Reading Acts 2 today I was struck by Peter's comparison between David and Jesus in respect of death and burial.
On David he said, 'he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day' (v. 29).
On Jesus he said, 'he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses' (v. 31-32). He makes no mention of Jesus' tomb.
The effect seems to be: (a) David died, was buried, and his bodily remains lie to this day in his tomb (b) Jesus died, was buried, but God raised him up - witnesses testify to this - and there is no body to visit anymore.
Debate over the resurrection, the empty tomb, and what happened to the physical body of Jesus often courses over the four gospel accounts and 1 Corinthians 15. But here in Acts 2 is some material to also consider. Not least this sermon tells us that the early church had a very clear idea of what a dead and decayed body meant (accessible to sight and to touch) and of what the resurrection meant (a dead body which is transformed, neither decayed nor remaining in its grave).
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