As we saw two weeks ago, Jesus appeared not only to His disciples, but to an additional 500 people during the 40 days following His resurrection. Then, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus ascended into Heaven in a “cloud.” We saw last week that this “cloud” was not an ordinary cloud, but the “glory cloud.” It was the same “cloud” that appeared in the Old Testament on several occasions indicating the presence of God, as well as in the New Testament when Jesus met with both Moses and Elijah inside the “cloud” on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus was ready to return “home.” Luke records the event,

“He was lifted up and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

When Jesus arrived in Heaven after His ascension, there were three important things that happened, things that I suspect we have not thought much about, if at all. The first is the focus of this blog.

When Jesus arrived in Heaven, His “resurrection body” of flesh and bones was replaced by a “glorified” body without “flesh and bones.” This is what His disciples originally expected when they first saw Jesus that night in the upper room. They thought He was a “ghost,” or a “spirit,” but Jesus reminded them that a “spirit” does not have flesh and bones as He had, so He invited them to touch Him, which they did. Having flesh and bones in His resurrection body (even though different that His “natural” body”) was perfectly fitting for His following appearances on earth, but not for Heaven simply because,

“Flesh and bones cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven” (1 Cor. 15:50).

This is further confirmed by a few encounters on earth following His ascension. When Paul met Jesus on the Road to Damascus, all he saw was a bright light and a voice speaking to Him. And then in the Book of Revelation, John saw Jesus in his vision and described the scene like this,

“I saw the Son of Man clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast was a golden girdle. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. And out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in all its strength” (Rev. 2:13-16).

This description of Jesus that John saw in His vision is surely not the Jesus that the disciples saw when He ascended to Heaven in His “resurrection body.” When He arrived in Heaven, he received His “glorified body” which is perfectly suitable for the Heavenly realm.

If Jesus has such a body today, what kind of a body should we expect to have when we arrive in heaven? Oh, so much theological speculation on this matter, but one thing is certain, those who are “in Christ” will be given “glorified bodies” that are also perfectly fit for heaven, not earth. In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul spoke of the resurrection of the dead, saying,

“It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body…it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44).

That “spiritual” body was the body the disciples expected Jesus to have after His resurrection. But Jesus needed to be both seen and felt to confirm the reality of His resurrection. People saying that they had seen a “spirit” just wouldn’t cut it. But that’s not all, the same Apostle wrote these words to the Church in Philippi,

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory…” (Phil. 3:20-21).

The New Testament documents seem to be clear on this matter – Those who are headed for heaven will shed their “natural bodies” and receive their “spiritual bodies” as they enter Heaven. Aware of the coming persecution, Paul wrote a letter of encouragement to the Christians in Rome saying,

“…we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17).

Paul knew that Christians, living in their natural bodies in this life would have a future glorified body in the next. Paul’s destiny was not to have a resurrection body like Christ once had, but a glorified body that Christ now has. And if you are “in Christ,” that is your destiny also.

This is what happened “to Jesus” when He arrived in Heaven. But there are still two things that “Jesus did” upon His arrival in Heaven. We will look at this next week.

Blessings to all of you for a safe and a special week ahead. God bless each of you.