Are we going to rise from the dead?
Dear People of St. Boniface:
Are we going to rise from the dead?
I received word that the poor believers in Corinth were being upset by some whose opinion on this was: “no”. Maybe they believed this as a result of looking in the cemeteries and realising that the bodies of Christians had not disappeared overnight.
So I say is that a risen body is different from an earthly body. It is real, but in another realm of reality..
Most importantly, I have seen the Risen Christ! In fact I am the only author in the New Testament who makes that claim. I can’t analyse it biologically – not like my friend Luke who describes the risen Jesus eating fish and honeycomb – but it is real, and many others had the same experience.
You may have noticed that in my letters I say almost nothing at all about the earthly life of Jesus. I focus on his death, which frees us from the everlasting effect of sin, and on his resurrection.
I passionately believe that Christ represents life! Everything is meant to be properly alive, and I mean properly – not like our saying “this is the life!” when we are ‘living it up’; that won’t last. Christ, who came to earth, wants to give back everything earthly, fully living, to his Father. Then Christ can slip into his place with his Father; everything is accomplished.
Do you have a clear idea of where, in God’s eyes, the world is meant to be going? I don’t think Christians in your time are as convinced about that as they were in mine – and that’s a real pity!
My blessing, from Heaven, PAUL.