#DailyDevotion Our Christian Hope: The Material Resurrection From The Dead
Easter Tuesday
Luke 24:36–39
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Some people who claim to be Christians just don’t get it. They get their theology from the National Enquirer, the Discovery Channel or bad TV shows and movies. They think when we die go to heaven and become angels or guardians or just sit around strumming harps as disembodied spirits. Well we certainly don’t become angels and being a disembodied spirit floating around on some cloud is not God’s endgame for us. That is what the Gospel lesson is about today.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he didn’t rise as a ethereal spirit. Jesus rose from the grave with his body. A real material body. Christians aren’t Gnostics. Gnostics hate the material world. They believe only spirit things are good and material things are bad. They have a real influence unfortunately on Christian thinking because the world we live in is indeed corrupted by sin, but its material is nevertheless still good. God made it good. Jesus redeemed it and on the Last Day this material cosmos will be purified.
Jesus rose from the dead with a real, material albeit spiritual body. Jesus tells his disciple come on and touch me guys. A spirit doesn’t have flesh and bone like you see me have here. And to put the icing on the cake he asks for a piece of fish to eat. Spirits don’t eat food nor do they need it. But a real, live, flesh and bone human being can eat and can be touched. Yet Jesus’ body is spiritual, i.e. it is immortal, imperishable and glorious.
Now this body with which Jesus has been raised with is the same sort of body that you and I are going to be raised with. That is God’s endgame with us. He plans on raising us and our bodies when Jesus returns with an immortal, imperishable, glorious body like Jesus’ risen body. The body he’s going to raise it to will be raised into a renewed heavens and earth which is no longer corrupted by our sin. We will live in it with our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father and give him praise and glory forever. What all will be doing in this new world only God knows but it will glorious. All those who fell asleep in the Lord before this time will rise from the dead like Christ and we if we are living will be changed and will live with the Lord Jesus forever. All this is a gift from God and our Lord Jesus Christ won and purchased this gift for us on the cross; he won and purchased it for you.
Heavenly Father, you raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the grave so that all who would believe in him will be raised to eternal life on the Last Day with glorious bodies like his own. Continually give and keep us in this faith so we too may have this hope in us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.