As indicated in the last issue of this article, Paul addresses the issue of the resurrected body of Christ, indicating that it was a spiritual body. What Paul means by a spiritual body is not completely clear. It appears, however, that he made a distinction between it and a physical body. The resurrected body was not, according to Paul, a physical body. He even explicitly denies that the resurrected body is a flesh and blood body.

Modern scholarship has often noted that Paul never mentions that Jesus’ tomb was empty – neither in this chapter nor anywhere else in his letters. Is this because Paul took it for granted that affirming the   resurrection of Jesus meant that of course Jesus’ tomb was empty? Or is it because for Paul the resurrection of Jesus was not about something spectacular happening to the corpse of Jesus?

In either case, the resurrection of Jesus mattered utterly to Paul. For him, it meant Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord – and he lives and is Lord because God vindicated him against the powers that had crucified him. To vindicate means to say yes to what Jesus was doing and no to this world, the world that crucified him. This is the heart of Paul’s experience and thought.

As you can tell, Paul believes in the resurrection of Christ and doesn’t need physical proof of this fact. For Paul the resurrected Christ doesn’t need a body! He was real to Paul and to others and that is the main point.

We modern people, however, think that it is essential that Christ had some sort of physical body. This point has truly been debated for centuries! I am sure that most Christians, when they think of the resurrection of Christ, think about the fact that His physical body was brought back to life and He was the same physical   person that He was before His death and resurrection. All we know is this: Christ was not immediately recognized by those to whom He appeared. He was different in some way. And yet, all recognized Him in His voice and the things that He did and said. We know that He told Mary Magdalene that she should not touch Him since He had not yet gone to the Father in heaven. Mary did, however, recognize His voice when He said her name. Also, several disciples recognized Him in His action of breaking bread. It really doesn’t matter what kind of body Jesus had after the resurrection. The fact of the matter is that his friends and others believed He was alive and had real experiences of His presence.

Unfortunately modern man wants more proof! Proof cannot be given except for the testimony of people who were willing to go to their deaths for the sake of their belief. Somehow, Jesus was experienced as living by many after His death and proclaimed resurrection.       Christ IS Risen