Robert, since you agree with Brian's answer and that I had asked you personally, I will continue with you.
The resurrection concerns the body in which one lives in this life specifically. That Jesus' body did not undergo decay is not the issue to the resurrection directly -- He was resurrected in the one He lived in while on earth. That is the issue.
For, we also have the bodies of saints coming out of their own graves after Jesus' resurrection (Matt. 27:52)as well. Their decay is beyond 3 days and nights. Who these are is unstated except that they are many. Related to this promise, Joseph secured a solemn vow from his people to have his bones taken back with them to the land of Israel when they left Egypt (where this resurrection of the saints took place). One must ask why the vow if his body (bones) is to be replaced with another one.
Paul said that the dead are to be raised in their own bodies. 1 Cor. 15:42- 44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
What you are asking us to accept is that post-70 A.D. believers receive a glorified, yet different, body upon death. So, how is that a resurrection according to 1 Cor 15 cited above? |
