Also, I think it's interesting that Mary, a woman, is the first to find the empty tomb ... that John(?) gets to the tomb before Peter ... that Peter enters the tomb first ... that John believes in the resurrection first.
Did the resurrection really happen? Does it matter? I'd say yes to both questions. Here's a page with biblical info on the resurrection by Felix Just sj. But to say it simply, I'll quote Paul ... And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
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It interests me, too, that none of the four prevalent gospels describe the actual resurrection. Peter's description is a bit 'out there' for me to comprehend.
In Professor Just's terms and definitions, "Resurrection - a transition from mortal life, through death, to a new and completely different form of life..." fits my understanding. However, he further clarifies Christian understanding of the resurrected body:
"Resurrection of the Body," not merely the "Immortality of the (disembodied) Soul"!
even if our mortal bodies are buried or cremated, we will receive some type of "resurrected body";
what that new body will be like is unknown, but it will be totally different from our present bodies;
thus, "resurrection" involves the reunification of the spirit or soul with a new and immortal body.
It would seem from the terms and definitions that Lazarus was actually 'resusitated', and although some believe that Jesus was 'reanimated', it is more likely that he was resurected into a new form in an immortal and eternal life - for example, in the life of God in us and in all of creation.
As a side note, I experienced the death of my father earlier this year. He died at home, after a series of strokes. his death was a graceful, natural passing, surrounded by our whole family. When the mortuary attendents came to take my dad's body away, it was like seeing the burial clothes the scripture described as laying open, and the body that once held my father was now empty of him. And yet, I feel my dad's presence so clearly and warmly at times, like he is right here with me, just in a different way - an immortal and eternal way.
Hi Meredith. I think I know what you mean about your father ... my mom died at the hospital, but we were with her after that and her body seemed like empty clothes someone had slipped out of. It's mysterious ... I'm trying to stay hopeful.
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