1 Corinthians 15:35-49
Trust God to resurrect
The loss of someone we love is very painful. And facing our own death can seem frightening. This passage gives us a new perspective on our grief and our fears. When the New Testament speaks of the love of God it usually points to the cross of Jesus. When it speaks of the power of God it usually points to the resurrection of Jesus. It was ‘his incomparably great power’ that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19–20).
Here the apostle Paul speaks of how that same power will raise your body also. He uses the analogy of a seed of wheat. It does not reach its full potential unless it first dies and is buried: ‘What you sow does not come to life unless it dies’ (1 Corinthians 15:36). There is continuity between the seed and the wheat, although the two look quite different.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, you can trust that God will also raise you – in his own way – and that will be far better than anything you can imagine.
To the sceptic who asks, ‘What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?’ he replies, ‘If you look at this question closely, you realise how absurd it is… We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a ‘dead’ seed; soon there is a flourishing plant… The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different’ (vv.35–38, MSG).
He points to the huge variety of God’s creation. Which, incidentally, suggests you should not try to be like anyone else. God made you uniquely you. It is all right to be different. Diversity is good.
You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning (humans, animals, birds, fish). ‘You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies – sun, moon, stars – all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection ‘seeds’ – who can imagine what the resurrection ‘plants’ will be like!’ (vv.40–41, MSG).
He goes on, ‘This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body – but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever!
‘The corpse that is planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural – same seed, same body but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!’ (vv.42–44, MSG).
The resurrection body and the spiritual body are the same substance, though that substance is transformed. Resurrection is creation ex vetere (from old), rather than ex nihilo (from nothing). The plant comes from the seed. Our current bodies will not be replaced with new bodies, but will be transformed into our resurrection bodies.
Jesus was still recognisable to his followers (with some help!). There was continuity and discontinuity in the resurrection body (Jesus could walk through walls, but still eat fish). What happened to Jesus will happen to you; you, like Adam, have a natural body. One day, like Jesus, the second Adam, you will have a spiritual body (vv.44–48): ‘Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly’ (v.49).
Lord, thank you that just as Jesus died, was buried and raised to life, so too through your power we will be raised and have a spiritual body like Jesus’.
