Luke 24:39

"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39).

Comment:

I can certainly not speak to 'Unity's belief' on anything. There are countless theories and beliefs in the world about the post-Easter Jesus—and I would bet worldwide Unity includes adherents to each and all of them. That's what makes Unity Unity.

By the time—late in the first Christian century—when Luke and Matthew were writing their gospels, there were many different beliefs about Jesus of Nazareth. A growing number of his own followers were beginning to question the church beliefs—especially those of the resurrection. The authors of Luke, Matthew, and John were very aware of the doubts, and the threat they represented to the unity and power of the church. They were very careful to structure the story to emphasize the physicality of the resurrection.

What I believe—not on behalf of all of Unity—is that the post-Easter Jesus is a rich mystery that we will never understand in our mortal minds. The Unity emphasis has always been on the teachings of Jesus Christ rather than on the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We believe that emphasis conforms with his divine intentions and rich legacy. His intention in moving through a very public and painful death experience was to show, by example, that we have nothing to fear. Only once in the gospels is Jesus instantly recognized as Jesus; in most of the sightings it takes time for others to recognize him by his manifest love rather than his physical wounds. That's the importance of the resurrection for me—that the Christ of my being is eternal, as was the Christ of Jesus, with or without the use of a physical form.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed