The Reality of the Resurrection

This week in Come Follow Me, we read the chapters from each of the gospels that deal with the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each tells the story slightly differently, agreeing on many major points, but with less or more detail.  John has perhaps the most detailed account and he seems really determined to show that Jesus had a physical body after his resurrection.  John tells that Jesus had Thomas touch his hands, feet and side (John 20: 27).  Later Jesus ate fish and bread with the disciples (John 21:15).  Other gospels show Jesus being touched (Matt 28:9, Luke 24:39). Why do the gospel writers make a special point of showing that the Resurrected Lord has (or at least had at that time) a physical body that could be touched and could eat?

One reason may be that the physical resurrection was one miracle that was completely unique to Jesus.  Other prophets had healed the sick and raised a person from death to mortality. (e.g. 2 Kings 5: 1-14, and 2 Kings 4: 18-37).  Other people who were dead had returned to visit the living. The best example of this was on the Mount of Transfiguration, (Matt 17:3).  But Jesus was the first to return from death clothed in a physical body that people could touch. 

Another reason is that there was no consensus among believing Jews as to the reality of the resurrection.  Earlier in Jesus' ministry the Sadducees tried to trick Jesus by asking him about the seven brothers who each married the same woman and then died (Mark 12:18).  This passage suggests that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection, but the Pharisees did. It seems strange to us that there could be such radically different views of life after death within one religion. But is it not as surprising as you may think, since throughout the Old Testament there is very little said about life after death. The focus was almost entirely on finding peace and safety in this life through communal righteousness. One defining characteristic of Christianity that represented a dramatic switch from Judaism is a switch of focus from physical to spiritual salvation. 

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a unique perspective on the importance of a physical resurrection. We are the only church I could find that currently believes that God, as well as Jesus, has a glorified physical body.  The other Christian churches believe the God is a spirit that fills the universe and many believe the Jesus is the physical incarnation of God. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ believe the Jesus and God are separate beings, and the Jesus is God's son, not just metaphorically, but in some literal way. We believe that one of the main reasons people come to earth is to gain a physical body so that we can eventually become like our Heavenly Father. If you are looking at just the New Testament it is not an outrageous belief.  Jesus repeatedly addresses God as his Father, said that if you knew him, you knew the Father. (John 14:9).  If Jesus is like the Father, so much so that if you see one, it is as if you have seen the other, and if Jesus made a special effort to prove he had a physical body after resurrection, it is not a ridiculous idea that Jesus' was physically resurrected so that he could be more like his Father who has a glorified physical body. 

Of course, every religion has their own logic that explains why they believe what they believe. The Bible is sufficiently vague on the nature of God that there is room for many different interpretations. But there can be no debate that Jesus was physically resurrected, and that this fact was, for some reason, very important.