The Mysteries of Spiritual Bodies
(Rutgers Presbyterian Church, April 18, 1999;
3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A)
Luke 24:13-35 (NT, p. 92);
I Corinthians 15:35-44, 50-55 [not lectionary] (NT, pp. 185, 186)
Well,
I’ve managed to steer clear of it for more than 3 years now-I’ve managed to
steer clear of delivering from the pulpit A straightforward theological
exposition Of some major doctrine of the church.
But at last the time seems right to indulge the academic propensity that’s been developed in me thru 30 years of university teaching.
So,
on this Third Sunday of Easter, 1999 as we continue to celebrate the
resurrection of Christ and as we continue to hear gospel accounts of appearances
by the Risen Christ to various disciples- like the account from Luke read this
morning by Vera Roberts- the time seems somehow right for me to share with you a
classroom presentation that I give on the resurrection, a presentation that
includes a careful look at this morning’s 2nd lesson, from Paul’s
1st Letter to the church at Corinth.
There
are two reasons the time seems right for me to do this.
First,
a recent book on the resurrection is selling like hotcakes-well, at least like
“theological” hotcakes, if not exactly at a rate to put it on the New
York Times’s list of best-sellers.
Entitled
The Meaning of Jesus (HarperSanFrancisco), the book includes a debate about the
nature of the resurrection between two New Testament scholars – Marcus Borg,
who lectured right here last April, during our bicentennial celebration, and N.T.
Wright, of England.
And
the second reason the time seems right to me is this. During a new members’ class four weeks ago, one of the
inquirers asked me specifically, “What do Christians believe about the
resurrection? Was it really
bodily?”
On
the assumption, then, that what’s on the mind of one person is probably on the
mind of many people, an assumption seemingly verified by the hefty sales of the
aforementioned book, let me share with you for this Eastertide, this Easter
season, a brief lecture on Christian views of the resurrection.
Christians’
beliefs about the resurrections fall, I suggest, into three basic categories.
I
believe that holders of all three views affirm the truth of the Easter
proclamation that Christ is alive—somehow, alive.
And
I believe that holders of all three views affirm the truth of 2,000 years of
testimony by Christians that Christ continues, to this day, to be experienced as
a living reality.
So
about what do the holders of these three views disagree?
Jesus’
very corpse was resuscitated.
John 20:19-29 last week. Thomas.
Matthew 28:9 on Easter Sunday. Two
Marys.
(1)Unrecognizability
of Jesus in other gospel accounts:
Today, Luke 24:15-16, Cleopas and companion recognize
only in the breaking of bread (vs. 30-31)
John 20:15-16, Easter Vigil.
Mary Magdalene thought Jesus to be a gardener.
(2) Ascension. Survival
of vacuum of space.
A. The
Risen Christ was experienced by the disciples inwardly, as a spirit, not outwardly, as a body.
A video-camera would not have recorded an image.
B.
Disciples sought to communicate this inner experience to others by using
the metaphor of an outward experience:
The lack of tangible external reality is the
reason for the radical diversity among the NT description of resurrection
experiences.
(1)
Element in NT descriptions of externality and tangibility.
John 20:27 Offer to let Thomas touch.
Luke 24:30-31 Jesus eats with Cleopas + other.
(2) Testimony about the empty tomb. If only spiritual, wouldn’t the corpse still be there?
3. The view that balances continuity/discontinuity: resurrection not of body, or of spirit, but of a “spiritual body”
A.
This is
the view expressed by Paul in I Corinthians 15.
B.
The
description in Acts of Paul’s experience of Risen Christ.
C.
Paul
seems to believe neither in resuscitation of the corpse nor in a totally inward
experience. Seems to suggest a
third category, one also beyond normal powers to describe, and therefore needing
explanatory metaphors: “the
mystery of spiritual bodies.”
D.
His
explanations of:
(a)
continuity/discontinuity,
i.e. transformation: 15:37-38 (p.185) Analogy of grain and stalk.
(b)
Why
there’s a need for discontinuity/transformation: 15:39-41 Different
“bodies” for different media: fish,
birds, animals; heavenly bodies. Need
t live with God, so need spiritual bodies.
(c)
Qualities
of earthly body vs. “spiritual body”:
15:42-44
perishable/imperishable;
dishonor/glory;
weakness/power.
15:50-55
flesh and blood can’t inherit kingdom of God;
we will all be changed, transformed; the mortal will put on immortality.
Where
do I stand?
With #3, Paul’s understanding of “the mystery of spiritual bodies,” hence
today’s sermon title.
But
all three viewpoints---body, spirit, and spiritual body- are consistent with the
basic good news of the Christian message: that God has overcome evil and death
and has offered us the incomparable gift of life beyond death.
I believe with my whole heart the gospel message that Christ is alive, and from
that belief I derive great joy and hope for life here and now.
I
pray that you , too, may believe in the mystery of the resurrection in one of
these ways or another ant that you, too, can join with me in saying and singing,
“Christ is alive!”
Let
us pray:
Oh God, You created life, and in death You offer to create it a new, recreating us as spiritual bodies, as beings able to dwell with You forever. All praise to You, O Gracious God? Amen.
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