If He had no need of the flesh, why did He heal it? And what is most forcible of all, He raised the dead. Why? Was it not to show what the resurrection should be? How then did He raise the dead? Their souls or their bodies? Manifestly both. If the resurrection were only spiritual, it was requisite that He, in raising the dead, should show the body lying apart by itself, and the soul living apart by itself. But now He did not do so, but raised the body, confirming in it the promise of life. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh?
Irenaeus, 125-202 AD, Fragments of the Lost Book of Irenaeus on the Ressurrection, Chapter IX (translated by Rev. M. Dods, The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, Philip Schaff, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001, p. 433)
What difference does it make that God promises to resurrect the body? How should it affect our lives?
A Pastoral Prayer
6 hours ago
Love how Jesus' resurrected body was so very different from his earthly one. I look forward to a body that kind of a body.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree with that. It will be interesting to find out what it will be like.
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