1 Corinthians 15:35–49 (ESV)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And
what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For
not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the
glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised
in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is
written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The
first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just
as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The body—corrupted by sin—declines, decays, and dies. Humanly speaking,
we can extend our lives only by having children, whom we likewise corrupt with our inherited sin. But thanks be to God! He chose to establish a new order for us through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Jesus resisted all corruption and grants us
His heavenly life.
I pray: Jesus, lead me to respect my body and to regard my funeral like a farmer sowing with resurrection hope. By Your grace, may I and my loved ones
reap a harvest of heavenly life. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1976.