see that the spirit would be given
when Jesus was glorified. During the forty days after his resurrection, the HS was not given.
Only after the ascension was the HS given.
John 12.16. 'These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but
when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.'
In the context of this verse Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey and the people cheered. This, again, was
only understood by them after his ascension and not during the 40 days.
John 17.24. ' "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that
they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world." '
Here, Jesus expressly declared that the disciples would
'behold [His] glory' when they were with him where he was. This was not referring anytime on earth, but must be referring to after his ascension.
Jesus was NOT resurrected in His Glorified Body, He was resurrected in the Self same Body that hung on the cross and Had no different powers or attributes to it than He had before the Crucifixion (save the fact it could no longer be put to death)
Jesus’ body was glorified
after His ascension according to Acts 9:3-6 and
Revelation 1:13-16such that it took on a form like that of the Father and the heavenly host. In describing the appearance of God,
Ezekiel 1:26-28 reads:
Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
Jesus’ resurrection body
after His ascension into heaven is described with similar radiance and glory according to
Revelation 1:13-16:
[A]nd among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
This OBVIOUSLY is completely different from ANY eyewitness account of His post-resurrection PRE ASCENSION Body. Something clearly, undeniably, Changed at the ascension.
