Some say Jesus Christ was raised with the very same body in which he was crucified, and that fact sets the pattern for all the other dead who are to be resurrected. And Jesus now has that same body in heaven to which he ascended.’ These people have been taught this in the churches that they attend. But does the apostle Peter agree with that? In 1 Peter 3:18, 19 it says, according to The New English Bible of 1961: “For Christ also died for our sins once for all. He, the just, suffered for the unjust, to bring us to God. In the body he was put to death; in the spirit he was brought to life. And in the spirit he went and made his proclamation to the imprisoned spirits.” Other modern translations of 1 Peter 3:18, 19 read similarly. The apostle Peter was saying that Jesus was not resurrected with a human body. The apostle Peter explains that Jesus “was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18) Jesus was brought back to life as a powerful spirit person! (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
Since Peter was saying that Jesus’ was resurrected “in the spirit.” This explains why on the resurrection morning when God’s angel rolled the stone from the door of the tomb the soldier guards did not see Jesus rise from the dead and come out, although they did see the materialized angel sitting on the stone. (Matthew 28:1-4) This also explains why, when the resurrected Jesus met two disciples walking that day to Emmaus and went along with them and started to take supper with them, they did not know him until he began to serve the bread; and then he disappeared from them. (Luke 24:13-35)
This explains why, when the apostles and other disciples were met together in Jerusalem behind closed doors for fear of the fanatical Jews, Jesus must have come right through the walls. For he amazingly stood right in among them, and, after eating and talking with them, he vanished from them, but not through any unbolted door. (Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-24) Of course, for Jesus, who had been brought to life in the spirit, to make himself visible to his disciples, he had to materialize on each occasion a body of flesh and bones. Jesus himself then said: “A spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you behold that I have.” Since the flesh-and-bones disciples could not see what was not flesh and bones, they could not see a spirit and they could not see the resurrected Jesus, who was “in the spirit.”(Luke 24:39)
So on some occasions the disciples did not know or recognize the resurrected Jesus. (Matthew 28:16, 17; Luke 24:15, 16; John 20:14-16; 21:4-12) The explanation for this is given in the words found in the Latin Vulgate, the Roman Catholic Douay Version, the German Luther Bible and the Authorized (King James) Version, in Mark 16:12. This verse in the Douay version reads: “And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country.” The Greek word there translated “shape” is morphe, which the Greek-English Lexicon says means “form, shape, fashion, appearance.” But even apart from what Mark 16:12 says, a careful study of the resurrection appearances makes it clear to the honest investigator, who does not need to be a Sherlock Holmes of a detective, that the resurrected Jesus materialized different bodies to suit the occasion. On at least two occasions he materialized bodies that resembled the one in which he had been nailed to the stake. (Luke 24:38-40; John 20:20-27) On other occasions the form or shape that he materialized left the disciples in doubt for a while.
Possibly some will say thinking of Jesus’ ascension to heaven, how he led his disciples out to the Mount of Olives, where, “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight,” and angels said to them: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11) In those words “in like manner” the Greek word for “manner” is, not morphe but tropos. So the angels did not say that this same Jesus would return in the same form or shape but in the same manner. Neither did the angels say that those disciples would see Jesus return.
The apostle Paul said: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption,” which agrees with Paul’s preceding statement: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:42, 50) Now some may say, he spiritualized his fleshly body in order to take it to heaven! But, I ask, did those angels who materialized human bodies in order to appear to the disciples on resurrection day and on ascension day spiritualize those bodies in which they appeared in order to return to the invisible spirit realm? Did Jesus spiritualize the clothing in which he appeared to his disciples?
Jesus certainly had to materialize clothing in which to appear, for the clothes he had on before he was impaled were divided among the soldiers and they cast lots over his seamless inner garment; and the bandages in which his corpse had been wrapped and the cloth that had been upon his head were left in the tomb. (John 19:23, 24; 20:5-7) If the resurrected Jesus could materialize new clothing, could he not also materialize new suitable bodies in order to appear and then dematerialize instead of spiritualize them? Yes, I believe so!
So 1 Peter 3:18, 19 teaches us that Jesus was resurrected a powerful spirit being when he was resurrected. Other scriptures teach us that when Jesus was resurrected he was resurrected immortal and incorruptible.
Since Peter was saying that Jesus’ was resurrected “in the spirit.” This explains why on the resurrection morning when God’s angel rolled the stone from the door of the tomb the soldier guards did not see Jesus rise from the dead and come out, although they did see the materialized angel sitting on the stone. (Matthew 28:1-4) This also explains why, when the resurrected Jesus met two disciples walking that day to Emmaus and went along with them and started to take supper with them, they did not know him until he began to serve the bread; and then he disappeared from them. (Luke 24:13-35)
This explains why, when the apostles and other disciples were met together in Jerusalem behind closed doors for fear of the fanatical Jews, Jesus must have come right through the walls. For he amazingly stood right in among them, and, after eating and talking with them, he vanished from them, but not through any unbolted door. (Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-24) Of course, for Jesus, who had been brought to life in the spirit, to make himself visible to his disciples, he had to materialize on each occasion a body of flesh and bones. Jesus himself then said: “A spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you behold that I have.” Since the flesh-and-bones disciples could not see what was not flesh and bones, they could not see a spirit and they could not see the resurrected Jesus, who was “in the spirit.”(Luke 24:39)
So on some occasions the disciples did not know or recognize the resurrected Jesus. (Matthew 28:16, 17; Luke 24:15, 16; John 20:14-16; 21:4-12) The explanation for this is given in the words found in the Latin Vulgate, the Roman Catholic Douay Version, the German Luther Bible and the Authorized (King James) Version, in Mark 16:12. This verse in the Douay version reads: “And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country.” The Greek word there translated “shape” is morphe, which the Greek-English Lexicon says means “form, shape, fashion, appearance.” But even apart from what Mark 16:12 says, a careful study of the resurrection appearances makes it clear to the honest investigator, who does not need to be a Sherlock Holmes of a detective, that the resurrected Jesus materialized different bodies to suit the occasion. On at least two occasions he materialized bodies that resembled the one in which he had been nailed to the stake. (Luke 24:38-40; John 20:20-27) On other occasions the form or shape that he materialized left the disciples in doubt for a while.
Possibly some will say thinking of Jesus’ ascension to heaven, how he led his disciples out to the Mount of Olives, where, “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight,” and angels said to them: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11) In those words “in like manner” the Greek word for “manner” is, not morphe but tropos. So the angels did not say that this same Jesus would return in the same form or shape but in the same manner. Neither did the angels say that those disciples would see Jesus return.
The apostle Paul said: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption,” which agrees with Paul’s preceding statement: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:42, 50) Now some may say, he spiritualized his fleshly body in order to take it to heaven! But, I ask, did those angels who materialized human bodies in order to appear to the disciples on resurrection day and on ascension day spiritualize those bodies in which they appeared in order to return to the invisible spirit realm? Did Jesus spiritualize the clothing in which he appeared to his disciples?
Jesus certainly had to materialize clothing in which to appear, for the clothes he had on before he was impaled were divided among the soldiers and they cast lots over his seamless inner garment; and the bandages in which his corpse had been wrapped and the cloth that had been upon his head were left in the tomb. (John 19:23, 24; 20:5-7) If the resurrected Jesus could materialize new clothing, could he not also materialize new suitable bodies in order to appear and then dematerialize instead of spiritualize them? Yes, I believe so!
So 1 Peter 3:18, 19 teaches us that Jesus was resurrected a powerful spirit being when he was resurrected. Other scriptures teach us that when Jesus was resurrected he was resurrected immortal and incorruptible.
