Prologue
The bodily resurrection of Jesus has been a historical event based on evidence. Theologically, it is filled with a lot of rich & deep meaning with parallels & metaphors. If you ever have the chance to experience a Vigil Mass during Easter, do it, it is filled with symbols everywhere.
Creation week
| Day | Creation | Resurrection |
| 1 | Light / darkness | Sunday: Jesus becomes the new light of the world |
| 2 | Sky / water | |
| 3 | Tree / Earth | |
| 4 | Sun / Moon | |
| 5 | Fishes / Birds | |
| 6 | Adam slept and God made Eve from his ribs; God finish everything on the 6th day | Jesus slept on the cross, water & blood came from the ribs; Jesus said ‘It is finished’ |
| 7 | God rested | Jesus ‘rested in the tomb |
Jesus went to Hell
Where did Jesus go during that time?
He went to “Sheol” (Hebrew) / “Hades” (Greek), which isn’t the place of the damned with fire, but rather the realm of the death.
All the good souls that came before Jesus’ crucifixion (Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, etc.) were waiting in that area.
Nobody goes directly to Heaven before the resurrection of Jesus. They had wait captive in ‘sheol’, until Jesus had to die in order to purchase the price of our salvation.
The divine parallel
To whom the tomb belongs? Joseph of Arimathea!
Who was the companion of Mary? Joseph of Nazareth!
Take the word ‘tomb‘, replace 1 letter, and you get a ‘womb‘.
Because of Jesus’s resurrection, the ‘tomb‘ became a ‘womb‘.
It is recorded that the shroud was still in the tomb when He left. Which mean, that technically, He was nude. What does it reminds us? A new born, just like Adam who came from the ashes.
Jesus is born a 1st time in Mary’s womb, and He will be ‘re-born’, a 2nd time, in the tomb!
Where was Adam been born? In a garden!
What was around the tomb, the place of ‘re-birth’ of the 2nd Adam (Jesus)? A…garden!
Who asked about how being ‘reborn’ again? Nicodemus! The man who also took the body of Jesus into the tomb.
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Baptism: a new creation
If we read carefully the few first verses of Genesis, we will noticed that “the Spirit of God flows above the water” (Gen 1:2). The same thing happened with Noah & Moses. Everytime that the 2 are present, it means that God is making a new creation.
If God started the cosmos with the Holy Spirit & water, so can He, make you a new creation again through baptism.
The immortal body
The Christian idea of the resurrection is very unique.
The Gnostics or Manichaens believed that our physical body is evil, and we are saved by a secret knowledge to free our soul from this corrupted body.
The Hindus believes in re-incarnation, where we will be resurrected in another body that isn’t our own.
The Christian understand of the resurrection is that we will revive in our current body, but in a state of incorruptibly & immortality just like Jesus.
A new Jerusalem
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