When Jesus was resurrected, he was the firstfruits of the harvest. This means that he was the first 'body and soul' to be resurrected. The body of Jesus was resurrected, and it was changed from a corruptible body into an incorrruptible and immortal body.
1 Corinthians 15:20.
'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of the dead.'
1 Corinthians 15:23.
'But every man in his own order: Christ the firtsfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.'
1 Corinthians 15:42.
'So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:'
Firstly, I do not believe that Jesus was resurrected in a
physical body.
1 Corinthians 15:42. '
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:'
That means it was sown in a physical body which is subject to corruption (decay) and raised in a spiritual body which is not subject to corruption (it is incorruptible), since it cannot ever decay.
The physical body of Jesus was not resurrected and
changed from a corruptible body into an incorruptible and immortal body because
a physical body cannot be changed into a spiritual body that will never die. Rather, there are two different kinds of bodies, as Paul said:
--- The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
--- For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
What Paul wrote below is right on the money. I picked the most pertinent verses from the chapter because that helps to see it clearer. Our physical bodies will die and we will be raised as spiritual bodies. Paul says that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and that means they cannot exist in heaven. When Paul says these dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever, he is referring to the spiritual world (heaven), which will last forever.
1 Corinthians 15:40-54 New Living Translation
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[c] this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.[d]
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This information tells us that Jesus was not just a soul ascending to heaven. In Acts 1:10,11. it says, 'And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.'
Would the disciples have seen a soul ascending into heaven? Clearly not. They saw the risen Jesus ascend into heaven. And it follows that if the risen Jesus ascended then Daniel is referring to Jesus when he says, one 'like the Son of man' appeared before the 'Ancient of days' [Daniel 7:13,14.].
The life and death process for Jesus was no different from any other human being. When we are alive in a physical body, our physical body has a soul that animates it, but after our physical body dies, our soul leaves the physical body and is resurrected in a spiritual body.
In Acts 1:9-11, Jesus was
a spiritual body with a soul ascending into heaven.
Acts 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
The disciples were staring up into the sky. The two men dressed in white (angels) came along and asked why they were staring up into the sky. The two men then wondered why the disciples were staring up into the sky and said that the same Jesus who was taken up to heaven will return as He went to heaven.
It does not say that the disciples saw a physical body go up.
Jesus ascended in a spiritual body, not on a physical body, which is why the angels wondered why the disciples were staring into the sky, since the disciples could not see the spiritual body the way the angels could. That makes perfect sense since angels can see spirits.
Descending from heaven upon the clouds means that the spirit of Jesus, the Christ Spirit, will be made manifest from the heaven of the will of God and will appear in the form of the human temple. Though delivered from the womb of Mary, Jesus in reality descended from the heaven of the will of God. Baha’u’llah descended
in like manner, from the heaven of the will of God.
