Resurrection, Part 3

Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Paul’s concluding section on the resurrection deals with the resurrection body itself. Our understanding of resurrection has been (unfortunately) informed by centuries’ worth of folklore about reanimated and revivified bodies. When we think of the resurrection of the body we picture the bodies we’ve buried in the ground emerging as we last saw them – the old body simply awakened and given new life. This leads to all kinds of questions about what to do with the bodies of our deceased loved ones and what kinds of instructions to leave regarding our remains. What about people whose bodies have been horribly disfigured or even obliterated in death? What about those who have gone through elaborate embalming procedures? What about those who have been cremated? If you’re going to come back with the body you had when you left, what’s the best way to ensure the most attractive, or at least intact, afterlife?

To those of us who lose sleep over these questions (maybe you hadn’t until today), Paul says, “Don’t be silly!” Our reference point is Jesus. Although we’re not provided much by way of a metaphysical explanation of his resurrection, we’re given a few clues that Paul, in turn, fleshes out. What we know about the resurrected Jesus is that he has a new body. The Gospels report that those of Jesus’ friends who saw him didn’t immediately recognize him. This suggests that although Jesus is Jesus, his resurrection body isn’t exactly like the one he died in. Paul extrapolates to say that Jesus died in a body that was flawed, made of the stuff of earth, and perishable; he was raised in a body that is perfect, made of the stuff of heaven, and imperishable.

Paul uses the metaphor of seeds and planting to explain. He says, “You put a seed in the ground. The essence of the seed emerges later. But it’s new – unrecognizable as the seed that was planted. In fact, in the process of planting, germination, and growth to new life the seed as we know it is completely consumed. Yet the essence of the seed comes to life as the new plant. So it is with us, death, and resurrection. Old body goes into the ground. The essence of who you are comes to expression in something new, even as the old is utterly consumed.”

The promise of the resurrection takes the fear out of life and the sting out of death. In Christ the life we live now is the life we will live for eternity. Death is not the end of your best life but your passage into it. Be encouraged. As Paul says, “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”