Expert: Marvin Howard - 12/14/2004

Question
Question:
John 19:30 when Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross, was He reunited with His spirit after the resurrection?  John 20;14 Mary did not realize it was Jesus. Was He just in the spirit or was he completly human again?

Thanks  

Answer
Hi!

Ken, thank you for the question. I will do my best to answer it for you. I am sure you believe Jesus was God on Earth, as well as being human.

John 1:1-5 & 14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Therefore, His Spirit, which He yeilded was both the Spirit of God, and the spirit of man. Let's take a look, then, just a little further in time past Mary's witnessing the resurrection.

John 20:24-29, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

So, Jesus was completely human again: He had the same holes left by the tortures of crucifixion. If He was not, the proof He offered Thomas would have been no proof at all. He also remained completely God: He demonstrated He knew Thomas' doubts, even though He wasn't present when they were voiced. We, also, have proof His flesh saw no corruption (c.f., Psalm 16:10 which was shown to have been fulfilled in the Christ in Acts 2:27 & 31).

This raises the question, "Why did Mary not recognize her own son?" Suspicions can be applied to this, but it is still speculation. I will offer what I understand, and allow you to decide if it is reasonable or makes sense.

First, we must understand the human view of the finality of death. Even after winessing the resurrection of Lazarus, there would remain lingering doubts. It is this very view of death which was responsible for the creation of the sect of the Jews known as the Saducees (c.f., Acts 23:6-8). Have you ever noticed that death hits family members harder than others? This is especially true when it is your own offspring that pass away. I recently lost my kid sister, prior to losing my mother. I spoke with my mother about it. In fact, it is probably the death of my sister which caused the death of my mother some 10 weeks later. Our finite minds can believe something (i.e., the resurrection), yet rebel when confronted with it.

Humanity has been confounded by the difference between physical and spiritual death since the Garden of Eden. I invite you to see the sermon I posted on the crucifixion. It may be viewed at:

http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962/Archives/archive4.html

I hope it will be able to offer to you insights into the difference between the two. Should you have further questions, please, don't hesitate to ask a followup. This is an important topic. May God richly bless you in your desire to learn.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
preacherman_1962@yahoo.com
preacherman@phoneco1.net
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962