Resurrection of the Dead
The Mystery of the
Resurrection
.
When it comes to the resurrection of the dead, Lisa Miller, religion editor for Newsweek, doesn’t “buy” the resurrection of Jesus, or of anyone else for that matter.
.
When it comes to the resurrection of the dead, Lisa Miller, religion editor for Newsweek, doesn’t “buy” the resurrection of Jesus, or of anyone else for that matter.
In a recent article for the magazine, Miller, a self-described skeptic,
recounts her visit to a Jewish scholar (who believes in the resurrection of the
dead) to ask how God does it.
It’s the same question Michael Shermer, editor-in-chief of Skeptic magazine, put to a
Christian physician in a 2004 television special.
The question presupposes that, for the resurrection of the body to be
credible, it must be explicable in terms of known physical processes that are
medically possible.
Yet, if it were, it would be nothing but a slick manipulation of nature
by someone who has acquired the knack. Either way, naturalism wins, confirming
the presuppositions of the skeptic.
So it is no surprise that when the scholar demurred that the
resurrection of the dead is a supernatural act of God, Miller’s disbelief
remained undisturbed.
“It Seems
Fantastic”
Investigating the resurrection of the dead, Ms. Miller notes that between 2003 and 2007 belief in the resurrection of Jesus among Americans fell from 80 percent to 70 percent.
Investigating the resurrection of the dead, Ms. Miller notes that between 2003 and 2007 belief in the resurrection of Jesus among Americans fell from 80 percent to 70 percent.
She adds, with an apparent note of approval, “Thanks to the growth here
of Eastern religions, reincarnation—the belief that after death a soul returns
to earth in another body—is gaining adherents.” (However, according to the data
she cites, belief in reincarnation actually slipped from 27 to 21 percent in
that same period.)
If Ms. Miller is as appreciative of reincarnation as that statement
would suggest, one wonders why the ability of an unintelligent karmic force to
transmogrify a human being into a beetle, buffalo or rose bud is any more
credible than the ability of super-intelligent Being to raise a decayed corpse
or cremated ashes into a reconstructed body.
Religion professor Stephen Prothero offers, “It seems fantastic and
irrational that we're going to have a body in heaven.”
But is it any more fantastic than our present embodiment, whether from
materialistic evolution, spiritualistic reincarnation, or theistic creation?
Not really.
All the same, Miller notes that even among Christians, belief in a
bodily resurrection is giving way to belief in a symbolic resurrection—a
“rising” representative of spiritual awakening, re-birth, or renewal, either
personal or corporate. It is a belief that is against the currents of scripture
and early Church teaching.
Biblical Tradition
Although the resurrection of the dead does not play prominently in the Old Testament, it is clearly there. For example,
Although the resurrection of the dead does not play prominently in the Old Testament, it is clearly there. For example,
· Job, in the midst of his sorrows, responded to his interlocutors: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in
the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet
in my flesh I will see God.”
· In his prophecy about the end times, Daniel wrote: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to
everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
· Expressing confidence in his own resurrection and pointing forward to
Jesus’, David exclaimed: “You will not
abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.”
· Predicting the future restoration of Israel while, in type, representing
the resurrection of the dead, Ezekiel’s penned his vision of the “valley of dry
bones” raised to life.
With
Jesus’ public ministry, references to the resurrection of the dead become more
frequent:
· First, Jesus predicts His own resurrection: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
· Then, He foretells the general resurrection: “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live,” adding
a Danielian warning “a time is coming
when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who
have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be
condemned.”
· Later, He comforts Martha upon the news of her brother’s death: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
Added to numerous prophecies about resurrection are
various accounts of individuals being raised from the dead: the Shunammite’s
son by Elijah; Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and the Nain widow’s son by Jesus;
Eutychus by
Paul; and Dorcas by Peter.
Importantly, these “raisings” were not
resurrections per se, but resuscitations where the affected individuals were
revived into the same bodies and with the same abilities and limitations as
they had before.
Consequently, it is common to hear modern-day
skeptics dismiss them as ancient incidences of “near death experiences” that
are “explained” with the advances of 21st century medicine and neuroscience.
But the resurrection of the dead is something
wholly different.
Something Wholly
Different
The resurrection of the dead is the reconstitution and reanimation of remains
that have decayed beyond all recognition and, sometimes, widely dispersed in
the ecosphere.
The resurrection of the dead is the reconstitution and reanimation of remains
As Tatian, the second century Christian apologist wrote, “Even though
fire may destroy all traces of my flesh… I am laid up in the storehouses of a
wealthy Lord.”
But the thought of putting Humpty together again strains the credibility
of even the most ardent believer in the limitless possibilities of science.
What’s more, the product of the resurrection—the “body raised”—is foreign to anything in human
experience. We catch a clue about “how foreign” in Jesus’ encounter with the
Sadducees.
The Sadducees were a sect of first century rationalists who denied the
supernatural, including the resurrection.
Hoping to embarrass Jesus, they posed a hypothetical situation to Him:
In the resurrection, who would be the spouse of a woman who had been married
and widowed multiple times during her life?
Obvious to their sophistry, Jesus countered, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power
of God. At the resurrection people will
neither marry nor be given in marriage;
they will be like the angels in heaven.”
Apparently our resurrected bodies will not retain the sexual function
reserved for marriage and which is so important to human flourishing on earth.
I remember the suggestion of a pastor who once said something to the
effect, that the completeness and intimacy of our relationships with God and
our heavenly family in the new creation will make marriage—which is merely a
present “shadow” of our future reality—unnecessary. It is a provocative
suggestion.
Perhaps the most important clue about our resurrected bodies comes from
the apostle John.
In his first epistle, John writes, “Now
we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we
know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is.”
If, as John says, “we will be like
him,” what the scriptures say about the resurrected Jesus should say
something about our resurrected state as well.
The Scriptures reveal the risen Lord as, foremost, an embodied being. He
was not, as the Gnostics maintained, a phantom, mirage, or the product of mass
hallucination.
Yet when He appeared to His followers, sometimes He was recognized, as
in the case of the women leaving the empty tomb, but often He was not, as in
the case of the Emmaus disciples.
Even His initial appearance to the Eleven was met with doubt until He
displayed His nail-pierced wounds. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that we,
too, will be changed in a way retains our identity, such that we will recognize
our loved ones and they will recognize us.
In His glorified body, Jesus ate food—not that He needed food—and could
be touched, held and embraced as any flesh and blood person. At the same time,
He was not limited by the restrictions of his earthly body: He could disappear
(or de-materialize).
He could pass through solid objects, and move from one place to the
next, seemingly effortlessly and instantaneously. If John is right, there is a
good chance that we’ll have the same abilities; though we don’t want to take
this too far.
A Mystery of God
The resurrection of the dead is one of Christendom’s deepest mysteries and, yet, no different in kind than the mystery of creation—whereby, man was formed from the dust of the earth, and the earth, ex nihilo, by
the utterance
of God.
The resurrection of the dead is one of Christendom’s deepest mysteries and, yet, no different in kind than the mystery of creation—whereby, man was formed from the dust of the earth, and the earth, ex nihilo, by
Consequently, folks who are put off by the resurrection of the dead will
likely find the creation of the living a difficult pill as well.
It suggests that the real objection to the resurrection mystery is not
so much over the process, but over what the process implies.
.
Are you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future will play out?
.
Are you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future will play out?
Why not talk to the
God of the universe and let Him work in your behalf?
He says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way
you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask God to show you
what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly
Father,
I
admit that I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You. I now want to
turn away from my past sinful life and begin a new life with You.
Please
forgive me. I now receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my
Lord. I believe and confess that Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and
rose from the dead.
I
want to receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my Savior. Your
Word says, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
I
believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and
no man comes unto the Father, but by Him.
Lord
Jesus, I pray and ask You, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. I
thank You that you have given me eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am
born again.
Heavenly
Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is in me now. I surrender
my life to You. I promise to study Your Word – the Bible.
Use
me for Your glory.
In
Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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lyrics
1 My faith looks up to thee,
thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray;
take all my guilt away.
O let me from this day
be wholly thine!
thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray;
take all my guilt away.
O let me from this day
be wholly thine!
2 May thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire.
As thou hast died for me,
O may my love to thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire!
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire.
As thou hast died for me,
O may my love to thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire!
3 While life’s dark maze I tread
and griefs around me spread,
be thou my guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from thee aside.
and griefs around me spread,
be thou my guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from thee aside.
4 When life’s swift race is run,
death’s cold work almost done,
be near to me.
Blest Savior, then, in love
fear and distrust remove.
O bear me safe above,
redeemed and free!
death’s cold work almost done,
be near to me.
Blest Savior, then, in love
fear and distrust remove.
O bear me safe above,
redeemed and free!
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