18. Amazed with Jesus in His Resurrected Body
18. Amazed with Jesus in His Resurrected Body.
“Life without wonder – radical amazement – is not worth living. It is the beginning of our happiness. Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel).
I Stand Amazed | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod
Jesus Christ engaged in a ministry of amazement, astonishment, wonder. Everywhere He traveled, He left people astounded and in awe. He caused a big stir wherever he went, and people left in His wake were amazed at who He was and what He was able to do, whether from His unusually wise teaching, His authoritative exorcisms, His unprecedented healings, His clever and insightful conversations, His dramatic miracles. It seemed everyone marveled at Jesus, despite His best efforts sometimes to be off the radar. There are three Greek synonyms that mean complete astonishment or radical amazement: ekplesso, thaumazo, and existemi. The differences between these three words, though, are fascinating. Are those of us who follow Jesus now, are we also amazed and astonished with Jesus?
“And the people were astonished (“ekplesso”) beyond measure, saying, ‘Everything He does is beautiful (“kalos”), and is done with excellence!” (Mark 7:37).
(1.) ASTONISHED: “ekplesso”; a strong Greek word for astonished; amazed; dumfounded; awestruck; overwhelmed at something extraordinary; struck out of one’s senses; takes your breath away, even to the point of panic. There were at least fifteen gospel events in which the Greek superlative “ekplesso” was used to communicate a radical amazement, astonishment, wonder at Jesus. Jesus was met with overwhelming astonishment after His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:28); by His hometown friends as they rejected Him (Matt. 13:54); after His teaching on the inadequacy of wealth (Matt. 19:25); after His conversation with the Sadducees about heaven and the resurrection (Matt. 22:33); at His synagogue exorcism (Mark 1:22, 27); after His healing of the deaf and mute man (Mark 7:37); after He whipped the moneychangers in the Temple (Mark 11:18); at His brilliant level of understanding with the rabbis at just 12 years of age (Luke 2:48); after casting out a demon with just a word (Luke 4:32, 36); at the exorcism of a demon-possessed boy (Luke 9:43).
“And behold, a man from the crowd shouted out, ‘Master, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child! A spirit seizes him and suddenly he screams out and it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth! It mauls him and will scarcely leave him!’ Jesus answered, ‘Bring your son here to me.’ And even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him down to the ground and completely convulsed him. But Jesus severely rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child, and then restored the boy to his father. And all were completely astounded (“ekplesso”) at the evidence of God’s mighty power, His majesty and His magnificence. While they were all marveling (“thaumazo”) at everything Jesus was doing…” (Luke 9:38-43).
(2.) MARVELED: “thaumazo”; another strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four “thaumazo” passages in the gospels in which people marveled at Jesus, were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of awed by Him. Included in the group of people who were completely amazed, “thaumazo’d” by Christ: the shepherds, Mary and Joesph, the disciples, the Pharisees, various crowds during His ministry, and even Pilate himself was astonished by Jesus and marveled at Him. People were amazed by everything from the angelic baby announcement, to various prophecies in Jesus’ young life, to the calming of the storm and the withering of the fig tree; from His miraculous exorcisms and healings to His teachings that always were on point and what were needed at the time.
“And when the friends of the paralytic couldn’t get near to Jesus in the house, they made a hole in the roof and lowered him down in front of Him… When Jesus saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven!’ ‘But that you all here may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins,’ he turns to the paralytic and says to him, ‘I say to you, arise, pick up your mat, and go home!’ And the man rose, immediately picked up his mat, and went out before them all, so that all the people were flabbergasted, out of their minds with amazement (“existemi”), and glorified God, exclaiming, ’We never saw anything like this!” (the whole story is in Mark 2:1-12).
(3.) FLABBERGASTED: “existemi”; an extreme word that means to be out of one’s mind with amazement; crazy with wonderment; a stunned astonishment so strong that one is beside oneself; to be overwhelmed so as to be bowled over; literally, to remove from a standing position. This word is used seventeen times in the gospels, including when Jesus healed and forgave the paralyzed man dropped through the ceiling of Peter’s house; when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead; when Jesus calmed the storm and casually climbed into the boat with His disciples; on the road to Emmaus when the disciples heard about the empty tomb from the women. Existemi is also used when the family of Jesus thought He was crazy, going out of His mind.
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) – Chris Tomlin – Passion 2014
“Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized Him as He was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus Himself was suddenly standing there among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ He said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! ‘Why are you frightened?’ He asked. ‘Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do. As He spoke, He showed them His hands and His feet. Still they stood there marveling in joyful disbelief, completely astonished and struck with wonder at something that seemed too good to be true (“thaumazo”). Then He asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it as they watched.” (Luke 24:36-43).
Tangible Proof. In offering peace to the terrified disciples, Jesus went out of His way to prove He was right there with them by appealing to the human senses… sight, since they saw Him; hearing, since they could hear Him speak to them; touch, since He asked them to touch His physical body; smell, since they could certainly smell the broiled fish that He ate; and taste, since they witnessed Jesus in the tangible act of eating. All this most assuredly proved to them that Jesus still somehow had a human body after the resurrection, that He was truly risen in the flesh. Was Jesus truly hungry when asked His disciples for food after the Resurrection? Most theologians seem to agree that since Jesus had a glorified body at that time, He didn’t need food. By eating some fish, He was only proving to the disciples that He wasn’t a ghost. It’s another proof, along with His scars and wounds, that reveal the fact that Jesus indeed had a body after He resurrected. It was a changed body, but somehow it was still a body. On the other hand, if a glorified body does not need food, why will there be a Wedding Supper of the Lamb in heaven? (Rev. 19:7-9). We will all have glorified bodies at that point, so why will all the saints gather at a celebration feast in paradise? The Messianic Feast has been prophesied (Isaiah 25:6) and proclaimed in Scripture. If none of us need food in heaven, why will all of us be celebrating with a feast? Just a thought.
A Different Glory. We do know that Jesus’ resurrected body was what some have called the perfect union of the physical body with the spiritual body. It was a mysterious weaving together of the natural with the supernatural, the mortal with the immortal. Jesus was tangible and yet He also was transcendent. What that looks like exactly is anybody’s guess. The early church theologians believed that Jesus’ body was made of a different glory, was more perfected. It was said that Christ’s body was perfected to a higher law than physics. They maintained that His physical elements were in fact subject to the power of Christ Himself.
Transformed Matter. Those thoughts coming from early church thinkers make a lot of sense, especially when we consider what Christ was able to do with His body after the Resurrection. He could do things like disappear (Luke 24:30-31), travel seemingly through space after the Emmaus walk, pass through solid objects like walls and doors (John 20:21), and float through thin air into the clouds at His Ascension (Luke 24:51, Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9). It appears that Jesus’ body did not have physical limitations, that it enjoyed new capabilities. Jesus had a physical death and experienced a physical resurrection, and He retained that human element in His resurrected body. His physical matter had been transformed, but He kept a measure of His flesh. He had a spiritual body that could be touched and felt, seen and heard, and He could eat food too! Christ was tangible after the Resurrection, yet He was completely transcendent. Jesus had a physical body that was glorified, and therein is a wonderful mystery that will be revealed in the fullness of time.