Embracing The Bodily Resurrection Of Jesus
Part 97 - Luke 24:36-43 (ESV) - Pastor Tim Kroeker
Philippians 3:20–21:
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
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“Circle of Life,” composed by Elton John, was the title track to the iconic Disney film, The Lion King. The song describes an interconnected, cyclical nature of existence, where birth, growth, death, and rebirth form a continuous loop. These concepts are common in Hinduism, Buddhism, and nature-based spirituality. It can make for heartwarming fiction. But the Bible contains a different explanation about the nature of existence and the end of life.
In the previous episode of our salvation story, Jesus appeared alive to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, revealing Himself to them in the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread. He then mysteriously disappeared. Was this just an apparition, a ghostlike appearance? Perhaps Jesus’ resurrection was just spiritual.
As we continue to read, Jesus now appears to the entire group of gathered disciples. He shows them his hands and his feet. Because they are still incredulous, he eats a piece of broiled fish right there in front of them. Jesus proved that he was no ghost. Jesus was raised bodily from the dead.
Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead is the basis of the Christian hope, shaping our understanding of human existence. We will one day be raised bodily from the dead too. It’s not a mystical or spiritual fantasy. It is real; a material, eternal existence that changes how we embrace our bodies today.
