What Will Our Resurrected Bodies be Like?

The hope of many Christians is to go to heaven when they die, but biblical authors looked forward to being resurrected with their physical bodies after death, never to die again. Paul says that if believers will not be raised from the dead, then “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Christ’s resurrection proves that “those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:23) will one day rise, too.

Jesus’ Resurrected Body

Not yet aware that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples are terrified when he suddenly appears in their midst, thinking they see a “ghost.” The Greek word translated here as “ghost” is pneuma, which is typically translated as “spirit” but is sometimes used in Luke to refer to demons (e.g., Luke 4:33; 9:39). Whatever it is the disciples think they saw, Jesus corrects their misperception by showing them the tangible flesh of his resurrected body. Jesus gives further evidence of his physical resurrection by eating a piece of fish in their presence (Luke 24:41–43).

This passage tells us a few things about resurrected bodies (both Jesus’ and ours):

• First, our resurrected bodies will be material, not some ghostly hologram.
• Second, Jesus’ request for, and eating of, food shows that resurrected bodies—like our current earthly bodies—get hungry and enjoy food.
• Third, the parallel passage in John 20:24–27 specifically mentions Jesus’ wounds that were still visible in his resurrected body. Some believe that this shows that while we will be healed of physical ailments in the resurrection, our bodies might still bear some evidence of our earthly experiences, perhaps even our disabilities.
• Fourth, the parallel in John’s Gospel also makes a point that the doors were “locked” when “Jesus came and stood among them” (John 20:19), suggesting that Jesus’ resurrected body, though material, was also able to pass through walls, though John is not interested in exploring the scientific details surrounding the event.

“How are the dead raised?” and “With what kind of body will they come?” (1 Corinthians 15:35) are the rhetorical questions of skeptics who think resurrection is impossible. As proof that God can in fact raise the dead, Paul points to seeds that appear to die, are buried like dead bodies and later rise from the earth. Moreover, seeds rise transformed, as different from when they were planted as various other kinds of bodies are from one another.

Likewise, dead Christians will one day rise alive and transformed, their formerly frail, ignoble and mortal bodies rendered powerful, glorious and immortal. Thankfully, Christ-followers will not remain mortal forever. Whether they die and are later raised or are still living when Jesus returns, they will all be transformed. Christians need not fear death, because death’s destiny is to be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26), while their destiny is resurrection and immortality.

Drawn from the NIV Upside Down Kingdom Bible.