The Resurrected Jesus Is Not
The Resurrected Jesus Is Not
an Intangible Spirit
The teaching of the Watchtower Society and the various Bible Student groups that Jesus was resurrected as an intangible spirit creature is based mainly on an incorrect understanding of 1 Peter 3:18 which will be examined later in this study. Furthermore, it is argued that Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances were as a spirit who could materialize a flesh body. Yet any supposed disposal of Jesus’ actual dead body is contrary to the biblical description of his resurrection and subsequent events. This incorrect belief in resurrection as a spirit is supported by the speculative proposal that angels have the ability to materialize flesh bodies. However, such a concept is nowhere described or implied in the Scriptures. Furthermore, the scriptural evidence that the resurrected Jesus is a human who is now immortal and whose body has been glorified is overwhelming.an Intangible Spirit
Misunderstanding Concerning the Appearing of Angels
In the following example there is no mention of any change in the substance of the angel, but rather it was the eyes (perhaps mental blindness, see Insight on the scriptures Volume 1, p. 343) of the beholder that had to be opened to see the angel: “The ass saw the angel...then Jehovah opened Balaam’s eyes” (Num. 22:23, 31). A further example is that, “Jehovah opened [Elisha’s] servant’s eyes and he saw...chariots … Elisha went on to pray to Jehovah and say: ‘Please, strike this nation with blindness” (2 Kings 6:17, 18). Yet these Syrian soldiers could still see to follow Elisha. This indicates that it was most probably some form of mental blindness.
NO NEED FOR MATERIALIZATION
Although angels were seen as “men” in the Hebrew Scriptures, they were never called “sons of man,” but were only similar in appearance. They were only manlike as Gabriel is described in Daniel 8:15: as “…one who looked like a man” (NASU, NJB) or “…someone who appeared to be a man” (NWT). Although Gabriel is later called “a man” (Dan. 9:21) he is clearly only manlike and is revealed in Luke 1:26 as an angel. So, angels had manlike bodies, therefore, they did not need to materialise human bodies, otherwise, for example, the children (the Nephilim) of the rebellious angels of Genesis 6 would have been normal rather than having been the violent giant abnormal hybrids that they, in fact, were. Additionally, angels are sometimes depicted as in ‘dazzling or shining clothing’ (Luke 24:4, Acts 10:30). At other times they are described simply as men (Gen. 18:2) evidently indicating that they have in some way modified their appearance at these times. But this does not mean that they have at all changed their substance as in the teaching of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
NOTE: The shinning face of Moses and that of Jesus and with clothes “as white as light” (Luke 17:2) at the transfiguration were only single event demonstrations of God’s glory.
Jesus Was Described as Fully Human after His Resurrection
Throughout the Scriptures, each time an angel is described as a man or manlike it is clear from the context or the parallel accounts, in the case of the gospels, that an angel is in view. However, in the case of Jesus in the statements that he is a man after his resurrection there is no context indicating him to be an angel. Even in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where, “the Lord will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet…” it does not say that the Lord is an archangel; but rather this phrase is either a metaphorical description of the power of Jesus’ voice when he returns or it concerns the literal voice of an accompanying archangel, indicated by the fact that “the Lord descends with...” i.e. being accompanied by an archangel who makes a commanding call and blows God’s trumpet.Nevertheless, a metaphorical description of the power of Jesus’ voice e.g., like the roar of a lion is possible because three-point phrases were commonly used by Bible writers for emphasis and intensification. So, the phrase “with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet” works the same way. This would then indicate that Jesus will come with great power and authority as shown in other Scriptures (Matt 24:30, 31). Factually, Jesus cannot be an archangel for the reasons stated in Hebrews 1 and the further reasons given in my book, Can There Be Three Persons in One God? - Why You Should Question the Trinity Doctrine. However, if one says that by Jesus’ coming with an archangel’s voice means that he must be an archangel, then one must also say that his coming with the blast of God’s trumpet must make him God! In fact, the following texts show that after his resurrection Jesus is clearly fully human, although glorified because of having had his physical body changed to be indestructible and immortal:
“There is one mediator...a man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
“…Jesus...a man having been attested to you” (Acts 2:22, 13:38).
“…resurrection is also through a man” (1 Cor. 15:21).
“...he [God] has set a day...to judge the inhabited earth by a man whom he has appointed” (Acts 17:31).
Sadly, the Watchtower’s answer to these texts is that Jesus was only called a man after his resurrection because that is how he was known when alive on earth. However, this is not sound reasoning and implies that the Bible is less than accurate in its statements. As an example, when in Lystra, the apostles Barnabas and Paul corrected the incorrect view held by the crowd that they were gods that had become human, by saying “we are also humans” (Acts 14:11, 15). Furthermore, the Watch-tower’s teaching would mean that both Paul and Peter were misleading their listeners and readers if in reality Jesus had returned to being the archangel Michael. Such Watchtower reasoning flies in the face of the statement that Jesus is “the last Adam” after resurrection and so must remain in his ‘kind’ because the phrase “the first man Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45) implies that “the last Adam” is also a human after resurrection—albeit glorified.
No Human Ever Came from Heaven in the Past
First Corinthians 15:47 is often wrongly used to prove a literal pre-existence of Jesus. (see, Can There Be Three Persons in One God?-Why You Should Question the Trinity Doctrine). So, this verse states that: “The second man (Gk anthropos) is out of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47). However, please note that the verse concerns a “man”—a human. Yet, the Scriptures never teach that in the first century, a man (anthropos)—a human Jesus literally and physically came from heaven. This is because humans never literally come from heaven. However, they can “come from heaven” in the sense of originating with God in His purpose. Nevertheless, verse 47 is shown to be anticipatory because the context of, “we shall bear the image of the heavenly one” in verse 49 indicates that the event of verse 47 will occur at Jesus’ parousia (advent) when the first resurrection occurs so that Christians can “bear the image of the heavenly one.” This event will reveal an immortal ‘man’ mark two—–“the last Adam.” In fact, the following texts in the next chapter also demonstrate that, in Jesus’ case, a human body is what was resurrected, but one that was now glorified and immortal.Jesus’ Own Physical Body
Was Resurrected
Jesus’ Body Was Not Disintegrated by God
In his statements to a crowd in the temple grounds Peter applied the words of Psalm 16:9 to Jesus as if Jesus were saying: “and I (Lit. “my flesh) will reside in hope” (Acts 2:26). So how could Jesus’ flesh reside in hope if it were not going to be resurrected, but be disintegrated by God as taught by the Organization? Yet in Acts Peter goes on to show that Jesus’ body would not be destroyed when he said: “…nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31) and, “…the one whom God raised up did not see corruption” (Acts 13:37) as meaning his body did not decay.
These texts refer to the complete person of Jesus. He cannot exist apart from his body—his flesh. In fact, flesh in this instance, refers to Jesus’ literal body and if his body had been purposely disintegrated or destroyed by God, in any way at all, then his flesh would have seen corruption. The result is the same whether by slow decay or immediate destruction. The teaching that God must have destroyed Jesus’ dead body because he was resurrected as a spirit is not found in Scripture.
NOTE: What part of God’s purpose would have been served for Jehovah to have waited three days before resurrecting Jesus if the physical body was now of no consequence because it had been destroyed by God?
Jesus Was Still Tangible After His Resurrection
Long after the resurrection of Jesus, in about 61 C.E., Paul could say: “…in him [Jesus] all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). This shows that Jesus currently has a real physical body since his resurrection, because the term “bodily” had no connotation of anything intangible. Also, there is no statement anywhere in the Bible that anyone could materialize a body, but rather that, “God allowed him to become manifest…to us, who ate and drank with him after his rising from the dead” (Acts 10:40, 41).
This text does not mean that Jesus was invisible and then literally materialised in front of the disciples, but rather that he ‘appeared’ or ‘moved into their sight’ just as any other tangible solid-bodied human would. This is what a plain reading of these words means as verified when Jesus said, “It is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). On this point the second century Christian Ignatius is quoted as referencing Jesus’ words in Luke 24:39 when he said:
…that he (Jesus) was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when he came to Peter and those with him, he said to them: ‘Take hold of me; handle me and see that I am not a disembodied demon.’
Clearly, Ignatius believed in the actual same body physical resurrection of Jesus as were all biblical resurrections e.g., Lazarus’ being raised physically. The fact that the disciples thought they saw a demonic manifestation—a spirit of a demon (see Luke 4:33 KIT)—does not detract from Jesus’ words showing that he was real and solid-bodied. The use of the term “disembodied” by Ignatius is probably a reference to ‘the manifestation.’ However, the disciples simply mistook the solid but glorified bodied Jesus for an intangible manifestation of a demon until he showed them who he was. They had done a similar thing before when Jesus had walked on water in the dark and they had mistaken him for an apparition—a phantom (Matt. 14:26). So, if Jesus had been a spirit and he had materialized then, by his words, he would have been deceiving his disciples. In fact, Thomas had emphatically stated: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will not believe … Next he [Jesus] said to Thomas: Put your finger in here, and see my hands, take your hand and stick it in my side, and stop being unbelieving” (John 20:25b, 27). So, if Jesus had really been an intangible spirit then he would have been further deceiving his disciples, because the wounds on this different body would not have been the actual wounds caused by the Romans. Such would all have been a fabrication.
A Temple Not Made with Hands?
It has been argued that in John 2:21-22 the body that Jesus spoke about was not his same body. However, we must examine what Jesus actually said in contrast to the statements of false witnesses. The account says:“Jesus replied to them: “Tear down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said: “This temple was built in 46 years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was talking about the temple of his body. When, though, he was raised up from the dead, his disciples recalled that he used to say this, and they believed the Scripture and what Jesus had spoken” (John 2:19-22).
Yet in Mark 14:57-58 the false witnesses said, “We heard him say, ‘I will throw down this temple that was made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.’” So, the argument is made that Jesus would have another body, a non-human body, one “not made with hands.” However, Jesus’ actual words in John 2 were: “Tear down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He did not say ‘I will throw it down.’ He spoke of them breaking it down. Neither did he mention a temple not made by hands let alone a body not made with hands. If we allow the assumption that Mark added a detail of something that was actually said by Jesus, but was never later recorded by John, then we must ask: According to the Scriptures can humans ever have a non-human body? And what is meant by the phrase “not made by hands.” So, to answer the first question the following Scriptures illustrate the continuity of the Christian’s body in relation to resurrection when Jesus said: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just one grain; but if it dies, it then bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Later Paul explained that:
“You sow, not the body that will develop, but just a bare grain...but God gives it a body...to each of the seeds its own body” (1 Cor. 15:37, 38).
So, these verses show the continuity from grain (seed) to full plant; and therefore, the continuity from the dead mortal (natural) human body to the alive immortal (spiritual) human body of the Christian (1 Cor. 15:46). In terms of the Genesis ‘kinds’ humans always remain humans.
The Refashioning of the Same Human Body
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, Christians are: “…awaiting the release by ransom of the body” (Rom. 8:23 KIT. This is not “release from” as in the NWT). The Greek text and most other translations render the phrase in Romans 8:23: “as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” So, it will be a change in our bodies which takes place according to Paul because:
“We will not all fall asleep [in death], but we [the living] will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52).
Indeed, there is nothing in any Bible text to indicate that it will be a change into a non-human body, but it will be a changing from mortal to immortal because: “[Jesus] will transform our humble body to be like his glorious body...” (Phil. 3:21). These verses show that it is not our receiving of a completely different body, but that it will be our mortal humble body that will be changed (not exchanged). How this will be accomplished for the dead at resurrection time the Scriptures do not say. Nevertheless, all resurrections in the Bible record are of individuals whose own body was made alive. Because the above demonstrates that Christians will be changed from mortal to immortal with no disconnection from their bodies, the same must have been true of Jesus at his resurrection when he said: “It is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). Yet, if this were by materialization then Jesus would have been deceiving his disciples. The teaching that Jesus was given a non-human alien body and that Christians will be given non-human bodies is based on the concept that you can be separated from your body and transferred into another body of a different type (non-human). This is the pagan Greek dualist belief of the Gnostics, rather than the biblical holistic belief. To translate Romans 8:23 as “releasing from the body”, as the NWT does, is plainly dualistic Gnosticism; unless the intention is to interpret it according to Romans 7:24 where Paul asks: “who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death.” However, he is not asking to be given a non-human body, but to be no longer “a slave to sin’s law” (verse 25). In fact, the NLT paraphrases Romans 8:23 as: “we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.” So, the following Scriptures give examples showing that redemption is also, from sheol or death but never from one’s body: “God will redeem me (Lit. “my soul”) from the power of the Grave.” (Ps. 49:15) and so, not from one’s body. And “From death I will recover them” (Hosea 13:14b)” i.e., not from their bodies.
So, to answer the second question concerning Mark 14:58 of: “What is meant by the phrase “not made by hands” we note that this phrase also appears in 2 Corinthians 5:1 which says: “...we are to have a building from God, a house not made with hands.” Clearly, from the foregoing, there is continuity between the natural and the spiritual body. So, in line with 1 Corinthians 15 the statement in 2 Corinthians 5:1 simply contrasts the temporary nature of a tent as the before bodily state i.e., weak, perishable and mortal that does not last as received through Adam and the permanent building as the after bodily state as a gift from God and therefore “not made with hands” which lasts forever having “put on incorruption and immortality.” Indeed, the Word Biblical Commentary, states that:
This permanent dwelling, this spiritual body, is one that is “made without hands.” To say that this new house was made without hands is not to negate that God created man (Gen 2:7). It is to say that the tent is of the earth and that there is both a need (1 Cor 15:22) and a desire (5:8) for something else, wholly from God.
So, according to 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54 the corruptible/mortal nature will put on an incorruptible/immortal nature. This is similar to clothing oneself with an overcoat rather than having a completely different body. Therefore, if the Mark 14:57-58 description did apply to Jesus’ body (which it may not have because it was said by false witnesses) it, too, may be making the same contrast and is in no way a reference to becoming non-human. Of course, the bodily contrast from mortal to immortal is dramatic, as in the difference between a seed grain and the fully-grown plant.
The Return of Jesus Will Be as a Man
According to the Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words as well as the Anchor Bible Dictionary the term “Son of man” = The representative Human. So, the term “Son of man” means a human and this term is applied to Jesus at his return as he says: “…they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30) and, “You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds heaven” (Mark 14:62). Hence, Jesus, in returning as the Son of man—a human, must have been resurrected as fully human.§
