Job 19:26-27
In My Flesh I Will See God
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
John 20:1-31
The Empty Tomb
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Luke 24:13-16
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
1 Corinthians 15:39-58
The Earthly Body Will Change
39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep,but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Revelation 21:1-8
God Will Wipe the Tears from Our Eyes
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.This is the second death.”
Revelation 22:1-5
Eden Restored
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal,flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
When we read Job, we might think that when we get to heaven we will have a physical body...Job says that even after his skin has been destroyed and he has died, yet in my flesh I will see God; and I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another...And how my heart yearns within me for this!...Job says he will see God with his own eyes, even after his skin has been destroyed...Yet in his flesh he will somehow be able to see God and his Redeemer...
We know that after Jesus' death, His tomb was empty when Mary Magdalene examined it...So His physical body was completely gone from the tomb...But Jesus would appear to her...And even though He had a physical body, He was a little bit different now, after His death...He had resurrected, it seems in His past earthly physical form of His body...And she saw a Man near Jesus' tomb, but did not recognize Him...Jesus was a little bit different in His appearance...His body had somehow changed...His body and appearance was clothed a little bit different...Where Mary was at she turned around and saw a Man and it was 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?”...For some reason she thought 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”)...Jesus said, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father...Go instead to My brothers and tell them, ‘I AM ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”...Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with this great news: “I have seen the LORD!” And she told them that He had said these things to her...And then later, He appeared to His Disciples after His death for the first time in His old physical form...Now Thomas wasn't there this first time He appeared, and he did not believe that His Master was still alive or could be alive, after He died...But Jesus reappears later and allowed Thomas to touch His body, to feel His glorious wounds that we caused by our sins...
After Jesus' resurrection we know the two on the road to Emmaus has a hard time recognizing Him...Two followers of His were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem...They were talking with each other about everything that had happened around Jesus...As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him...Maybe Jesus wanted them to think about what He was saying as a Man...Their attention would have been quite differently had He been His old Live Self...But He was somehow different...
St. John writes in Revelation that God will wipe every tear from His people's eyes in heaven...There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...So for us to cry we will have eyes, so God must give us our eyes and I would suspect, we would have a body for our eyes..Because St. John also writes that in heaven we will see His Face, and His name will be on our foreheads...So we will have heads...
Somehow when Jesus died and came back He was a little bit different...St. Paul says that there are different kinds of flesh, even on earth...When Adam was created, he was made out of the dust of this earth...While Jesus is different, He came from heaven...So first, those of the earth have to be born of the image of the earth and be an earthly person, then after our death we can bear the image of the Heavenly Man...And St. Paul said that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit the incorruptible...The earthly body that is flesh and blood, and is of bones, skin, organs, muscles and tissues...The fleshy body is corruptible...There shall be no corruption in heaven, so the body will change for the heavens, so it will not be corruptible...Our body will be a little bit different...And God will take our perishable earthly bodies and change and cloth with an imperishable body...Then the mortal will change into the immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”...And we will sing, “Where, O death, is your victory?...Where, O death, is your sting?”...The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law...But thanks be to God!...He gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ."...We will live again and be in heaven in our new immortal, Spiritual Body...