The crucifixion cast them into utter… despair…. George Townshend, archdeacon of the Anglican Church, explains the extent of the disciples’ dismay: In other words, the believers (the body of Christ) were in the heart of the earth (spiritually dead) for that three day period as exemplified by Judas’s betrayal of Christ, Peter’s denial of Him, and the disciples fleeing in fear at the moment of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion. If the resurrected body of Christ is actually the resurrected believers, then the prophecy regarding Christ’s resurrection after three days makes sense, for it appears the disciples lost their faith Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane and regained it Sunday – exactly three days and three nights later. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular… – 1 Cor 12:27. So, we being many, are one body in Christ… – Romans 12:5. The apostle Paul equates “the body of Christ” with Christ’s believers: Was Christ suggesting then that his “figurative body” would be resurrected? If so, what could that body be? Strangely, Christ’s physical body did not spend “three nights in the heart of the earth”, for the Bible says Christ was crucified Friday and resurrected Sunday. Moreover, if we understand this resurrection as symbolic in nature, what does that mean about the nature of Christ’s own resurrection?Ĭhrist prophesied, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” – Matthew 12:40. Since they do not, perhaps we should consider the possibility that instead of detailing a physical resurrection, Scripture describes in figurative language a spiritual resurrection–one in which the hearts of some saintly Jews were moved by Christ’s message and crucifixion to rise out of graves of “spiritual death” (disbelief) to be “spiritually reborn” or “resurrected” as believers in him. At the very least, family members would have passed down oral histories to future generations, yet no such accounts exist. Yet strangely, no source outside the Bible records this astounding phenomenon, even though the saints who resurrected would have had a lot to say about the death experience, with innumerable people eager to listen to and record their accounts. The excitement and interest generated by this amazing event would have had a profound impact, not only on the Jews but on their contemporaries. the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. Can anyone imagine a more incredible or awe-inspiring event than seeing a loved one brought back to life?Ĭonsider, for instance, how astonished the people of Christ’s day must have been to witness some of their loved ones return to life at the very moment of Christ’s crucifixion: “.
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