Flesh and Bones
by Danny C. Wash
Have you ever wondered what Jesus looks like now in Heaven? Does He still have the scars in his hands, feet, & side? After Jesus was resurrected, but before He ascended into Heaven, the disciple Thomas said he wouldn’t believe until he touched the scars. Jesus appeared to him and said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”And He said to others, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He showed them His flesh and they could see and feel His bones. Jesus in His resurrection body was doing miraculous acts. Notice that Jesus referred to “flesh and bones” and not “flesh and blood,” as is commonly said. His resurrection body had no blood because He poured all His blood out on the cross in order to gain forgiveness of our many sins. The blood is now sprinkled on the eternal altar in Heaven making continuous atonement for our sins. (Hebrews 9:22-28). Jesus has told us that we will be like Him. Our resurrection body will likewise have flesh and bone, like Jesus, but no blood because physical life requires physical blood, but our new body will get its resurrection life from Jesus.
Jesus then told Thomas, when he confessed that he believed it was Jesus, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” Jesus loved Thomas even though he was doubting and insisted on seeing with his own eyes and putting his fingers into the place of the nails, before he would believe. Jesus endured this doubt and allowed Thomas to require proof. But, He gave the greater blessing to those who believed His word, without demanding physical proof.
Mark 16:14 says that “Later He appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead." Jesus loved them but He scolded them for their unbelief and gave the greater blessing to those who believed without proof.
The Bible says as to our salvation, that we “believe with our heart resulting in righteousness.” Our heart, that the Bible is referring to, is not our physical heart but that inner spiritual part of us where our soul intersects our spirit; it is the real us and personality, the part that is reading this. The heart is the doorkeeper of the spirit and we must open that "heart door" by faith to admit Jesus through the Holy Spirit entering and causing our spirit to be born anew and open to God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
The Bible in Revelation 3:20 records Jesus as saying, “Behold, I stand at the door [of our heart] and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” The table is set, the meal is ready to be served, which is the body and blood of Jesus. We are invited to partake of Him through the Holy Spirit. Of course, this is a spiritual matter and does not involve His or our physical flesh and body, but our heart and spirit partaking of Jesus, which is by “eating” spiritually His word and to “drink” of His blood spiritually, which is to receive His forgiveness and life daily, as we walk in the Holy Spirit. (John 6:53-58; 63). Come and dine!
