1 Corinthians 15:35-44a (NIV)
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 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.
Paul’s answers to those curious about what the resurrection body will be like were probably far less satisfying than they had hoped. Paul knew so much about the kingdom of God and had in fact seen the risen Jesus with his own eyes, so they figured that he would be able to easily answer the question. But Paul didn’t give them a list of traits and characteristics of resurrected bodies. Instead, he begins in verse 35 by telling them that that question is foolish!
Paul had indeed seen the resurrected Jesus first-hand, and had seen Jesus’ physical body as well, before he had been executed. After all, Paul lived in Jerusalem and hung out with the Pharisees, who were no strangers to Jesus. And the difference between Jesus’ physical body and his resurrection body were so stunning that at first, he hadn’t even recognized Jesus, and had to ask who He was (Acts 9:5).
Even without taking into account the stories he had heard from the other apostles about Jesus being able to appear and disappear at will after his resurrection, and to walk through locked doors, there were very few similarities between Jesus’ physical body and His resurrection body.
Jesus physical body had been unremarkable. He was tanned, lean and strong, as would be expected of someone who had been a carpenter, and who had spent several years walking the length and breadth of the land. But His resurrection body was radiant with glory, so much so that it had seemed to shine with the blazing glory of the sun itself.
Jesus physical body did not exude any kind of spiritual power, even though the miracles that he did continually showed that divine power flowed through Him. But someone could easily have passed by Him on the street without noticing anything unusual about him. (Remember that those who arrested Him needed the help of Judas to identify him in the dim light of the campfires that dotted the garden of Gethsemane.) But Jesus resurrection body exuded a power so majestic that Paul fell on his face in His presence. The proud Pharisee was nowhere to be seen, just a terrified quivering man stripped of all pretense.
The difference between the two was so stark that Paul used a very clear analogy: plants. When a person plants a seed, the appearance of the seed itself gives no clue as to the appearance of the plant that will grow from it. A kernel of corn gives no indication in its dead, dried state of the tall, green, leafy plant that will rise from the earth after it germinates. The miniscule, tan mustard seed gives no sign in its appearance of the broad, tall plant, practically a tree, that will grow from it.
Paul does give a few contrasts between the physical and the resurrection bodies. The physical body is perishable; the resurrection body will live forever, never getting sick, never dying. The physical body is scarred by sin; the resurrection body will be unmarred by those consequences. The physical body is weak, unable to do many things that are wanted, and even necessary; the resurrection body will be powerful, able to accomplish anything God commands. The physical body is a physical body, made of the stuff of the earth to which it is doomed to return; the resurrection body will be a spiritual body, untethered from the physical world, and able to live forever in God’s presence.
Father, even though Paul tries to give the Corinthians an answer to their question, you can hear his frustration as he writes. He does not have the words to describe Jesus’ resurrection body, so to try to describe the difference between that body and the one Jesus had during his life and ministry was an impossible task! The good news is, we don’t have to be able to describe the body You have promised us to believe Your promise, nor to receive that body when the time comes. We can know however, that the reality will far surpass all we could ever imagine. Thank You, Lord, for Your promises, which You always keep at the proper time. Amen.