Jordan Byrd
Ordered - The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death (1 Corinthians 15:1-34)
In 1993, my grandpa Bill died suddenly, at the age of 56, due to a heart attack while driving, and also while colliding into car with a woman, who survived the accident, and two young boys who also died, because they weren’t in seat belts. While I did not get to experience a lot of my grandpa’s life I still hold onto some core memories of him. One of those memories is that he had dentures. And because of that, he chewed Freedent brand gum. Mostly, this memory of my grandpa is like a picture. It’s an experience frozen in time. This memory is a reminder of the joy I experienced with my grandpa, when he was alive. But, it’s also a memory of how little time I got to experience with him before he died.
This picture (of Freedent Gum) serves as a reference point for how we think about life. We can be tempted to think that life is about living as long as we can and experiencing as many things and pleasures as we can in this body, before death. The YOLO: You Only Live Once mentality. Extending biological life to experience as much of life as possible. Because in the end, it’s all about making the good and pleasurable memories made during a short time of life that we get.
Or, we can be tempted to think that life is about getting beyond this body. That your thoughts, feelings, or spirituality matter more than existence in the body as it is now. That an out of body experience matter more than life in the body. That your spirit matters more than what you do in your deteriorating body. Because, in the end, an existence beyond the body is what matters. To see life beyond the body.
The followers of Jesus in Corinth, whom the apostle Paul writes to – in 1 Corinthians, dealt with similar temptations. Some were allowing the philosophies of Corinthian culture to deceive them into believing that escape from the body led to greater spirituality, and abundance of life. That, their bodies were a hindrance to an abundant life beyond the body. That their mortal bodies were limited and needed cast off to experience abundant life in the spiritual realm.
And some were being deceived into believing that the resurrection of the body is just a fanciful belief. That, resurrection doesn’t happen: Dead bodies don’t just come back to life. Rather, at best, resurrection is just metaphorical. It’s a symbol of: Enlightenment. Or, mystical transformation. Or, becoming a better person in the here and now.
Paul counters these beliefs by reiterating the good news of Jesus. Paul re-frames the Corinthians’ worldview, by saying that Jesus’ raised body emphasizes that life is most abundantly lived when embodied. Jesus’ raised body shows that embodied, human life matters; and that Jesus’ raised body provides hope that abundant, embodied life is possible, even in the face of death.
Jesus’ resurrection corrected the false beliefs that life is better without the body; that life is better by just being more spiritual, alone; and that abundant life is only to be experienced by good memories in the body, before death ends it all. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life always matters, even after death.
While I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with my grandpa Bill before his death, with my grandpa having entrusted his life to Jesus, I have hope that his life will matter more than just the memories I have of him. I have hope that one day, I can experience my grandpa in resurrected, bodily form, like Jesus’ body – that God promises to those who belong to Jesus. Where my grandpa’s life won’t just be a frozen memory, but a continued bodily experience with him into eternity. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death.
You may have heard of the Bills’ stadium experience that is setup on Main St. in Williamsville. It’s a glimpse into what a game-day experience will be like at the new Bills’ stadium, once it’s built. People will go to this preview experience, because they know it’s a taste of a bigger reality to come. If there was no new stadium being built, then it would be very difficult to convince anyone to come through a preview experience of stadium that will never be built. But, it’s because the new stadium construction has already started, that people will go to get a taste of what the finished stadium will be like.
This analogy is similar to the point that Paul makes about the risen Jesus’ body in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “...if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
If Jesus did not actually, bodily raise from the dead, then Paul, nor other followers of Jesus, nor the Corinthian church, as a community of Jesus followers in Corinth – or those of us, here today, in Clarence would find Jesus worth giving our life and devotion to even in the face of persecution, like Paul, and many others have done. Paul even makes the point that if following Jesus is just some form of spirituality to help someone cope through life and there’s no actual hope of bodily resurrection after death, then followers of Jesus are to be most pitied (15:19). Why bother, if resurrection isn’t a true reality beyond death? Why suffer, if there’s no redemption to suffering (1 Corinthians 15:30-32)? It’s like going to the Bill’s stadium experience preview, and no stadium even getting built. What’s the point in experiencing something, that will never be realized?! Paul’s point is that Jesus being bodily raised back to life by God is the lynchpin action of the faith of Jesus followers. The faith of Jesus’ followers is grounded on God overcoming death in the resurrected, bodily life of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is a concrete, tangible, flesh and blood example of embodied life mattering beyond death.
We have cucumbers planted in our backyard. And the first cucumber that appeared was exciting, because it indicated that planting the initial seed, wasn’t a waste. Fruit came from it. And the first fruit is indication that more is to come.
In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul uses this imagery to describe the nature of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection is a preview of what will happen to those who surrender to Jesus, and belong to him (1 Corinthians 15:23). Paul connects this point to the overall narrative of the Scriptures, pointing all the way back to Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve’s separation from God, led to their separation from the creator of life, leaving them on a progressive path toward death, “...death cam through a man” … “For as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:21, 22). As death was initiated into humanity by Adam, so now, so now, bodily resurrection is initiated into humanity by Jesus, “...the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man” … “...so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21, 22)
Where Adam's separation from God brought death to humanity, Jesus' unity with God brought resurrection life to humanity.
One point to stop and consider here: While Paul’s initial wording may appear to describe a universal resurrection of all people, – that all people will just end up with God after death – the wording of 15:23, clarifies this is not the case. Yes, Jesus’ resurrection opened the door for all of humanity to have access to be raised like Jesus, but only if we BELONG TO HIM (15:23). While bodily resurrection is available to all people, it is still dependent on each of us to entrust our lives to Jesus, to be included in the promise (1 Corinthians 15:23). This surrendered trust in Jesus also mimics the surrendered trust that Paul describes Jesus having in God – to raise him from death – (1 Corinthians 15:4): Christ… WAS RAISED. Jesus did not overcome death of his own, fleshly ability. But entrusted himself to God’s spiritual ability for God to bring new life to his dead body. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death.
What obscure superpower would you want?
And the first person answered: The ability to pass gas without being noticed. Meaning, you could eat chili and not worry about the after-effects on people (sound or smell). Meaning, you could eat chili and not worry about the aftereffects on people. Meaning, you get the satisfaction of going to the bathroom, without having to deal with the mess. Finally, the last person answered: The ability to eat whatever, and never have any consequences (like being allergic or weight gain). While these answers are: out there and funny, I think they highlight what most superpowers, or super hero powers have in common: They all connect back to an embodied life. The abilities may enhance or make embodied life easier in some ways. But they are always grounded to life in a body.
We see a similar dynamic in the way Paul speaks of the gospel, or good news, of Jesus – in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: 15:3 – Jesus took on human life and died a human death. 15:4 – Jesus was bodily raised to life. 15:5 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to Cephas, or the disciple Peter, as he’s more commonly known by. 15:5 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to the 12 disciples of Jesus. 15:5 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to over 500 followers of Jesus. 15:7 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to James, Jesus’ biological brother from Mary and Joseph, who later becomes a leading figure in the early church. 15:7 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to all of the apostles. 15:8 – Jesus’ risen body appeared to Paul. But Paul admits, Jesus appeared to him in an abnormal way. In Acts 9, we encounter Paul’s conversion to following Jesus. Jesus had already ascended from earth at this time. And as Paul was going about persecuting followers of Jesus, on the road to Damascus, the voice of Jesus called out to him from heaven. Jesus still appears to Paul, even in a bodily way that we would expect to encounter any other person, through speaking and hearing. Paul also notes, that his encounter with Jesus, has made an impact on his bodily life before death.
The gospel of Jesus reveals that embodied life matters to God.
What we can gather from this presentation of the gospel of Jesus is that embodied life matters to God. Embodied life mattered for God to take human flesh on, when he was born. Embodied life mattered to overcome the greatest enemy of humanity: death. Embodied life mattered in how God raised Jesus back to life: God didn’t just give Jesus an disembodied existence in the spiritual realm. No. Jesus was given a renewed, glorified body. That death had no hold over. What we see is that the risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters. Embodied life matters before death. And it matters after death. Embodied life matters into eternity. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death.
Our world is just as much tempted, like the world of the Corinthians, to believe that the life that matters, is what we can experience in the short time we have before death catches us; or to believe that the life that matters, is a disembodied life, like some kind of spiritual catatonic state, that is unlike the bodily, creation-oriented, life God has already created us to live.
“Christian” teachings has become, possibly, the most susceptible to this temptation, with an overemphasis of the spiritual over the physical. That our hope is just an escape from this decaying realm to a pure spiritual realm, with little resemblance to the life God has given us. Likem, angels floating on clouds, or some similar image. While it is true that Scripture describes this world as passing away, it also describes Jesus’ resurrection making way for a new heaven and new earth coming down to replace what is decaying, Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4, NIV)
What stands out here, is that this is not a disembodied spiritual existence. It’s a renewed bodily existence in the presence of God, in the presence of life itself. And the descriptors are even bodily oriented. Followers of Jesus have been tempted between the pendulum of these two stances: Being so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good; or being so earthly minded that we’re no heavenly good. The vision we’re given in the resurrected life of Jesus, is that we’re to: Be earthly and heavenly minded in the body God has gifted to us. And, in the face of death, trust that God will also raise us to continue to be earthly and heavenly minded in the resurrected body that he gives us, when he makes all things right. Jesus perfectly highlights this tension in his life: being earthly and heavenly minded in the body of flesh that he brought into the life of God.
The hope we have through Jesus resurrection, is that embodied life matters now, and it still matters after death. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death.
Today, what kind of life are you tempted toward? Living it up before you die? Or yearning for a life beyond the body? My hope is that you find the resurrecting power of God – to raise Jesus to glorified, bodily life compelling. That, the embodied life of God, revealed in Jesus highlights that God thinks bodily, human life matters. That your bodily life matters to God. I hope you hear that God finds your life meaningful, even if you don’t see how it is. I hope you can see the hope available to you, through the resurrection of Jesus, that you can experience the same glorified, perfected, and embodied life that Jesus experienced in his resurrection from death.
Your bodily life matters to God.
You too can belong to Jesus, surrendering your life to him, being united to him, through faith, under the water of baptism. If you’d like to explore that step of faith, please find me, or reach out to another trusted follower of Jesus, whom you already know, to help you explore that step of faith — to step into the Jesus promise of resurrection hope for an embodied life that matters, even after death.
If you’ve already surrendered your life to Jesus, and belong to him, Would you simply affirm the truth, that embodied life, that bodily, human life matters, because God rose Jesus from death to an embodied life. Would you affirm the truth that bodily life matters, from the womb and through the tomb? Would you affirm the truth that a life with God, is not just about escaping this earthly realm for heaven, but that it’s about embodying the Spirit of Jesus in our everyday, bodily life, now, and in resurrection – in the new heaven and new earth? Would you affirm the truth that the hope we have in Jesus, is a resurrected, embodied life into eternity?
If Jesus didn’t rise, our faith is pointless. But, if Jesus did rise, it’s the greatest hope we have in a world ensnared by the power of death. The risen Jesus highlights that embodied life matters, even after death.