Hello everyone, welcome to this video. I’m Danny and I was an active Latter-day Saint for 60 years.
This weekend, Christians around the world will be celebrating Resurrection Sunday. And, I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had on Resurrection based on what I’ve read in the Apostolic Record called, the New Testament.
If you recall, during Yeshua’s mortal ministry He was beckoned by His close friends - sisters Martha and Mary to come quickly to the side of their brother Lazarus who was critically ill. But when Yeshua eventually arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has already died and was buried in a tomb. As Yeshua enters the town, Martha who is quite upset comes to out meet Yeshua and says, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died". We read in John 11:23-25 “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Upon making that amazing statement - that HE was “the resurrection and the life,” Yeshua commands Lazarus to rise from the dead and come out of the tomb. It was the greatest miracle of all! Yeshua brought a man back to life!
Since Yeshua has defeated physical death through His own resurrection, making it possible for all mankind to one day rise from the grave, I want to start by asking - When we receive OUR resurrection - will we have the same recognizable body we have now, or will it be a different kind of body in the resurrection? Will we readily identify ourselves and others?
When we examine the post-resurrection appearance of Yeshua in the New Testament Gospel accounts, it seems the Resurrected Christ did not exactly resemble the mortal, Yeshua. Keep in mind, the Apostolic Record of the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 15:1-9 reports that more than 500 people at once saw Him in His resurrected body. Also, the eleven Apostles and then apostle Paul. That is a substantial number of people who were eyewitnesses of His resurrection.
The very first personal encounter of His appearance is reported in John chapter 20. Following the crucifixion and burial of Yeshua, we find His devoted disciple Mary Magdalene grieving at the empty tomb. Vs 11-16 “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.”
Think about that passage for a second. Though Mary was now in His very presence and having this private conversation, she had no idea it was Yeshua she was talking with. She mistook Him for being “the gardener.” But then it was the way in which He said her name “Mary,” and not by His appearance that she suddenly recognized it was Yeshua. I know under the circumstances, it might have been easy to confuse the man standing near the tomb as someone else, but I think this is one illustration of Yeshua’s resurrected body looking somewhat different from His mortal body to Mary Magdalene - who was very familiar with His physical appearance and His voice.
Then, in another situation, in Luke 24:13-28, we read about two of Yeshua’s disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus following the crucifixion and burial of the Lord. Yeshua, walking along the same road joins them as they journey. It says in, Luke 24:16 “But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” I’m not certain what it means “their eyes were holden.” But Yeshua enters their conversation and asks what they were discussing. One of them looks right at Yeshua and says, vs 17 “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?” They thought - how could this guy not have heard about the arrest, crucifixion, burial, and now all the talk of a missing body from the sepulcher? As they walked, Yeshua begins teaching them about how all these current events were a fulfillment of scriptural prophecy.
Still, they don’t recognize Him – neither by His appearance nor by His voice. I have, to ask, why is that? This same account recorded in Mark 16:12 gives us the answer. It says, Yeshua “appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked.” As a resurrection Being, Yeshua had a “another form” which appeared different to them from His mortal body form. Interesting!
Luke 24:28-29 recounts as the three men reached their destination at the end of the day, they compelled Yeshua to stay with them for the evening. They must have been captivated by the conversation they were having with Yeshua, who was teaching them about how scriptural prophesy was being fulfilled and they wanted to continue it over dinner.
Okay, here is the big reveal! As they sat down to eat, it says in vs 30 that Jesus “took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.” vs 31 “And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” So, what just happened to suddenly cause them to have their eyes opened to who this “stranger” was? The answer is in vs 35 “he was known of them in breaking of bread.” Again, what significance was that to these two men? I venture to guess that they must have been present at the Last Supper in the upper room along with the twelve apostles and now watching Him again - remembering how Yeshua spoke of the “broken bread” as representing His body. Wow! What a powerful moment that must have been for these two men to realize they were in the presence of the resurrected Messiah. I can only imagine!
We go on to read in Luke 24:36-48 that these two men then returned to Jerusalem to join the other disciples who were gathered privately in a room, when unexpectedly Yeshua appears to them. Now, you would imagine them shouting with excitement, “You’re alive!” But even then, they did not recognize Him by His appearance. They thought they’d seen a ghost. To prove to them it was Him, Yeshua invited them to touch the wounds in His hands and His feet. But even then, they weren’t certain it was Him. They get that intimately close to the Messiah - touching and feeling the holes in Yeshua’s body, and they STILL do not recognize it was truly Him. Amazing! Was His resurrected body that much different from His mortal body?
As He sat down and broke bread and ate with them, Yeshua taught from the scriptures to help them finally understand He was indeed, the Living Christ. Now, that took a LOT of convincing!
And because Apostle Thomas was not present at that dinner meeting - eight days later Yeshua makes a special appearance to him. But Thomas was skeptical and wasn’t convinced. John 20:24-28 records that Yeshua invited Thomas to touch the hole in His side. And only then did Thomas recognize Him. And, with powerful conviction, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.”
On yet, another subsequent occasion, Yeshua’s disciples had traveled to Galilee following the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They were waiting on further instructions from the Messiah and in the meantime decided they would return to their former professions as fishermen. It says in John 21:3-9 “Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.” They fished all night and came up empty handed. “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” The men probably thought to themselves – we are the experts here. What does that stranger on the shore know about fishing? However, being desperate to catch something for breakfast, and as a last resort, “They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved (John) – saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, and did cast himself into the sea.”
Can you picture the excitement that was hitting all those disciples at this moment? Peter was so eager, realizing it was Yeshua that he couldn’t wait to get to Him, so he jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. “And the other disciples came in a little ship; dragging the net with fishes.” Their nets were over flowing.
Now, here is another example of Yeshua’s own disciples not at first recognizing Him by His voice or His appearance. It wasn’t until Yeshua performs this particular miracle for them that John the Beloved realized it was Him.
I’m convinced that John was having a flash back - recalling three years earlier when the men first met Yeshua on the shore of Galilee and He gave them instruction then to cast their nets onto the other side of the boat which resulted in their filling the nets with fish. We read in Luke 5:4-11 “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” I just love how both stories bookend the calling of these disciples to follow Yeshua three years before His resurrection and then again soon after His resurrection.
You see - In all these personal and group encounters with Yeshua following His resurrection, even His closest friends and disciples did not recognize Him by either His voice or by His appearance.
So, what then, does Yeshua’s resurrected body possibly tell us about our own resurrection? What will our bodies look like? Will we be immediately recognizable? Will our resurrected body look exactly like our mortal physical body? Or will it be different? Will we take on “another form” like Yeshua did?
On the other hand, the Book of Mormon teaches that we will be resurrected in our perfected immortal bodies resembling our mortal bodies. Alma 11:43-44 “The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now.” In other words, Mormonism teaches that in the resurrection, humans will be a perfect physical rendition of themselves. But that is not at all what the Bible has, to teach us about our resurrection.
Apostle Paul discusses the great differences between our earthly bodies and our resurrected bodies in 1 Corinthians 15, which is the centerpiece of the Apostolic Record. That chapter highlights what resurrection really means. Paul teaches that resurrected bodies will be distinctly different from one another in their glory. Vs 40-42 “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.”
Contrasting our earthly bodies with the splendor of our heavenly resurrected bodies, Paul says, vs 42-44 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
In short, our resurrected bodies are spiritual, imperishable, and raised in glory and power. Paul emphasizes it is a spiritual body that we will receive. He states that first we receive our natural physical body when we are born. Then after we die and are resurrected, we receive our spiritual body. Vs 46 “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” Vs 48-49 “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
Through the first Adam, we received our natural bodies, perfectly suited to this earthly environment. However, because of the Fall they became perishable. Due to disobedience, sin and death was introduced into the world and mankind became mortal. Aging, deterioration, and eventual death now affect all of us. From dust we came, and to dust shall we return.
Our resurrection bodies, on the other hand, will be “raised incorruptible and imperishable.” They will never experience sickness, decay, deterioration, or physical death again. And Vs 53-54 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
As a result of the Fall, we are “sown in dishonor.” We were originally made perfect but sin had brought dishonor. Yet believers have the promise that our imperfect and dishonored bodies will one day be raised in glory. Freed from the restrictions imposed by sin, our resurrected bodies will be honorable and perfectly suited for pleasing and praising our Creator throughout eternity. Our bodies will be raised in “power and glory,” and we will no longer be subject to the flaws and infirmity that pervade life today.
Lastly, the resurrected body will be a spiritual one. Our natural bodies are suited to live in this world. But Vs 50 says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” After the resurrection our “spiritual body” will be perfectly suited for living in heaven. This does not mean we will be only a spirit, because spirits do not have bodies—but that our resurrected bodies will not need physical sustenance nor depend on natural means of supporting life.
We get a glimpse of what our resurrection bodies will be like when we recall Yeshua’s post-resurrection appearances. His disciples could physically touch Him, yet He was able to travel effortlessly and appear and disappear at will. He could go through walls and locked doors yet could also eat and drink, sit and talk. Philippians 3:21 informs us that our body will be “fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Indeed, the physical limitations imposed by sin that hinder our ability to fully serve Him here on earth will be forever gone, freeing us to praise and serve and glorify Him for eternity.
While the Bible doesn’t describe in exact detail the glorified bodies we will receive in heaven - we know that they will be like that of Yeshua’s resurrected body. 1 John 3:2 tells us that our body must be somewhat like Christ’s body. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
From reading the whole of scripture – it seems to me that our eternal reward in heaven will be in the measure of glory we receive in our resurrected spiritual bodies. Whatever our resurrected spiritual bodies will look like - I believe they will be very impressive to behold. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to that exchange of the physical for the spiritual body.
In conclusion, I want to add my testimony to that of Apostle Paul who wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” I believe in a Living Christ who saved us from both physical and spiritual death. May we place our faith and trust in His glorious work is my prayer.
Something I hope you’ll seriously consider.
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God Bless!