Chapter 3 -
The resurrection of Jesus
As comes to the resurrection
of Jesus, the Watchtower Society has taught that he did not rise from the dead
physically, and that his body did not rise into Heaven. Instead, the Society teaches
that He rose up only as an invisible spirit. There was no human or glorified
body:
We claim that it is a lie,
that Jesus was raised from the dead in the body. The human body of our Lord was
taken from the grave in some supernatural way, and we do not know what happened
to it. Nobody knows whether it evaporated as gas or is it somewhere preserved.
(…) It will be shown to people in the kingdom of thousand years. (Raamatuntutkielmia, part 2, p.131 and Jumalan
harppu, p. 163)
And when the cloud covered
Jesus, He got rid of the body which He had created for this purpose behind the
cloud, and now He is a spirit and thus invisible. (Totuus tekee teidät vapaaksi, p. 297)
But what does the Bible say
about this? If we examine the Bible, we clearly see that it indicates that
Jesus rose from the dead physically and received a glorified and heavenly
resurrected body. This can also seen from the next examples:
Verses that speak about the
resurrection of the body. Firstly, we should note that several verses indicate
that Jesus rose up physically. He got a new, glorified, and heavenly
body, in which He also went to Heaven:
- (John 20:19-20) Then the same day
at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the
middle, and said to them, Peace be to you.
20 And when he
had so said, he showed to them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they
saw the LORD.
- (Luke 24:36-43) And as they thus
spoke, Jesus himself stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace be to
you.
37 But they
were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said to
them, Why are you troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see;
for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have.
40 And when he
had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they
yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said to them, Have you here any
meat?
42 And they gave
him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
- (1 Cor 15:20,35,40,44) But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the first fruits of them that slept.
35 But some man will say,
How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
40. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is
another.
44. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
- (Phil 3:20-21) For our conversation is
in heaven; from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to
himself.
The empty tomb. One piece of
evidence of the physical resurrection is the empty tomb. It proves that His
body - and not only his spirit - had really left the tomb:
- (Matt 28:1,6) In the end of the
sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come,
see the place where the Lord lay.
- (Luke 24:2,3,6,12) And they found
the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.
3 And they
entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
6 He is not
here, but is risen: remember how he spoke to you when he was yet in Galilee,
12 Then arose Peter, and ran to the sepulcher; and stooping down, he
beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in
himself at that which was come to pass.
The disciples saw it. The disciples
seeing Jesus rise up into Heaven proves that He was not a mere spirit. He also
had to have a glorified resurrected body:
- (Acts 1:9-11) And when he had spoken
these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received
him out of their sight.
10 And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel;
11 Which also
said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
you have seen him go into heaven.
