Marks on the Savior's hands and the resurrection

[gualeguaychu]

Hi all, first post here.

Tonight during Family Home Evening, we were discussing the resurrection, and my 9 year old asked why Jesus still had the marks of the nails, even though he has already been resurrected? Shouldn't he have a perfect body?

I know He has to show those marks to the Jews in Jerusalem at the last day as a symbol of who he really is, but I'm trying to reconcile that with our knowledge that when we are resurrected we will all have our bodies restored to their perfect frame.

Thanks for any insight you can share.

[pam]

This is an exerpt from a talk that Bruce R. McConkie gave. He describes at least 10 appearances the Savior made after his resurrection. Bruce R. McConkie goes on to say this.

From this brief review we learn several important things: we know that resurrected beings, containing their glory within themselves, can walk as mortals do on earth; that they can converse and reason and teach as they once did in mortality; that they can both withhold and manifest their true identities; that they can pass with corporeal bodies through solid walls; that they have bodies of flesh and bones which can be felt and handled; that if need be (and at special times) they can retain the scars and wounds of the flesh; that they can eat and digest food; that they can vanish from mortal eyes and transport themselves by means unknown to us.

[pam]

Another exerpt:

The way Peter and the ancients proved that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore that the gospel which he taught was the plan of salvation, was to establish that he rose from the dead. And the way you prove that a man rises from the dead, because it’s in the spiritual realm, is to bear witness by the power of the Spirit of knowledge that is personal and real and literal to you. Peter could have gone into a congregation and said, “I know that Jesus is the Lord because Isaiah said this and this with reference to him. Or one of the other prophets said this.” And he did that, for a reason, I suppose. But the great crowning thing that Peter could do was to stand before the people and say, “I know he was the Son of God. I stood in the upper room. I recognized him. He’s the man who ministered among us for more than three years. I felt the nail marks in his hands and in his feet. I thrust my hand into the spear wound in his side. I saw him eat food—he ate fish and an honeycomb. He has a body. He said his body was flesh and bone. I know he is the Son of God. I am his witness!”

[pam]

I realize I only answered a portion of your question.

[pam]

I also found this from Elder Russell M. Nelson

For reasons usually unknown, some people are born with physical limitations. Specific parts of the body may be abnormal. Regulatory systems may be out of balance. And all of our bodies are subject to disease and death. Nevertheless, the gift of a physical body is priceless. A perfect body is not required to achieve a divine destiny. In fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail frames. Great spiritual strength is often developed by those with physical challenges precisely because they are challenged. Such individuals are entitled to all the blessings that God has in store for His faithful and obedient children.

Eventually the time will come when each “spirit and … body shall be reunited again in … perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame” (Alma 11:43). Then, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become perfected in Him.

[Hemidakota]

Adding remarks to Pam statements, when one sees the Savior, you will find that He does appear in two forms, one form is the His mortal body, and the other is His glorified body as shown to Joseph Smith. Both are different but both have a purpose to allow Him to witnessed His resurrection by allowing those to touch Him. I do know, we cannot touch a glorified being in our mortal probation, while the first state, we can touch Him as demostrated by the few Apostles and the Nephites.

Elder Peterson remarked, 1980 talk:

In the resurrection every one of us will be raised up, no longer subject to death. We will have the very same body that we now have; it will be a physical resurrection of flesh and bones; we will not be resurrected in some other way. That is the kind of resurrection we will have, and that is the kind of resurrection Jesus Christ had.

Do you remember what happened when Christ appeared to his disciples after the resurrection? They thought that they were seeing a spirit or a ghost. He tried to convince them that he was real and physical, a corporeal being, saying, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39).

Do you remember when he came to the American continent and appeared before 2,500 Nephites and announced that he was the resurrected Christ? He had been resurrected in Palestine; now he came and visited the Americas. We have recorded in the Book of Mormon that 2,500 people lined up and approached him, and he allowed them to handle the marks of the crucifixion in his hands and feet and side. The Covenant People of God by Elder Mark E. Peterson

It seems there is a power or a principle we are not aware of that allows a resurrected being to show themselves as they were prior in leaving the earth.

[sixpacktr]

We don't know the answer to all things. Will Christ have a 'perfect' body after his work is done? Does he go 'back and forth' so that people will know who he is? We know that when he appears to the Jews they will inquire after his wounds, and thereby know who he is. I have always loved the following verses from Isaiah and Nephi:

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;

(1 Nephi21:14 - 16)

My own personal opinion, based upon minutes of thought (no, not really), is that I don't know. I have read that these marks are actually very special marks and thereby not considered 'defects' or 'scars', but a mark so that we will always know him for who he is. But I don't know. To me, the marks are scars inflicted by man, but have such a deep and important meaning, and act as a sign of his atonement, that I could go either way.

I'll be glad my body is fixed, though. Looking forward to not having a belly button, even though it will look weird!

[Vanhin]

God the Father is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and by his Only Begotten Son, he created everything. Not only is Jesus the Creator of all things, he is the Christ; the one who was slain to redeem all mankind (D&C 110:4). He is the Christ and bears the emblems of his sacrifice, which sacrifice was the great and last sacrifice for sin, and infinite and eternal in it's scope (Alma 34:10).

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (D&C 76:22-24)

He is central in the plan of salvation, and the mission of the atonement was uniquely his. The testimony of Jesus Christ and his atonement, and being true to that testimony, is absolutely necessary for exaltation (D&C 76:51-54).

Regards,

Vanhin

[VisionOfLehi]

I love these quotes! I had a nice fireside about resurrection several months ago that included this question.

Christ has power over his body. He retains the wounds as a testimony of Himself. They are evidence of His life--the one in which He was slain, and the one that He now lives.

[Hemidakota]

There is a notable observational difference when one sees the Savior mortal body vice seeing His glorified body. [no punctilious here...]