The Resurrection Body: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, especially vs. 1: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." In the Orthodox funeral service, St. John of Damascus bids us reflect on the universal mystery of death, the stark destiny confronting all men: while each of us is "fashioned after the image of God," yet too soon all shall lie "in the tomb, disfigured, dishonored, bereft of form, O marvel! What is this mystery which doth befall us? Why have we been given over unto corruption, and why have we been wedded unto death? Truly," St. John, declares, "as it is written, by the command of God." In Holy Scripture, God plainly states that all of us, children of Adam, have chosen to transgress God's commandment. "For which cause, O Lord, Thou didst condemn [us] to return again unto the earth whence [we were] taken."
Ah, but the Church reminds us that "the Saints have found the Fountain of Life." Read again St. Paul's words in the quote above: "we have a building from God...eternal in the heavens." Like each of us who call ourselves Christians, St. Paul walked "by faith, not by sight" (vs. 7), knowing his "house" would be destroyed, and yet remaining "confident" of another "building" from God (vs. 1). Let us see, then, what gives the Apostle such great confidence.
First, let us understand that the "earthly house" (vs. 1) to which the Apostle refers is our physical body, our form drawn from the elements of this earth. St. Paul likens our body to the Tent or Tabernacle which God commanded Moses and the people of Israel to make for use during their nomadic years: a sanctuary where He might "dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8).
St. Paul deliberately chose this particular image to remind us of two things: 1) that our mortal body is temporary and easily "taken down," and 2) that along the way of this life the body is meant as a dwelling place for God. Further, the Apostle adds a contrast to his first image of a tent: a "building" that is "eternal in the heavens." The body "in the heavens" is a work of God, just as is our present, earthly body. The earthly body, in which death already is at work, causes us to groan (vs. 2). In our present aches and pains, we experience the advance of the death, disfigurement, and dishonoring to come, which will leave us bereft of this present earthly house.
In addition, St. Paul employs the imagery of clothing: as this body will be put off like old, soiled clothes, even so God has provided an eternal body which is to be put on. Also, we know something of heavenly bodies from the accounts of the Lord's Resurrection appearances. This knowledge causes us to desire "to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven" (vs. 2).
Note the Apostle's next remark: "if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked" (vs. 3). God intends that all who have united themselves to Christ Jesus in the Baptismal Mystery should have their mortality "swallowed up by life" (vs. 4). Of course, all shall have to "appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body" (vs. 10). Therefore the certainty of being clothed with a heavenly body remains subject to Christ's judgment. However, let us be encouraged. We know God's intentions and His mercy.
God has even given us "a guarantee," the amazing present activity of the Holy Spirit within (vs. 5). Earlier, St. Paul spoke of our earthly form as a "tent," reminding us that our physical body is meant to be a dwelling place for God. Now he mentions the Spirit of God, the intended Divine occupant. "Therefore," he says, "we make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him" (vs. 9). The Spirit is God's gift to us now, so that after the judgment we may not fail to be clothed in our heavenly body. Let us trust the Spirit and always walk with Him in faith.
Grant us, O Lord, a good defense before the dread Judgment Seat of Christ.