We are continuing our reflection on things we can learn from the Book of Genesis. Additionally, this is Easter time, so we are going to tie that in too.
It is very interesting to reflect on the encounter in Genesis 2 between the First Man and the First Woman, later known as Adam and Eve. The Lord had made the man and lots of the animals, but none of the animals were a suitable partner for the man. So the Lord cast a deep sleep on the man and took a rib from him which He built up into the woman. When the Man awakes he sees the Woman and from seeing her he understands her to be bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
It is precisely the body that revealed to the man the nature of the woman. The body is not incidental or irrelevant. The human person is the union of body and soul. Without a body we are not fully human, we are an abhorrent specter. There is a reason we are afraid of ghosts. A body without a spirit is equally abhorrent. There is a reason we are afraid of zombies. I do not have a body. I am the union of a body and a spirit.
In the end, we are in fleshed beings for all eternity. This is what are professing every Sunday when we say, “I look for the resurrection of the dead…” We believe that we will experience a resurrection like Jesus’. We will be bodily resurrected. Read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians Chapter 15:12-19. He clearly understands that if Christ was not really resurrect then his preaching (and our faith) is worthless. He is also clear on the point that we too are to be resurrected.
See that’s the thing about Easter. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but we also rejoice in what that means for us. We are going to be resurrected. Our bodies will be perfected and not subject to death, so they will be different that we currently experience them. They are real physical bodies, though.
Happy Easter!
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] For more information concerning the events of this office, visit us at mobilefaithformation.org