Resurrection Bodies and Being Really Alive

Experiences with Jesus Christ and his resurrected body after his three days in the tomb carry far more meaning than our fallen and exiled world can fully contain. This meaning is not external to our world, however. Christ returns from the grave because Christ is the fullness of all that we are created to be. Even from within death itself, God cannot be anything but the giver of divine life. It is because incarnation and divine life is the only source and purpose of all creation, that this summary of salvation by Saint Athanasius will likely never be outdone for elegance and clarity: “God became man so that man might become god.”1 It is also worth noting at the start of these reflections that real experiences of Jesus Christ’s resurrected body extend into the present day within the Eucharistic life of his church. While some of what I share here may seem distant or difficult to consider, it is all, in fact, very near at hand. Christ’s resurrection comes from God’s own life which lies deeper within us than our innermost parts.2 Even in all of it’s astonishing, otherworldly, and divine power, Christ’s resurrection is not an alien reality but a gentle and intimate truth that is very near at hand.