What is the difference between Jesus "resurrected body" and Mary's "glorified body"?

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Accepted answer

Mary and Jesus share one flesh (cf. Gal 4:4; Rom 1:3; Acts 2:30; Lk 1:42), the new Adam and Eve (Gn 2:23). Flesh which did not inherit the sinful fleshly inclinations of Adam: concupiscence. They were tempted only by the devil and by the world, but not by the flesh's weakness for sin—the gift of sanctifying grace from birth, in which God originally constituted Adam and Eve, hence perhaps the angel addressing Mary not by her name Mary, but, as the New Eve: as κεχαριτωμένη—she who was graced by God. Yet neither had a glorified body until their resurrection (traditions of Mary's assumption say that she indeed died, albeit peacefully; and, having a body without sin, without decay, until being assumed bodily: cf. Acts 2:27).

They both had sinless, immaculate flesh, being one and the same flesh.

He had real flesh, and looked like us in all things: the difference was it was not sinful flesh, tainted and corrupted by Adam's sin, and made prone to the gratification of animalistic lusts and desires (concupiscence).

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Just as Jesus rose with a glorified body, so did Mary rise with a glorified body. Before such, He could suffer, and He could hunger, He could not trespass the regions of physical obstructions, such as doors, etc. Afterwards, He was found to have walked through a locked door in the upper room (Jn 20:19). The same goes for Mary.

"Flesh and blood" is a term meaningful only in contrast to the spiritual. It is in this sense that St. Paul says "flesh and blood" (human effort alone) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Moreover, he parallels "flesh and blood" with "the perishable" meaning he doesn't mean glorified bodies here, since they are definitionally imperishable (1 Cor 15:53). Especially since we know Jesus still has flesh and blood: see Luke 24:39, and of course, in the Eucharist (1 Cor 11:23 et seq.).

Having sinless flesh doesn't mean you can't suffer death, since death being merely the separation of body and soul is not destructive (Acts 13:35-37), nor a punishment for those without sin (cf. 2 Cor 5:8). Death as a punishment looks like a rotting body and an eternity in Hell.

It's arguable that Jesus had to will to leave His body (which is the meaning of 'death'), as being without sin, He had dominion over His body, which unlike us fallen men and women, was subservient utterly to His spirit (Lk 23:46; cf. Jn 10:18). It's possible that the same happened with Mary.

They both recieved their glorified body after resurrection, as indeed the perishable cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

Philippians 3:21 (NASB) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we 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, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Upvote:-2

The resurrected body will have the characteristics of the body . But the glorified body will not feel physical. In the case of Jesus He had the resurrected body as well as the glorified body. And after His ascension to God, Jesus met His disciples, still has the wounds, also in luke 24:43 " And He took it and ate in their presence". He could enter a close room, appear and disappear. In verse 36 "... Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them...".

Now here is another question is that, during the millennium will the populace from the OT resurrected people have will be in the procreation? Will the raptured Christians other than the saved Christians of the tribulation will procreate ? Will the populace of the millennium have resurrected body or the glorified body?

Upvote:-1

What is the difference between Jesus “resurrected body” and Mary's “glorified body”?

Answer

Jesus resurrected body is not yet a glorified body as it has not yet ascended into Heaven. Proof of this is, Jesus resurrected body was mistaken as the body of a "gardener" only and in the account of two witness in the Road to Emmaus, Jesus resurrected body does not possess a "bright light" like the "transfiguration account" in the gospel. Also, this can be seen in Jesus words to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection;

An important issue is why Jesus prevents Mary from touching or holding him. In Latin this phrase is translated as noli me tangere.

John 20:17 is a verse in the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It contains Jesus' response to Mary Magdalene right after he confronts her just outside his tomb after his resurrection. According to the longer ending of Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:9) Mary Magdalene is the first person to whom Jesus shows himself alive after his resurrection.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.

The English Standard Version translates the passage as:

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_20:17

While in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Church teaches She was assumed "body & soul" in Heaven. This is a Church Dogma of the Assumption. But the question is what can kind of "body & soul" was assumed?

This is where the East and the Latin Church Tradition matters.

Eastern Orthodox belief

Eastern Christians believe that Mary died a natural death, that her soul was received by Christ upon death, and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her death and that she was taken up into heaven bodily in anticipation of the general resurrection. Her tomb was found empty on the third day. "...Orthodox tradition is clear and unwavering in regard to the central point [of the Dormition]: the Holy Virgin underwent, as did her Son, a physical death, but her body – like His – was afterwards raised from the dead and she was taken up into heaven, in her body as well as in her soul. She has passed beyond death and judgement, and lives wholly in the Age to Come.(wikipedia)

So, Eastern Tradition believed that Mary's soul goes into Heaven first, and when it goes into Heaven it means Mary's soul will be glorify. And then, after the third day Her immaculate body was resurrected but ofcourse the "glorified soul" must be reunited to Mary's resurrected immaculate body as human is composite of "body & soul".

The Latin Church however declares in the Dogma of the Assumption the following words;

In Munificentissimus Deus Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception:

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

The Latin Church or the Roman Catholic Church wording also stated only "body & soul". But what kind of body & soul was assumed?

Blessed Catherine Emmerich vision reveals that what is assumed is a "glorified body possessing a glorified soul";

The Dormition accounts by Blessed Emmerich is described as follows;

"Peter approached her and gave her extreme unction, much in the way in which it is administered now. From the boxes which John held he anointed her with holy oil on her face, hands, and feet, and on her side, where there was an opening in her dress so that she was in no way uncovered. While this was being done the Apostles were reciting prayers as if in choir.

"Peter then gave her Holy Communion. She raised herself to receive it, without supporting herself, and then sank back again. The Apostles prayed for a while, and then, raising herself rather less, she received the Chalice from John. As she received the Blessed Sacrament I saw a radiance pass into Mary, who sank back as though in ecstasy, and spoke no more.

"Afterwards I saw the Apostles and disciples once more standing round the Blessed Virgin’s bed and praying. Mary’s face was radiant with smiles as in her youth. Her eyes were raised towards heaven in holy joy.

"Then I saw a wonderfully moving vision. The ceiling of Our Lady’s room disappeared, the lamp hung in the open air, and I saw through the sky into the heavenly Jerusalem. Two radiant clouds of light sank down, out of which appeared the faces of many angels. Between these clouds a path of light poured down upon Mary, and I saw a shining mountain leading up from her into the heavenly Jerusalem. She stretched out her arms towards it in infinite longing, and I saw her body, all wrapped up, rise so high above her couch that one could see right under it. I saw her soul leave her body like a little figure of infinitely pure light, soaring with outstretched arms up the shining mountain to heaven.

"The two angel-choirs in the clouds met beneath her soul and separated it from her holy body, which in the moment of separation sank back on the couch with arms crossed on the breast.

"Seeing her thus entered into the glory of heaven, I forgot the whole scene round her body on the earth.

"When I once more looked down to earth, I saw the Blessed Virgin’s body lying on the couch. It was shining, her face was radiant, her eyes were closed and her arms crossed on her breast. The Apostles, disciples, and women knelt round it praying.

The Blessed Virgin died after the ninth hour, at the same time as Our Lord."

[Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ebook p. 223-224.]

So, Blessed Emmerich vision affirmed Eastern Tradition that Mary's soul separated from Her immaculate body. But what is important thing to consider is Blessed Emmerich described Mary's Immaculate body as a "transfigured body" meaning it had possessed a foretaste of Christ "transfigured body".

NOTE: Transfigured body of Christ was clearly different from His resurrected body. Peter, James and John saw a bright light when Jesus grant them the privilege to have a vision of His promised to all who will eat His "body & blood".

1000 This "how" exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ's transfiguration of our bodies:

Just as bread that comes from the earth, after God's blessing has been invoked upon it, is no longer ordinary bread, but Eucharist, formed of two things, the one earthly and the other heavenly: so too our bodies, which partake of the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possess the hope of resurrection.

As Blessed Emmerich described the appearance of Mary's body when Her soul separated;

"When I once more looked down to earth, I saw the Blessed Virgin’s body lying on the couch. It was shining, her face was radiant, her eyes were closed and her arms crossed on her breast. The Apostles, disciples, and women knelt round it praying.

Soon afterwards I saw her soul, united to her transfigured body, rising out of the tomb far brighter and clearer, and ascending into the heavenly Jerusalem with Our Lord and with the whole glory.

[Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ebook p. 223-224.]

Based on above description of Blessed Emmerich, Mary's Immaculate body was transfigured as CCC1000 teaches to all souls who live a Eucharistic Life and when the "glorified soul" of Mary reunites to Her "transfigured body" it becomes a "glorified body" as it was changed to a far "brighter & clearer".

In closing, Jesus resurrected body was not yet glorified when it was seen by Mary Magdalene and also by the Apostles. Mary Magdalene was prevented by Jesus for touching His resurrected body because only a Priest can touch the Eucharistic Body of Christ as evident Jesus allowed Thomas to touch His wounded body for all the Apostles who will become priest of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. While Mary as Blessed Emmerich reveals was assumed in Heaven with a "glorified body & soul".

Upvote:-1

In my previous Answer, I replied to two "detailed questions". Here I want to answer the general question of how Mary's Assumption compares with Jesus' Resurrection.


2 Could Mary of Nazareth have experienced the drama of death in her own flesh? Reflecting on Mary’s destiny and her relationship with her divine Son, it seems legitimate to answer in the affirmative: since Christ died, it would be difficult to maintain the contrary for his Mother.

The Fathers of the Church, who had no doubts in this regard, reasoned along these lines. One need only quote St Jacob of Sarug (†521), who wrote that when the time came for Mary “to walk on the way of all generations”, the way, that is, of death, “the group of the Twelve Apostles” gathered to bury “the virginal body of the Blessed One” (Discourse on the burial of the Holy Mother of God, 87-99 in C. Vona, Lateranum 19 [1953], 188). St Modestus of Jerusalem (†634), after a lengthy discussion of “the most blessed dormition of the most glorious Mother of God”, ends his eulogy by exalting the miraculous intervention of Christ who “raised her from the tomb”, to take her up with him in glory (Enc. in dormitionem Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae, nn. 7 and 14: PG 86 bis, 3293; 3311). St John Damascene (†704) for his part asks: “Why is it that she who in giving birth surpassed all the limits of nature should now bend to its laws, and her immaculate body be subjected to death?”. And he answers: “To be clothed in immortality, it is of course necessary that the mortal part be shed, since even the master of nature did not refuse the experience of death. Indeed, he died according to the flesh and by dying destroyed death; on corruption he bestowed incorruption and made death the source of resurrection” (Panegyric on the Dormition of the Mother of God, n. 10: SC 80, 107).

3 It is true that in Revelation death is presented as a punishment for sin. However, the fact that the Church proclaims Mary free from original sin by a unique divine privilege does not lead to the conclusion that she also received physical immortality. The Mother is not superior to the Son who underwent death, giving it a new meaning and changing it into a means of salvation.

Involved in Christ’s redemptive work and associated in his saving sacrifice, Mary was able to share in his suffering and death for the sake of humanity’s Redemption. What Severus of Antioch says about Christ also applies to her: “Without a preliminary death, how could the Resurrection have taken place?” (Antijulianistica, Beirut 1931, 194f.). To share in Christ’s Resurrection, Mary had first to share in his death.


Source: Mary and the human drama of death, § 2-3, Pope John Paul II, Wednesday, 25 June 1997, General Audience, @vatican.va

Upvote:2

What is the difference between Jesus “resurrected body” and Mary's “glorified body”?

The short answer is: They are one in the same.

Ultimately the question is whether Mary's body was united with her soul in heaven or not? If Mary's body was united to her soul in heaven then her body would have been glorified at that moment. We simply do not know. The Church has of yet not decreed whether Mary even actually died or not. There remains a mystery here that will be reveled to us later.

A gloried body is given to a person after the soul and body have been separated and been reunited after one's resurrection (or assumption). The exact moment one receives their glorified body has not yet been determined, but is possibly at the moment the body and soul are united in heaven or just before entering heaven. The saints are in heaven awaiting their glorified bodies. Did this happened to Mary, we simply do not know.

The resurrected body is glorified

St. Thomas Aquinas examines this idea in the Summa Theologiae (part III, question 54). Christ’s body, though real, was “glorified” (i.e. in a glorified condition). St. Thomas cites St. Gregory saying that "Christ's body is shown to be of the same nature, but of different glory, after the Resurrection” (III, 54, article 2). What does that mean? It means that a glorified body is still a body, but it is not subject to corruption.

All creation is held in existence by God. Suffice it to say that a glorified body has living powers that an unglorified body does not have. Glorified bodies are incorruptible (incapable of decay) and impassible (incapable of suffering). They are stronger. In the hierarchy of creation, St. Thomas says, the “stronger is not passive to the weaker” (sup, 82, 1). We can, with St. Thomas, conclude that the elements retain their qualities but are perfected to a higher law. Glorified bodies, and all they contain, will be “perfectly subject to the rational soul, even as the soul will be perfectly subject to God” (sup, 82, 1). - What Was Christ’s Resurrected Body Made Of?

The resurrected body of both Christ and the Blessed are the very same material bodies they had before they died.

Christ's body fell by death; namely, inasmuch as the soul which was its formal perfection was separated from it. Hence, in order for it to be a true resurrection, it was necessary for the same body of Christ to be once more united with the same soul. And since the truth of the body's nature is from its form it follows that Christ's body after His Resurrection was a true body, and of the same nature as it was before. (Summa Theologiae III, 54, 1)

But Christ's body after the Resurrection was truly made up of elements, and had tangible qualities such as the nature of a human body requires, and therefore it could naturally be handled. (Summa Theologiae III, 54, 2 ad 2)

The resurrected body is not spiritual by being made out of, or turned into, a spiritual substance. It is spiritual by being completely subject to the spirit (soul) of its possessor.

But such is the disposition of a glorified body that it is spiritual, i.e. subject to the spirit, as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 15:44). Now in order for the body to be entirely subject to the spirit, it is necessary for the body's every action to be subject to the will of the spirit. Again, that an object be seen is due to the action of the visible object upon the sight, as the Philosopher shows (De Anima ii). Consequently, whoever has a glorified body has it in his power to be seen when he so wishes, and not to be seen when he does not wish it. (Summa Theologiae III, 54, 1 ad 2) - Thomistic Philosophy Page

Taylor Marshall has this to say on the subject:

Sacred Scripture and Catholic theology teaches that our glorified resurrected bodies will experience four properties as an outflow of the beatified soul enjoying the vision of God’s essence:

1) Impassibility – the glorified body will no longer suffer physical sickness or death, as Saint Paul teaches regarding the glorified body in 1 Corinthians 15:42, “It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.”

2) Subtlety meaning that we will have a spiritualized nature in the sense of a spiritual body as did our Lord as we learn at 1 Corinthians 15:44: “It is sown a corruptible body, it shall rise a spiritual,” i.e. a spirit-like, “body.” We see that Christ’s glorified body was able to pass through closed doors.

3) Agility – the glorified body will obey the soul with the greatest ease and speed of movement as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:43: “It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power,” that is, according to a gloss, “mobile and living.” Saint Thomas Aquinas says, “But mobility can only signify agility in movement. Therefore the glorified bodies will be agile.” We discern agility our Resurrected Lord’s ability to bilocate and travel great distances in an instant.

4) Clarity – the glorified body will be free from any deformity and will be filled with beauty and radiance as we read at Matthew 13:43: “The just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” and Wisdom 3:7: “The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.” Here clarity refers not being “clear” but to being “bright.”

St. Thomas Aquinas at Summa Contra Gentiles, IV, 86 summarized: “thus also will his body be raised to the characteristics of heavenly bodies — it will be lightsome (clarity), incapable of suffering (impassible), without difficulty and labor in movement (agility), and most perfectly perfected by its form (subtlety). For this reason, the Apostle speaks of the bodies of the risen as heavenly, referring not to their nature, but to their glory.”

It is worth noting that the Virgin Mary has already received her glorified and resurrected body. Hence, she has the four gifts of the resurrection. - Do You Know the Four Properties of a Glorified Resurrected Human Body?

Upvote:2

I will answer the detailed questions.

  • Jesus "resurrected body" differs from Mary's "glorified body"?

Essentially, no. Of course one has to accept the Catholic dogma of the Assumption, first. In the Question, no papal document is cited other than Pope Pius XII's decree of 1950. But "On 25 June 1997 during a General Audience Pope John Paul II stated that Mary experienced natural death prior to her assumption into Heaven" (Mary and the human drama of death, @vatican.va)

  • Also for clarity of the matter when was the "glorified body" of Mary given?

We can only say: after her "dormition", either immediately or some time after.

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