The Resurrection
As there is no reading from St. Paul in Eastertide, the Apostle writes about some themes. Today: The Resurrection
Dear People of St. Boniface,
Some of the Christians in Corinth did not believe in the bodily Resurrection of Jesus. They thought that, like Elijah, he had been lifted up into heaven, from the Cross, or that the giving of the Holy Spirit was what actually constituted “resurrection” for believers, and nothing more was now to be expected.
To counter this, in the 15th. chapter of my first letter to them, written from Ephesus, I say that Christ did indeed rise bodily from the dead, and “was seen” by Peter, the Twelve, James, 500 others, and lastly myself. Some have said: “Ah, Paul does not mention the empty tomb!” but of course for there to be a bodily resurrection, the tomb had to be emptied!
I also say that there will be a future bodily resurrection for all believers, that those who have fallen asleep are not lost. All will happen in due order, in the culminating point we call the “end of the world”.
Inevitably I was asked: “what sort of body can we have, then, since this present one will have decayed?” My answer is that our “self” will be totally changed. We will have a “transformed body”, which has no more resemblance to an earthly body than the seed has to the final plant.
I do insist that I have “seen” the risen Christ but this manner of seeing is not a simple earthly seeing. If Christ “appeared” to 500 at the same time, it was not a mirage, but equally was not the same thing as 500 people watching a sunrise. Unlike my friend Luke, I see the “risen body” more in spiritual, though still real, terms, whereas Luke speaks of a risen Jesus who was “flesh and blood” and consumed food.
My blessing, from Heaven, PAUL.