Resurrected Jesus: What Was His Body Made Of?
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The Resurrected Jesus
It’s hard enough to wrap one’s mind around the pre-crucifixion Jesus, a being who’s fully God and fully human. What kind of DNA did he have??
But things get even more dizzying when we try comprehending the resurrected Jesus. What did he actually look like?? What was he made of??
The Bible says the resurrected Jesus was both unrecognizable and recognizable.
“At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him. Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).”
John 20:14-16
The Bible tells us the resurrected Jesus ate food, bore physical scars, and was palpable.
“He [the resurrected Jesus] asked them, 'Do you have anything here to eat?' They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence."
Luke 24:41-43
"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
Luke 24:39
But the Bible also says the resurrected Jesus was in certain ways very much like a ghost.
“On the evening of the first day of the week, Jesus appeared among his disciples despite the doors being locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, offering them peace.”
John 20:19 (NIV)
Is it possible for us mere mortals to make any sense of these seemingly contradictory descriptions of the resurrected Jesus? Is it possible modern science can help us do that?
The answers are, yes and yes.
Ordinary Matter Is Miraculous
Let’s start with the basics.
You often hear the expression “ordinary matter,” but in truth there’s nothing ordinary about ordinary matter. Indeed, it’s not hyperbole to say ordinary matter is genuinely miraculous.
For example:
Ordinary matter inside a woman’s womb is able to organize itself into a human being!
Ordinary matter is able to transmit and curate genetic memories!
Ordinary matter is able to form a brain capable of contemplating the universe and itself, asking deep questions such as, “Was the resurrected Jesus’ body made of ordinary, miraculous matter or something else entirely?”
The answer is this: Jesus’ resurrected body might very well have been made of ordinary matter because ordinary matter has certain miraculous properties we see at the quantum level but not in the everyday world we live in.
I. Recognizable and Not Recognizable
According to modern physics, ordinary matter can look very different from one observation to the next. The classic illustration of this extraordinary property of ordinary matter is called Schrödinger’s Cat - a cat trapped inside a closed box.
Open the box once, the cat might appear dead; open it a second time, the cat might appear alive - and so forth, ad infinitum. It’s a mind-blowing trait of ordinary matter called the Observer Effect.
Perhaps this explains why Mary didn’t recognize the resurrected Jesus the first time she laid eyes on him, but did the second time.
II. Palpable Solid
According to modern physics, ordinary matter is mostly (99.999999999%) empty space. If all the empty space were squeezed out of every human being on Earth, the entire human population would be reduced to the size of a sugar cube.
Despite this extraordinary etherealness, however, ordinary matter behaves very much like a palpable solid. For instance, the ground supporting your weight, the desk holding up your computer, or your very own body - they’re all made of ordinary matter that is 99.999999999% absolute nothingness!
Perhaps this explains why the resurrected Jesus, although in an altered, heavenly state of being, was still solid to the touch.