'Touch me, feel me--let's eat!'

Jimmy Carter, in his 1996 book Living Faith, tells the reader that while he was raised in church from a baby and was only three when he began memorizing Bible verses in Sunday School, “By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, my anxiety about (doubting Christ’s resurrection) became so intense that at the end of every prayer, until after I was an adult, before ‘Amen’ I added the words ‘And, God, please help me believe in the resurrection.’ ”

In trying to reason with the unbelieving Corinthians about the resurrection in I Corinthians 15, Paul writes, “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
[13] But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
[14] And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
[15] Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
[16] For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
[17] And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
[18] Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
[19] If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

Jordan explains, “If you look at verse 14, Paul defines what it means ‘if you believed in vain.’ What is vain faith? It’s to believe something that isn’t true. If Christ isn’t raised from the dead, then your faith in His burial resurrection is dead. Why? Because you’re believing a lie!

“Did you ever hear about Pasquale’s Wager? Pasquale was a French philosopher who became a Christian and his wager was, ‘If it turns out when I die that there’s no God, that the gospel isn’t true, I would have still lived the better life.’

“But you see that isn’t what those verses in I Corinthians say. Now, it is true that if you live in obedience to the truth of the Word of God you will live a higher life.

“If you live in pursuit of, ‘Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,’ you’re going to make a better life; have a better world about you. But you’re also going to be vexed like Lot was who lived in Sodom with the filthy conversation of the wicked.

“What Paul says is, ‘Hey, if this stuff isn’t real, then it’s like Solomon wrote in the Book of Ecclesiastes—let’s just eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.’

*****

In I Corinthians 15, Paul takes on the skeptics of the resurrection with the admonishment: ‘Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
[35] But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
[36] Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
[37] And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
[38] But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.’

“Notice how Paul answers in verse 36, ‘Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.’ He’s saying, ‘Are you nuts?! You don’t believe in the resurrection?! I mean, don’t you realize that every Spring you witness resurrection (in nature)?! You see it so often you don’t even think anything about it and you’re questioning . . .  Nah, you’re nuts!’

“The people were asking, ‘How is it the dead are raised and is it a real, physical, literal body, or is it just that they live on in our memories, or is there reincarnation?’

*****

“You remember in Acts 17:30 when Paul began to speak of the resurrection to the men in Athens, the great intellectual center of the ancient world and of Western civilization? They said about him, ‘He’s just a babbler. Let him babble on,’ and Paul simply turned away from them.

“Acts 17:30-33 reads, ‘And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
[32] And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
[33] So Paul departed from among them.’

*****

“Jesus Christ’s resurrection was different from any resurrection that had taken place prior to it. He was the firstborn; the first person resurrected in an entirely new kind of way.

"Colossians 1:18 says, [18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

“The beginning of what? He’s the first one to come up from the dead in a line of people who are going to be resurrected like Him. He’s the beginning of a new type of creation; a new humanity. Something brand-new where we’re going to be made like His resurrection.

*****

Matthew 28:2 says, [2] And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

“Who rolled the stone from the door? The angel. Why did he do it? So the women could get in and come and see, ‘He’s not here!’ He didn’t roll it away so Christ could get out; he rolled it away so people could go in and see He was already gone!

“With the death of Lazarus, John 11:38 reports, [38] Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

“Why does He want the stone rolled away from Lazarus’ grave? So Lazarus can get out. Verse 41 says, [41] Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

“Lazarus comes hobbling out all bound up and Jesus says, ‘Loose him. Take all the turban off of him and let him go.’

*****

“Now contrast that with John 20:6-7: [6] Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
[7] And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

“Peter goes in there and sees the crypt where Christ was laying and sees the slab and there lay the linen clothes still in same convolutions, just as they were when they were wrapped around His body.

“When Jesus Christ came up from the dead nobody had to unwind Him. He just stood up out of those linen grave clothes. Lazarus had to have somebody unwrap him and take away the stone so he could get out.

“Jesus Christ just stepped right through the clothes and walked right through the tomb. He began to levitate and ascend right up and pretty soon His head would just disappear into and pass right through the solid rock, no problem at all. Lazarus couldn’t do that.

“But you see Jesus Christ had a resurrection body; a body that was different from anybody else. Other people who’d been raised just had their physical body rejuvenated and life come back into their physical frame. But Christ is given a NEW resurrected-type body.

*****

Luke 24 says, [36] And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
[37] But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
[38] And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
[39] Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
[40] And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 

“That's literal, see? He materialized in front of them and they thought they’d seen a ghost. He said, ‘I’m not a phantom, I’m not some superstitious relic; I’m real. Touch me, feel me.’

"You notice He doesn’t say ‘flesh and blood’; He says ‘flesh and bone.’ The reason for that is I Cor. 15:50: [50] Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“The blood’s been shed; the blood’s gone. Did you ever wonder what Adam and Eve had running through their veins before the Fall? Well, whatever it was it was contaminated by that forbidden fruit, which is a type of blood. The old-timers used to say they got blood poisoning and, I’ll tell you what, a lot of times the old-timers have been right, haven’t they?

“It was a real, recognizable body they could feel and touch. The passage in Luke 24 says, [41] And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
[42] And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
[43] And he took it, and did eat before them.

“He could eat! Did you know that in the resurrection you’re going to be able to eat? Aren’t you glad of that?! You’ll be able to eat anything you want and not have to worry about being 10 pounds overweight.

“Imagine He sat there in the fellowship of consuming a meal with them. It was a real manifestation so they wouldn’t think He was a spirit, a ghost, or some kind of ethereal hallucination.

*****

"John 20:19-22 says, [19] Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
[20] And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
[21] Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
[22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

“He scared them out of their wits. They’re sitting there at that table and one of them looks up and says, ‘Hey guys, weren’t there 11 of us just here a minute ago. Now there’s 12. Where’d he come from? I mean, the door’s locked. We got the windows nailed down.’

“Jesus stands up at the end of the table and goes, ‘Peace, fellows,’ and their hair just stands up on end and their palms go clammy and their mouthes dry up and they say, ‘It’s Him.’

“He says, ‘I’m not a ghost. It’s me.’ How’d He get in? He walked right through the walls, the closed door. No problem. Not limited by physical objects. That’s how He got out of that tomb. It’s a body that can be visible and invisible at will.

“You wouldn’t have seen Him come out of that tomb because He could will to be visible and will to be invisible. It was a body that could travel at the speed of light.

*****

“You remember He tells the woman in the garden, ‘Don’t touch me,’ and less than two hours later the women hold Him? He says, ‘Don’t touch me, I haven’t ascended to my Father. I’ve got something back up there to do to fulfill the type in Leviticus 23 and I’ll be back.’

“He went from the earth into the presence of God the Father in the third heaven and was back in less than two hours. That’s MOVING, you know that?! That’s a whole lot faster than the speed of light! That’s faster than anything Star Trek ever thought of with, ‘Beam me up, Scotty.’

*****

Mark 16:19 says, [19] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

“He had a body that could be on the earth and then, just like that, received up into the third heaven where God the Father is and sit down. He had a body fit for traveling in outer space before there was ever a Sputnik or space suit.

“Now, I know what people say. ‘Well, that isn’t literal.’ No, that’s just as literal as you are, buddy. That happened just like you happened and came here tonight. It happened just that way. 

"If your faith isn’t willing to take God at His Word and do what God said, and let it be the way God said it, then God help your faith; you don’t have too much. What you’ve got is some superstition and some human viewpoint. You’re going to have to take it the way God said it.

“The fascinating thing is how the passages tell us about the resurrection of the body because we’re going to one day ‘have a body made like unto his body.’ The capacity that His body has to function, you and I are going to have!"