Posted on 07/10/2018 12:24:36 PM PDT by Sontagged
A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles Lord’s Day Morning, June 13, 2010
“And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:41-43).
Oh, I know that the subject of this sermon might disturb some preachers! But they may not have studied the subject thoroughly, may not have meditated on verses about Christ’s resurrection long enough! Preachers ought to speak loud and clear on the central doctrines of the Christian faith, including the bodily resurrection of Christ.
I completely agree with Dr. Michael Horton that there are many people in our churches who believe in a “Gnostic” spirit-Christ.
How I wish that every preacher in the English-speaking world would read his little book Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church (Baker Books, 2008).
He is absolutely right when he says that many evangelicals have a ghostly, “gnostic” Christ, not the real flesh and bone Christ of the New Testament. No one can be saved by believing in “another Jesus” (II Corinthians 11:4). Only the bodily resurrected Christ can save a human soul, for the “gnostic” Christ is “another Jesus.”
But I would go farther than merely saying that the risen Christ had flesh and bones. Yes, I know very well that Jesus said,
“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” (Luke 24:39).
But Jesus’ statement was not exhaustive. He did not explain in full detail all the facts about His resurrected body. Let me tell you why I believe that His risen body not only had flesh and bones, but also blood.
I believe Christ rose in a body of real flesh, bones and blood, because the plain teaching of the Bible demands that it be so! I have learned over the years to listen to the Scriptures and follow them. My long-time pastor and teacher, Dr. Timothy Lin, former professor of theology and Biblical languages at Bob Jones University, taught me to believe the Bible, and to stick closely to what it says.
The Bible plainly teaches that the same body of Jesus, that was buried in the tomb, rose from the dead. It was not a phantom or “ghost” that rose from the tomb. It was the very same Jesus who was buried there for three days after He died on the Cross. He rose from the dead in the same body that was buried.
When He rose from the dead, He rose physically. He said to the Disciples on that first Sunday,
“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. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet” (Luke 24:39-40).
Now a flesh and bone body must necessarily still have quite a bit of blood in it. I have been reading a medical book on the subject of bone marrow. Bone marrow is the second largest organ in the body. Dr. Chan is a practicing medical doctor here in Los Angeles. He gave me this medical book, Hoffman: Hematology, a book on human blood.
In that book is a chapter titled, “Bone Marrow Examination,” by Dr. Daniel H. Ryan and Dr. Harvey J. Cohen. Dr. Ryan and Dr. Cohen said in that book,
After the skin, the bone marrow is the largest organ in the body. Our bone marrow contains about 1 trillion cells [with] approximately 200 billion red blood cells, 100 billion white blood cells, and 400 billion platelets (Hoffman: Hematology, Churchill, Livingstone, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 2005, p. 2656).
That book was published in 2005, and it is used right now, today, as a textbook on the study of medicine in many universities.
What do these medical facts about blood in human bone marrow tell us about the bones of the resurrected Christ? Remember that the risen Christ said to His Disciples,
“Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39).
Here is the point – even though most of the Blood had been drained from Jesus’ body at the crucifixion,
His bones still contained a large amount of Blood that would still have been in the marrow of His bones.
There were still 200 billion red blood cells, 100 billion white blood cells, and 400 billion blood platelets inside the marrow of Christ’s bones when He rose from the dead! Plus all the blood in His bones, there was also quite a bit of Blood lodged in the organs of His Body, as well as the cells and tissues of His flesh, when He rose from the dead.
One medical doctor estimated that about 20% of Jesus’ Blood remained in His Body when He was buried.
Dr. Norman L. Geisler, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, said, The orthodox view cannot be avoided by claiming that Jesus’ resurrected body had flesh and bones but not material flesh and blood (Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D., The Battle for the Resurrection, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1992, p. 122).
Dr. Geisler believes that the resurrected Christ still had “material flesh and blood.”
Dr. Geisler said that the Biblical phrase “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 15:50), in context, means mortal flesh and blood.
According to Dr. Geisler, this phrase refers to flesh and blood that has not been resurrected.
Dr. Geisler notes that a misunderstanding of this text has played a disastrous role in the New Testament theology of the last sixty years.
The phrase in I Corinthians 15:50 refers to blood that has not been resurrected (ibid. p. 123).
Thus, according to Dr. Geisler, I Corinthians 15:50 can’t be used to show that Jesus’ flesh and bones, in His resurrected state, did not contain some resurrected Blood (ibid.). Therefore, since His flesh and bones still retained about 20% of His Blood, we conclude that His risen body still contained a certain amount of resurrected Blood.
This is not a “new” subject, nor is it an unimportant one. Our forefathers fought in the Fundamentalist/modernist controversy in favor of the literal “bodily” resurrection of Christ.
But we have let this great doctrine slip away.
We have let liberals like George Eldon Ladd, a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, tell us that Christ’s resurrection “was not a revivification of a dead corpse, returning to physical life” (Geisler, ibid., pp. 93-94). Why did he say "revivification" instead of "resurrection?" They mean the same thing!
But he wanted to use a fancy word to hide what he believed from a layman that might read his book.
In simple English, Dr. Ladd said Christ rising from the grave, "was not a resurrection of a dead body." That is wrong!
That is not what the Bible teaches, nor is it what Christians have believed across the centuries!
That is exactly what our forefathers meant by the “bodily” resurrection of Jesus.
The dead corpse of Jesus did return to physical life!
Let us not discount what Dr. John R. Rice said about this subject.
Dr. Rice was a wise man who believed the Bible, and was always very careful to follow the literal meaning of Scripture, to the best of his ability.
In his comments on Luke 24:36-45 Dr. Rice said, He ate before them and assured their doubting hearts. This is Jesus risen from the dead, with His flesh-and-blood body…
Because Jesus here mentioned that they could feel His flesh and bones but did not mention blood, some people have thought that our [Christians’] resurrection bodies will have no blood. True, I Corinthians 15:50 says that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” But the verse continues, “Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption”…That does not mean that flesh cannot enter the kingdom in the resurrected bodies…
Since Jesus ate literal, physical food, there is every reason to believe that the physical processes of digestion were carried on and that the body that had flesh and bones, also had blood to carry on these natural processes…
After His resurrection the body of Jesus was a flesh-and-bone body, with normal processes. It was a body that could eat and digest food, a body one could feel (John R. Rice., D.D., The Son of Man: A Verse-by-Verse Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke, Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1971, pp. 556-557).
“And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:41-43).
Now there are two very important points that come from this.
1. The flesh and blood of all true Christians will be resurrected, as was the flesh and Blood of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said,
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
Thus the Apostle Paul tells us that our “vile” bodies will be “fashioned like unto his glorious body” – that is, we will have resurrected bodies, with flesh, bones, and blood, as did His “glorious body.” We will not be “ghosts” or “spirits.”
No, the resurrected bodies of true Christians will “be changed” when they are resurrected into “incorruptible” and “immortal” bodies, changed to be like Christ’s resurrected body (see I Corinthians 15:51-53). I am glad that is so.
We will recognize our departed loved ones, as Moses and Elijah were recognized at the Transfiguration! We will recognize Christian loved ones who have died because they will have risen, just as Jesus did, in the same resurrected bodies that died!
The Apostle John said more on this subject when he told us, “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2).
At the resurrection, Christians “shall be like him,” like Christ was when He was with the Disciples on that first Sunday, when He said, “Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:41-43).
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said that He would eat and drink with them "in the kingdom of God." “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (Luke 22:15-18).
Thus, at the Last Supper, Christ told the Disciples that He would eat and drink with them in the coming Kingdom. Again, in Luke 22:30, Jesus told them that they would “eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.” This means that their resurrected bodies would need to have "blood to carry on these natural processes" of digestion, as Dr. Rice said (ibid.). Dr. Rice said, “There will be fluids in the bodies of resurrected Christians, as in the body of Jesus, for Jesus said, ‘I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come’” (Rice, ibid., p. 558).
I am glad that we will not be “ghosts” or “spirits” in Christ’s coming Kingdom! I am glad that we will have real resurrected bodies, like His, bodies of flesh and bone, and blood, capable of sitting down and eating and drinking with Jesus in the future Kingdom, when He comes back to reign over the earth, capable of sharing in that Great Supper with Him and the Disciples, and all other true Christians, to “eat and drink” with them in that great feast of celebration (Luke 22:30)! What a blessed hope that is for every true Christian!
“And he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:41-43).
But there is another great lesson for us here, one that we should think about often. 2. The Blood of Jesus is now in Heaven! At least the Blood in His bones and flesh had to be resurrected and ascend with Him back to Heaven. Dr. Rice and many others go farther, as I do, and say that He took with Him the Blood that drained from His body on the Cross as well. Dr. Rice said, “He was on his way to present the sacred blood in Heaven” (John R. Rice, D.D., The Son of God: A Verse-by-Verse Commentary on the Gospel According to John, Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1976, p. 393). This much is certain if we take the Bible seriously - at least the Blood that remained in His flesh and in His bone marrow is now in Heaven. There should be no questioning of that if one believes in His bodily resurrection. However, there are several modern teachers, like George Eldon Ladd and John MacArthur, who say that Christ's Blood is not in Heaven. I think they are wrong because the Bible specifically tells us that Jesus’ Blood is in Heaven, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling” (Hebrews 12:22-24).
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:22-24 that the Blood of Jesus is one of the things that are in Heaven. It was borne up, translated, resurrected into Heaven, along with His flesh and bone body – just as the body and blood of Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) and the body and blood of Elijah (II Kings 2:11) were resurrected into Heaven. C. H. Spurgeon said, When we climb into Heaven itself…we shall not have gone beyond the Blood of sprinkling; nay, we shall see it there more truly present than any other place. “What!” you say, “the blood of Jesus in Heaven?” Yes! Let those who talk lightly of the precious blood correct their view ere they be guilty of blasphemy…For me there is nothing worth thinking of or preaching about but this grand theme. The Blood of Christ is the life of the gospel (C. H. Spurgeon, “The Blood of Sprinkling,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Pilgrim Publications, 1975 reprint, volume 32, p. 121).
Spurgeon said that Christ’s Blood is in Heaven in several other sermons as well, with statements such as, “the blood is there, interceding for us perpetually” (“The Saviour’s Precious Blood,” MTP, #3,395).
We have given 15 witnesses to Christ’s Blood in Heaven in our book Preaching to a Dying Nation by R. L. Hymers, Jr., D.Min., and Christopher Cagan, Ph.D. You can order it by sending $15.00 and asking for it by name, to P.O. Box 15308, Los Angeles, CA 90015. Among those who said that Christ’s Blood is now in Heaven were Chrysostom (5th century), John Calvin (16th century), Matthew Henry (18th century), Charles Wesley (18th century), The Scofield Study Bible (20th century), Dr. John R. Rice (20th century), and Dr. J. Vernon McGee (20th century). Dr. McGee said,
His Blood is even now in heaven, and throughout endless ages it will be there to remind us of the awful price Christ paid to redeem us (J. Vernon McGee, Th.D., Thru the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, vol. 5, p. 560).
I am so glad that I have a real Gospel to preach to you this morning! Christ really died on the Cross to pay the full penalty for your sin.
Christ really rose physically – His flesh rose! His bones rose! The Blood in His bone marrow and cells rose! He really rose from the dead!
And because He really lives, at the right hand of God, you can come to Him. And when you come to Him, He will really pardon your sin, and He will give you a real new birth, a real conversion, and real eternal life. It’s all real, my friend! Come to the real Jesus and He will give you a real conversion!
“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 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. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:36-43).
That is the real Jesus! Come to Him and He will save you for all time, and for all eternity! Stand and sing the chorus, "Are You Washed in the Blood?"
Are you washed in the blood, In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? (“Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?” by Elisha A. Hoffman, 1839-1929).
(END OF SERMON) You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet at www.realconversion.com. Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”
See, it's me, myself... touch me, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have... and then He ate some meat and honey.
(Etc.)
Not commenting on this dispute....but the fact that the resurrection occured( i.e.....
Life from death)...is what is germane...... I dont remember the apostles having this discussion.
Only living bodies can take in food and drink. The risen Lord did partake in their sight.
Earlier two of the disciples who had fled came upon a Stranger cooking flatbread & some of the fish they had caught at His command. From the campfire the risen Lord bid them, “Come and have breakfast!”
Food is a Biblical metaphor for life and the Eucharist is food for eternal life.
Horton asserts the assumption that, "Now a flesh and bone body must necessarily still have quite a bit of blood in it."
Jesus said flesh and bone. The Power of the Creator is such that HE can make any type of body for resurrection that HE chooses to make. What will be the next bold assertion, that the resurrected Christ MUST have Oxygen? Must have food? The root of heresy in Preterism is assumptions, and this assumption of necessary blood is in the same vein of arrogant assumption over what God can do.
I suppose it’s like if one of your parents died and you wept in grief and buried them...and then your dad walks in the door, fully alive!
You’d be frightened at first, until he said for you to touch him, and to feel his bones and flesh... and then ate food with you..
You wouldn’t have a conversation about whether or not your dad had actual blood running in his veins, because it would be obvious that he did, and in Jesus’ case, if He did NOT have blood in his veins, he would have expounded upon this fact as being important, as Jesus then expounded upon the Scriptures to His disciples.
Not commenting on this dispute....but the fact that the resurrection occured( i.e.....
Life from death)...is what is germane...... I dont remember the apostles having this discussion.
That is pure speculation ... and it seems more reasonable that the glorified body will consume 100% of what it takes in without any waste.
I have no biblical data to support that speculation ... but having an immortal body seems inconsistent with waste products. If there are no reproductive capabilities ... "they are like the angels ..." then it is reasonable that some other functions of our current unglorified bodies would be changed or discarded.
Just my unglorified opinion ...
Your words: “Only living bodies can take in food and drink.” You are absolutely correct, and bodies like Jesus indwelt before burial was like our own now, drawing life from the blood. The body Jesus has now is not the same in all details as what we have now. The BIBLE, the Word of God is explicit in explaining that. The new bodies will not draw life from the blood. The BIBLE offers that when it tells us after the Rapture of believers we will draw life FROM THE SPIRIT. ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom’. BUT Jesus gave a huge hint that we will still be able to eat and drink, for on the night before He was crucified He told His disciples HE would not drink of the vine again until come into The Kingdom where He would drink the cup with them. The cup held fruit of the grape vine. Jesus will not be drinkling His blood in the Kingdom.
You didn’t read the article...
You are basing an entire doctrine upon the omission of the word “blood” from an idiomatic phrase “flesh and blood” which does not mean the same thing, in Biblical context, as “flesh and bones”.
John wrote that we don’t know now what we shall become, but when we see Him, we shall know (what types of bodies we will have in the resurrection). This means John believed Christ was in the same fleshly body He had on the Cross.
The same human flesh body that went up to Heaven.
Jesus only changed into His glorified body AFTER the ascension. And so John writes that “we have not seen Him” in that glorified state, but we will know when we do see Him, what we shall be changed into.
There was nothing spiritual or immortal or immaterial about Jesus’s appearance after He was resurrected, though this did not preclude Him from performing the same miracles He did before the Cross.
Elijah went up to Heaven in a normal body, just as Jesus ascended to Heaven in a normal body of flesh.
Lazarus was raised into his regular body and ate food with Jesus just as Jesus was raised in His regular body and ate food.
I see no point in engaging in this thread.
After being accused of “negating and discrediting Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross”, “Jesus was resurrected in His Divine nature, not His Human nature”, and “making things up”, I don’t see the point.
I tried on the other thread to clarify what I said but I just kept getting accused of not believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ.
Scripture does not tell us either way if Jesus resurrected body had blood, and to be dogmatic that it did is as much without support as to be dogmatic about Him not having blood.
And claiming that *flesh and bones* by necessity means blood, and to argue that Jesus’ body changed on the way up sounds too much like rationalization, trying to convince me with reason instead of trying to convince me with Scripture.
Flesh and BLOOD cannot inherit the kingdom of God and yet we WILL eat and drink in that kingdom.
This is all I am posting on this thread.
Read the article and there was no accusation against you personally, you must know that; and if not, forgive me, for that was not my intent, rather as you know, my intent is to extricate any Gnostic NAR type thinking from both of our beliefs.
This article addresses your “flesh and blood” vs. flesh and bones concerns, please just read.
My main concern is that if one does not believe the fleshly body of Jesus that was raised from the dead is the same body of flesh He had on the Cross... then you do not believe in the bodily Resurrection.
You believe some sort of spiritual resurrection, which is Gnosticism.
As the article states... was the fleshly body of Christ revivified; brought back to life in its exact same physical, fleshly form or not?
You state that it is NOT in its same physical form.
And furthermore, your false accusation that I am 'basing an entire doctrine upon the omission of the word “blood” ' is another of your deceitful little target accusations. I scanned the article and am opposed tot he non-Christian basis for it. You are so deep into error that you must make up attributions so you can attack them!
You asserted, "This means John believed Christ was in the same fleshly body He had on the Cross." No, stupid one, arrogant blustering one, it does not have to mean what you assert! And in fact there is a better meaning that can be drawn IF YOU KNEW YOUR BIBLE BETTER. You foolishly twist the meaning to support what you are trying to prove using the sentence. That circular reasoning is hallmark of the deceived. You are deceived.
Here is another of your assumption strawmen: "And so John writes that “we have not seen Him” in that glorified state, but we will know when we do see Him, what we shall be changed into." You stupidly switched the cart to before the horse. To see HIM as HE really IS, we must first be changed to be like HIM. But you couldn't stop yourself from piling on false upon false ...
Your assertion, supported by zero evidence offered: "There was nothing spiritual or immortal or immaterial about Jesus’s appearance after He was resurrected." Since you are so sure of your false assertion, appear in a locked and shuttered room for me AFTER the doors and shutters have been fastened before your appearance.
Truly these words were offered for people like you:
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
I could actually give you Physics reasons why you are in error, but I suspect you are completely closed to learning from Physics OR The Spirit of God in the BIBLE TEXTS.
“You believe some sort of spiritual resurrection, which is Gnosticism.
No I do not.
No I didn’t.
Continue enjoying your discussion, but either prove it or at least don’t put words in my mouth.
You stoop to name-calling and false accusations against my character.
I quoted John exactly as his statement logically unfolds:
1 John 3:2
“NOW we are children of God,
and it has not appeared AS YET IJohn has not seen the glorified Christ)
what we SHALL be(come). (It has not yet appeared, meaning, John has not yet seen the glorified Christ)
We know that, WHEN He appears, (But when Christ comes back at the 2nd Coming)
we SHALL be like Him, (we will be like Him because we shall see Him as He is now glorified)
because we shall see Him just as He IS (now in Heaven).
It’s pretty straightforward. Jesus went in His fleshly physical body up to Heaven in the Acension, with blood in it. Then He was glorified.
The most overlooked part of all of this discussion about the flesh and the Spirit is that, of course, Jesus had to go to the Father in order for Pentecost to come and the Holy Spirit to be poured out “on all Flesh” as per the prophet Joel.
Jesus had to ascend to Heaven, or “go to the Father” in order for us to receive the indwelling Gifts of the Spirit.
All of this nonsense about a spiritual bloodless body is Gnosticism.
If you thought I was jumping back into some sort of NAR heresy wouldn’t you point it out to me...? I think you would, please forgive me if you thought I was falsely accusing you in your character as I know you as a Christian.
You spittled, “My main concern is that if one does not believe the fleshly body of Jesus that was raised from the dead is the same body of flesh He had on the Cross... then you do not believe in the bodily Resurrection.” Aside from the fact that you inferred what isnot in evidence, You left out your signature bludgeon, blood. Why? And who the heck are you to tell a poster what he believes, from behind a keyboard? Mind reading is not allowed at FR, BECAUSE POSTERS CANNOT READ MINDS, they can only falsely claim they know what is in the mind of their targets.
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