Ignatius and Jesus' Post-Ascension Body

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In the past I had the idea that Jesus' body after His ascension was some kind of ethereal, non-coporeal body, like a ghost or spirit or something "sitting" at the right hand of God. This view did not originate in Bible study but in the presupposition that Heaven is/will be a place in which no physical object can abide. Actually, I suppose a misunderstanding of 1 Cor 15:44, 50 contributed to this view. These verses read:

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a natural body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body...I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inhabit the imperishable (ESV).

In short, "spiritual body" (πνευματικόν) does not mean a non-corporeal, Casper the friendly ghost type body, but a body that is characterized by spirit.  That is, in the resurrection our bodies will not be "bodiless," nebulous apparitions but will be "supercharged" by the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus, after His resurrection, could still eat, drink, and be touched but could also do cool things like walk through walks and disappear, perhaps even altering His appearance in some way.

Nevertheless, there are other passages that came to my attention that led me away from the "bodiless" resurrection body view. One verse was 2 Timothy 2:5--"there is one God, and one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus." Note that it says the man Christ Jesus, not disembodied spirit.

Another verse that conflicts with this view is Acts 1:11 in which the angels tell that apostles that Jesus will "come in the say way as you saw him go into heaven." Now this "same way" may be adverbial (he will return "in the clouds") or adjectival (a body went up and a body will come down), but it makes sense that if a body went up into Heaven that a body will likewise descend, unless there is a fleshly coat rack on which Jesus hanged His body while He sits at the right hand of God. ;-)

Even more convincing is Luke 24:39. When Jesus appeared to the apostles and two from the road to Emmaus they were frightened but He told them:

"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" (ESV).

Hmm. So if Jesus post-resurrection body had flesh and bones, what indication is there that something changed after His ascension? Nothing of which I am aware.

I have taught this in Bible class and, to my surprise, some do not receive this well, possibly sharing my former presupposition. However, this is no new interpretation because Christians as early as Ignatius of Antioch saw it this way. In his letter to the Smyrnaeans, in which he rebuked the Docetics for saying that Jesus only "seemed" to appear in the flesh, said:

For I know that after His resurrection, too, He still had flesh, and I believe that He has flesh now (in Mike Aquilina, The Fathers of the Church, p. 62).

Interestingly, Ignatius' letters are dated by some to have been written before AD 117. This, here is a very early attestation to the view that Jesus had a body of flesh after His ascension. Interesting.

Created to Rule

One of the major differences in Genesis 1-2 and the Babylonian accounts of creation is man's purpose.

• Mesopotamia: humans were created to serve the gods. The Babylonian and Assyrian gods were largely a group of lazy good-for-nothin's. The older gods wanted "peace and quiet" (like old people) but the younger gods wanted to party like it's 1999. This led to a conflict where Apsu, the oldest male god, wanted to destroy the lot of the little whippersnappers. Apsu, however, was killed instead and his wife, Tiamat, sought vengeance. She met her match in the young Marduk who killed her and used her corpse to create the cosmos. The rebellious gods who served under Tiamat were forced to perform menial tasks that soon became unbearable. Since work stinks, the gods didn't want to do it. Thus, they created created man en masse to do the work for them (do these gods seem to be a lot like humans to you?).
• Israel: God created man to rule (Gen. 1:26-27). Yes, God required Adam to take care of the Garden, but the similarities end there. Man's work in Genesis 1-2 is not merely because God didn't feel like picking the okra or sprinkling Sevin-dust on the leaves to deter bugs (it wasn't THAT kind of garden anyway!). Instead, God was giving Adam power and authority. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4).

This sheds light on what the Apostle Paul said:

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal god for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1:22-23, emp. mine).

What does this mean for us now? Nothing....because sin mucked everything up, cursing both man and the earth (Gen. 3:16-19). I do not believe that sin is inherited and that we are cursed in that sense (Ezek. 18:20), but you can't deny that sin has messed us up. We're not what we're supposed to be. However, this power and authority will be restored eschatologically. 

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we also may be glorified with him (Romans 8:16-17)

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him (2 Timothy 2:11-12).

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne (Rev. 3:21)

I wonder if the "ruler over many things" idea in the parable of talents is connected with this (Matt. 25:21, 23). I wonder even more about how this could play into that troubling verse, "the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2). What nations? Ones that we rule over, perhaps?