Whether Christ Had a True Body After His Resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did not have a true body after
His Resurrection. For a true body cannot be in the same place at the
same time with another body. But after the Resurrection Christ's body
was with another at the same time in the same place: since He entered
among the disciples "the doors being shut," as is related in John
20:26. Therefore it seems that Christ did not have a true body after
His Resurrection.
Obj. 2: Further, a true body does not vanish from the beholder's
sight unless perchance it be corrupted. But Christ's body "vanished
out of the sight" of the disciples as they gazed upon Him, as is
related in Luke 24:31. Therefore, it seems that Christ did not have a
true body after His Resurrection.
Obj. 3: Further, every true body has its determinate shape. But
Christ's body appeared before the disciples "in another shape," as is
evident from Mk. 15:12. Therefore it seems that Christ did not
possess a true body after His Resurrection.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Luke 24:37) that when Christ
appeared to His disciples "they being troubled and frightened,
supposed that they saw a spirit," as if He had not a true but an
imaginary body: but to remove their fears He presently added: "Handle
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to
have." Consequently, He had not an imaginary but a true body.
_I answer that,_ As Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iv): that is said
to rise, which fell. But Christ's body fell by death; namely,
inasmuch as the soul which was its formal perfection was separated
from it. Hence, in order for it to be a true resurrection, it was
necessary for the same body of Christ to be once more united with the
same soul. And since the truth of the body's nature is from its form
it follows that Christ's body after His Resurrection was a true body,
and of the same nature as it was before. But had His been an
imaginary body, then His Resurrection would not have been true, but
apparent.
Reply Obj. 1: Christ's body after His Resurrection, not by miracle
but from its glorified condition, as some say, entered in among the
disciples while the doors were shut, thus existing with another body
in the same place. But whether a glorified body can have this from
some hidden property, so as to be with another body at the same time
in the same place, will be discussed later (Suppl., Q. 83, A. 4) when
the common resurrection will be dealt with. For the present let it
suffice to say that it was not from any property within the body, but
by virtue of the Godhead united to it, that this body, although a
true one, entered in among the disciples while the doors were shut.
Accordingly Augustine says in a sermon for Easter (ccxlvii) that some
men argue in this fashion: "If it were a body; if what rose from the
sepulchre were what hung upon the tree, how could it enter through
closed doors?" And he answers: "If you understand how, it is no
miracle: where reason fails, faith abounds." And (Tract. cxxi super
Joan.) he says: "Closed doors were no obstacle to the substance of a
Body wherein was the Godhead; for truly He could enter in by doors
not open, in whose Birth His Mother's virginity remained inviolate."
And Gregory says the same in a homily for the octave of Easter (xxvi
in Evang.).
Reply Obj. 2: As stated above (Q. 53, A. 3), Christ rose to the
immortal life of glory. But such is the disposition of a glorified
body that it is spiritual, i.e. subject to the spirit, as the Apostle
says (1 Cor. 15:44). Now in order for the body to be entirely subject
to the spirit, it is necessary for the body's every action to be
subject to the will of the spirit. Again, that an object be seen is
due to the action of the visible object upon the sight, as the
Philosopher shows (De Anima ii). Consequently, whoever has a
glorified body has it in his power to be seen when he so wishes, and
not to be seen when he does not wish it. Moreover Christ had this not
only from the condition of His glorified body, but also from the
power of His Godhead, by which power it may happen that even bodies
not glorified are miraculously unseen: as was by a miracle bestowed
on the blessed Bartholomew, that "if he wished he could be seen, and
not be seen if he did not wish it" [*Apocryphal Historia Apost. viii,
2]. Christ, then, is said to have vanished from the eyes of the
disciples, not as though He were corrupted or dissolved into
invisible elements; but because He ceased, of His own will, to be
seen by them, either while He was present or while He was departing
by the gift of agility.
Reply Obj. 3: As Severianus [*Peter Chrysologus: Serm. lxxxii] says
in a sermon for Easter: "Let no one suppose that Christ changed His
features at the Resurrection." This is to be understood of the
outline of His members; since there was nothing out of keeping or
deformed in the body of Christ which was conceived of the Holy Ghost,
that had to be righted at the Resurrection. Nevertheless He received
the glory of clarity in the Resurrection: accordingly the same writer
adds: "but the semblance is changed, when, ceasing to be mortal, it
becomes immortal; so that it acquired the glory of countenance,
without losing the substance of the countenance." Yet He did not come
to those disciples in glorified appearance; but, as it lay in His
power for His body to be seen or not, so it was within His power to
present to the eyes of the beholders His form either glorified or not
glorified, or partly glorified and partly not, or in any fashion
whatsoever. Still it requires but a slight difference for anyone to
seem to appear another shape.
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