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The Resurrection Body (1 Cor. 15:35-49)

But someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?” 36 You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind; 38 but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another. 41 The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. 43 It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. 45 So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 46 But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. 48 As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Paul poses two hypothetical questions; how is the resurrection possible, and what kind of body will people have?  Paul answers the questions metaphorically.  He uses the example of a seed that must die in order for it to grow into a plant – for it to give life (Jn. 12:24).  The plant that grows out of the ground has a different body from the seed that was buried, and the body each seed will ultimately have is determined by God (Gen. 1:29; vv. 37-38).  God has given humans, animals, birds and fish different flesh.  The heavenly bodies, the stars and moons, are also different from earthly bodies but both types of bodies have their own splendor.  There is difference even within the heavenly bodies.  In ancient times some religions considered the stars to be living beings for the divine. (vv. 39-41). 

Since there are so many different kinds of bodies created by God, Paul concludes that the resurrection gives rise to a different kind of heavenly body.  Four negative aspects of the earthly body with which his Christian audience could identify are transformed into four positive attributes of the heavenly body.  The Holy Spirit transforms the physical earthly human body into a completely different spiritual body (vv. 42-44).  Paul modified the passage from Genesis to make his point; “The Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7).”  Paul called this the first Adam with a living natural body, and then referred to Jesus as the last Adam “a life-giving spirit (Rom. 8:11; v. 45)".  Those who do not accept the Gospel are earthly, but those who accept the Gospel and are baptized are heavenly like the Risen Lord.

Almighty God, help us to accept your free gift of faith so that through our baptism we may respond to your call and be conformed to the image of your Son.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

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