Two biblical passages
often cited by Jehovah’s Witnesses to deny Christ’s bodily resurrection
and ascension are 1 Cor. 15:50 and 1 Pet. 3:18. We read in 1 Cor. 15:50 that “flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” The Witnesses take this to mean
that Jesus cannot have a body in His present state with the Father. The phrase flesh
and blood, however, refers to the present mortal, corruptible and
perishable bodies we now possess (see vv. 42, 50, 53, 54). These must
and will be “changed” (v. 51) at the resurrection (v. 52). Christ, of course,
does not possess a mortal, corruptible and perishable body. He as the resurrected
and ascended Son of God possesses a glorified and immortal body. Thus, the
Jehovah’s Witnesses commit a category fallacy by applying 1 Cor. 15:50 and its
phrase “flesh and blood” to the now resurrected Christ.
In 1 Pet. 3:18 we read
that Christ was “put to death in the flesh” [Gr. sarki, σαρκι], but made alive in
the spirit [Gr. pneumati, πνευματι].” They interpret this to mean that Jesus’
body died, but His spirit was raised (thus He was raised a spirit creature).
Rather than speaking about the parts of Christ that died and rose, i.e.,
His body and His spirit, this verse speaks of the spheres (or realms) in
which Christ died and was made alive. In the Greek text we have two datives,
datives of sphere. That is to say, Christ was put to death in the fleshly
sphere (the fleshly realm, the physical realm where the soldiers nailed Him
to the cross), but was made alive in the spiritual sphere (the spiritual
realm). Verse 19 follows: “in which [Gr. en hō, εν ω] also He went and
made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.” The preposition en with
the dative relative pronoun hō (“in which”) refers back to the spiritual
sphere “in which” Christ was made alive (end of v. 18). Consequently He
made proclamation to the spirits in this spiritual sphere (v. 19). Taken
this way the verse makes perfect sense. (Steven Tsoukalas, Knowing Christ in
the Challenge of Heresy: A Christology of the Cults A Christology of the Bible [Lanham,
Md.: University Press of America, 1999], 211-12 n. 54)
