Bishop, Wm. Frost, Ph. D., D.D.

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FORMULA FOR THE RISEN BODY OF JESUSCHRIST.BY THE REV. WM. FROST BISHOP, PH. D., D. D.HALF the trouble with the Rev. Joseph C. Allen in his thought-ful article upon "The Resurrection of Jesus" in the Aprilnumber of The Open Court is an oversight. He has for the timelost sight of what may be called the Formula for the Risen Bodyof Jesus Christ. That formula may be sufficiently indicated asfollows:What was natural to Him before His resurrection is nozv mirac-ulous; zvhat zvas before miraculous is now natural.To partake of food before the resurrection was natural to him,but after it the taking of food was miraculous. Before the resur-rection his body was naturally visible, but after it his body wasnaturally invisible. On several occasions during his ministry thebody of our Lord became invisible. Notably so at Nazareth, whenhe escaped violence by becoming miraculously invisible and so es-caping from the midst of his enemies. After his resurrection fromthe grave his body was naturally invisible to mortal eyes, but itbecame miraculously visible on several occasions, usually called"manifestations" during the forty days between his resurrection andascension. While in the natural body Christ manifested his spiritthrough the body, but afterwards in the spiritual body he mani-fested his body through the spirit. What was natural to him beforeis now miraculous ; and what was before miraculous is now natural.So also of bodily fatigue and of sleep. His sitting down at thewell of Jacob through exhaustion before his resurrection was natu-ral. But after his resurrection fatigue would have been miraculous.His deep sleep on the Sea of Galilee in the little bark was naturalat the time. But after the resurrection sleep would have beenmiraculous. So, too, of the tears of sorrow shed at the grave ofFORMULA FOR THE RISEN I'.ODY OF CHRIST. 687Lazarus. They were natural to him while in the flesh. But afterhis resurrection tears would have been miracles indeed.Before his resurrection the natural way of entering into aroom was through the door. After the resurrection he entered,"the doors being shut." It would have been miraculous, indeed,had an open door been needed for the Risen Body. That body wasbound by no ties of space. Before the resurrection he rebuked theTempter who bade him cast himself down from the pinnacle of thetemple, but after it he moves as one free from the restraints of earth.In fact, the mystery of the Risen Body of our Lord was notobscurely implied by the manner of his resurrection. For the se-pulchre was already empty when the great stone was rolled awayfrom its entrance. The stone was rolled away by the angel, notthat he might come forth, but because he had already come forth.The appearance of the angel and the removal of the stone were toannounce what had already taken place, and to demonstrate itsreality. True, the exact moment when the Lord issued from thetomb is left undefined. But all the church fathers with scarcelyan exception held the belief that the resurrection was already ac-complished when the angel descended and rolled away the stone.A close reading of the evangelists will support this view. ChristJesus needed not the angel's aid. He himself burst the bars ofdeath and triumphed over the grave.The resurrection brought about a change of attitude in Christ.Before it he refused the kingdom of the world which was offeredto "him by Satan, but after it he bids his ministers proclaim hissovereignty over all the nations. He journeyed with his disciplesalong the weary way while in the flesh, but not afterwards. Inthe Risen Body he appointed places of meeting, but he did notjourney with his disciples as before. There was now a mysteriousawe about his person.Our contention is that the Risen Body of Jesus Christ revealedto the world a new state of human existence for the body of man.It was strictly a revelation—an unveiling of what before was notknown and could not be known. Such a resurrection had neveroccurred before in the history of the world. Because the RisenBody of Christ, while the same as before his death, was changed.That body, while wholly the same, is now wholly different. Thisis the point that many miss. When Lazarus rose from the grave,his body was just what it had been before death. It was the same,but without change. On the other hand, the resurrection body,while the same, must be wholly different.688 THE OPEN COURT.But, men will say, how can a human body be wholly the sameand yet wholly changed? A hint of this paradox of change andidentity is given in the transformation of insects. The caterpillarbursts the bonds of its silken shroud and enters upon a new mode ofexistence. The groveling worm becomes a winged insect, gloriousin the golden sunlight. It is beyond all doubt the same creature,but now wholly transfigured and transformed.The typical resurrection body was the Risen Body of JesusChrist—wholly the same as before death and yet wholly different.It was for this reason totally unlike any previous rising from thegrave. We see in the Risen Christ the change which would havepassed over the bodies of Adam and Eve, if they had never sinned.We see in the Risen Christ the change which will pass over thebodies of the saints who will be living on the earth when Christcomes back to earth, who are not to die but who shall be changedin the twinkling of an eye. We see in the Risen Christ the changewhich passed over the bodies of Enoch and Elijah when they weretranslated—because flesh and blood, or the human body as nowconstituted, cannot exist in the unseen world. It is not adaptedto the new conditions of that existence. We see in the Risen Christthe change which did not pass over the body of Lazarus of Bethany,when Christ called him forth. He was the same after his resurrec-tion as before it : the same but unchanged : hence de died again.The natural body, if raised as a natural body, must die again. Forflesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. But thenatural body, if raised as a spiritual body, cannot die again. Forflesh and bones can inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is noteworthythat our Lord changed the common phrase "flesh and blood,"common in scriptural speech, to "flesh and bones." The naturalbody has the former, the spiritual body the latter.The typical resurrection body, which shall be our own at thelast day as we are distinctly told, was unknown and unknowable,till Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For the typical resurrectionbody, while wholly the same, must needs be also wholly different.Hence it is claimed and truly claimed, that "Christ is become thefirst fruits of them that slept." The Old Testament resurrectionswere not typical. Such persons were restored to life unchangedand just as they had been before death. But of the typical resurrec-tion it is written: "Sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption..... Sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." Till theresurrection of Christ, no natural body had ever been raised as aspiritual body, but the natural body was raised again as a naturalFORMULA FOR THE RISEN BODY OF CHRIST. 689body, and as such again must go back to death. Because the bodiesof Enoch and EHjah had never slept in the grave, the spiritualbodies given them at their translation do not invalidate the state-ment as to Christ being "the first fruits," for it is added, "the first-fruits of them that slept." The Scriptures are marvelously con-sistent and inerrable.Modern seances are discredited by our formula, and messagesfrom the dead, because the manifestations of the persons are in allrespects identical with what they were in life. But the Risen Bodyof Jesus Christ, while wholly the same, when risen from the dead,was wholly changed. What was natural to him before is nowmiraculous ; what was before miraculous is now natural.The key that fits the wards of the lock is the right key, andwe commend respectfully the thought of this meditation to ourbrother, though a stranger to me, the Rev. Joseph C. Allen.

Formula for the Risen Body of Jesus Christ.

http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1945&context=ocj

Formula for the Risen Body of Jesus Christ.

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