It is not true that only modern people queried about the body of Jesus and its status after the Resurrection, as it might seem that I implied previously. I submit instead that it is interesting to look at what kind of resurrected body the New Testament writings reference, provided that we keep in mind the eschatological hope of Israel’s poor as a background, as I explained in yesterday’s DM.
What kind of body the risen Jesus had — and by implication what kind of body all the future risen people would have — was a question raised early on. Clear traces of it are found in the New Testament: Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians speaks about a “spiritual body” in opposition to those who believed that the risen Jesus had a regular earthly body, the Gospel of John describes a body which could go through walls, the Gospel of Luke insists instead that the resurrected Jesus was not a phantom, and both Luke and John (albeit in the appendix, see John 21) show that Jesus after the Resurrection could eat and drink with his disciples.
There was therefore in the 1st century a plurality of visions and a debate — one can imagine a fierce one — around this subject.
But it might be interesting for us to look simply at some of the ways in which the body of the risen Jesus was described. One relevant aspect is the presence of open — though not bleeding — wounds in it. Something on which the Gospel of John puts a special emphasis. The saddened disciples are able to recognize “the Lord” in this stranger who suddenly appears in their midst precisely because he bears the signs of the torture he endured, see John 20.
This has a very clear spiritual import. The traces of violence and deep suffering are not erased by the Resurrection, but they are integrated into a higher whole. This is the principle of the dialectical movement, here presented in a very concrete way.
In Creation Spirituality’s parlance, the via negativa is experienced completely and without reservations, until the via creativa appears to integrate and overcome. To overcome the pain, which remains as a trace, and to integrate the experience of the via negativa with the original trust in life and its blessings, which is the via positiva.
Another very important aspect of the body of Jesus after his Resurrection is found in the Pauline expression: “You are the Body of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Far from being merely a way of speaking, this phrase substantiates the belief that the assembly of the believers was in fact the Body of the Risen Christ, a kind of spiritual organism whose limbs are connected to each other by junctures even more intense and vital than those of a physical organism.
All kinds of misappropriations and exaggerations of this idea have been known through history. Yet I think it is such a potent metaphor, bearing such a deep truth, that we would be amiss not to pay attention to it, despite its historical misuses, i.e., its use to justify sectarian behavior.
Finally, a relevant aspect of the body of the resurrected Jesus in the New Testament is that it is not immediately recognized. I already mentioned the need for the disciples to verify the wounds on Jesus’ body, according to John’s narrative. In the Gospel of Luke, the resurrected Jesus becomes even more clearly the stranger par excellence. The disciples recognize his identity only when he breaks the bread with them, after a “long journey” with them, see Luke 24.
The implication that only by welcoming a stranger, and having him explain to us the meaning of our sacred writings, can the body of the resurrected Jesus be seen and experienced, is astounding. The risen Jesus as a living presence, as a companion in the voyage of life, can be such only when we accept that foreigners — apparently ignorant of everything — explain to us insiders the spiritual meaning of our traditions? Much to think about.
Banner Image: “The Resurrection of Christ.” Peter Paul Rubens, 1612. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
How helpful do you find it to meditate on (1) the wounds of the Risen Jesus; (2) the community as the Risen Body of Christ; and (3) the body of the Risen One as a stranger in our midst?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus, Stations of the Cosmic Christ
Natural Grace: Dialogues on creation, darkness, and the soul in spirituality and science
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
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3 thoughts on “Lessons from the Stories of the Resurrection of Jesus – part 3”
The Risen Body of Christ is for me in Faith the Presence and Loving Diverse Oneness of the Spirit of Our Compassionate Source~Co-Creator in All sacred physical/nonphysical spiritual dimensions of Our eternally evolving Humanity and Creation Cosmos…
This is beautiful, Gianluigi. For me, focusing on the metaphorical meanings of Christ’s wounds, the body of his followers, and Christ as the stranger could fill up many weeks. You’re bringing up ideas that are new for me. Thank you for your mystical musings.
Dear Fr Matt,
Thanks for this. I always feel this mystical body of Christ is where Teilhard de Chardin is most helpful. He speaks of us becoming a noosphere, a human organism which gradually becomes coherent into a new being, fully connected, through our assent. Much as a multicellular organism gradually enfolds itself into a new being with more cohesive functional parts, as evolution happens over millenia, but also in surges and leaps. I think it is important to consider the open wounds of Christ’s body as also part of trial and error in evolution, as we attempt to get past violence, in our ways of solving problems. The scars remain, as a reminder and a lesson, but hopefully the person is no longer crippled by the wounding; the healed one is subsuming these wounds into the new being.