3 questions about Jesus's resurrection

[Dunemeister]

Yes, he was originally an angel.
He told his disciples that he had come down from heaven and that is what they believed:

Christians account for this language by appeal to jesus' divinity. And yes, when we are resurrected, we are changed. The mortal flesh puts on immortality. But this does not mean that we become angels or something other than physical. We remain physical. "Flesh and blood" is not to be taken as literal; it's a facon de parler to refer to our current corruptible state. In our current fallen condition, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is where the Spirit of God reigns completely. At the resurrection, that is what takes place. The Spirit of God, who at the moment serves as a down payment and guarantee of the future kingdom, will one day reign fully, and as a result our physical bodies will become immortal and incorruptible. We will be more than physical but not less.

which is a physical resurrection on earth...and the majority of mankind will receive such a resurrection. But Jesus did not recieve such a resurrection because if he did, he would still be here in the flesh. but he is not here, he is in heaven...how can a person of flesh and blood enter heaven? the scriptures say they cannot.

"Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" are not coterminous. "Heaven" is not a "place".

yes they did because that is what Jesus promised them. But only a small number receive a resurrection in the spirit and it is for the purpose of going into the heavenly realm to rule with Christ in the heavenly kingdom.

All of Jesus' followers will be resurrected exactly as Jesus was. That's the whole point of 1 Corinthians 15.

 

[Pegg]

All of Jesus' followers will be resurrected exactly as Jesus was. That's the whole point of 1 Corinthians 15.

paul was addressing anointed christians. not all christians receive an anointing...those who do are 'born again' a
Jesus said to Nicodemus is John 3:2 In answer Jesus said to him: “Most truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nic‧o‧de′mus said to him: “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter into the womb of his mother a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered: “Most truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 What has been born from the flesh is flesh, and what has been born from the spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel because I told you, YOU people must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone that has been born from the spirit.”


'UNLESS' implies that not all will be born again. And if someone is not 'born from spirit' they cannot 'ENTER' into the kingdom of God. Why? Because as Jesus said 'flesh' and 'spirit' are two different things. Only spirits can come and go like the wind... a person who lives in a body of flesh is grounded , but a spirit can enter heaven.

 

[Astounded]

Jesus was raised physically. The JW spiritual doctrine doesn't allow for the completion of a proper Jewish sacrifice-spiritual resurrection is improper matter and improper form.

The Priest (Jesus) must present the actual sacrificial body/victim (not a spirit) to God for an acceptable sacrifice. That is what Jesus is doing when He tells Mary not to hang on Him because He has not yet ascended to the Father-Jesus has not completed the sacrifice by presenting it to the Father. A spiritual 'body' theology makes the sacrifice unacceptable/improper. Notice that the sacrifice is presented in the eternal now, not on earth, so that it redeems all people from all ages.

 

[Pineblossom]

Hello, I have recently began to read the New Testament and have a few questions on the topic of Jesus's resurrection. And let me first say I am really enjoying my reading of the New Testament(just finished Luke) and I am not here to argue but to learn.

1. Jesus often says that his death and resurrection 3 days later were prophesied in the Old Testament, for example Luke 24:44-47. Where in the Old Testament does it say the messiah will die and rise 3 days later? I did a little bit a research on this but didnt find a whole lot.

It doesn't. In order to get some sort of 'prophesy' out of the OT one has to do a lot imagining.

2. Jesus constantly refers to his death and resurrection as the "sign of Jonah." I am having trouble understanding how the story of Jonah and Jesus are similar though, and was wondering if you could help? For example, Jonah tries hiding from God and ends up in the belly of a whale for 3 days, and in the end proclaims his message of repentance to the nation of nineveh. Jesus on the other hand doesnt run from God but rather actively pursues the fulfillment of his mission.. and after his resurrection, he doesn't re-proclaim his message of repentance to the nation of Israel but rather only visits a few individuals? How are these 2 stories supposed to be similar? Maybe you guys can help me better understand why Jesus refers to his resurrection as the sign of Jonah.

The 'sign of Jonah' was not necessarily the 'three days' part but the fact that Nineveh was a heathen city that responded to call of a prophet. Jesus is saying that the Jews needs to pay attention as did the heathen and repent as did Nineveh.

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3. This question is sort of related to question 2, but why after Jesus's resurrection did he only choose to reveal himself to a few individuals and not the entire nation of Israel(or at least a large percent of it)? Jesus told the Pharisees that they would recieve the sign of Jonah.. yet after his resurrection Jesus didnt appear to any of the pharisees..or did he?

Well, in Mark's gospel Jesus make no appearance at all.

 

[ShareTheWord]

As humans we often think of our personal new or "better" ways that things should be, and wonder why they weren't done that way instead.

In fact, God could have chosen to just appear as a big face in the sky the entirety of Earth's existence. Every time we walked out the front door we could look up and see the big face, he could nod at us, we wave to him, then go about our business. There wouldn't be much in the way of faith then, we'd all see he is right there and there wouldn't be any choice in the matter. If you stole something at work that day, when you left he would glare at you and tell you that you'd better not do that again because he saw it.

Sure it sounds silly but he could have done something similar, then any reasonable person on the planet would know he exists and do anything he said.

So why didn't he?

God wants us to come to him. Throughout our life we encounter countless opportunities to stray from his path. Our goal in life is to love god and love each other, to follow his word and share his word with others, to treat others like ourselves and help those in need. Satan, God's own creation, is there to test us and provide pitfalls that we may overcome to be strong in our faith and believe in God. Thus our lives have meaning by us being successful in not only living in accordance with what he asks of us, but in doing so willingly and in fact gladly.

 

[Pegg]

The Priest (Jesus) must present the actual sacrificial body/victim (not a spirit) to God for an acceptable sacrifice.

and how could he do that while he was dead?

You have misunderstood the sacred secret... the value of Christs blood while in the flesh was equivalent to the blood of Adam.

Jesus offered himself as Adams replacement. His resurrection proves that God accepted his offer....otherwise he would be like the rest of mankind, dead...returned to dust. But instead God raised him to heavenly life and this gives mankind the opportunity to accept Jesus as the new 'Adam'. A perfect father who passes on eternal life rather then an imperfect father who passes on sin and death.