Rational Doubt and Biblical Answers on the Bodily Resurrection, Part 2 – 1 Corinthians 15:35-37

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 1Cor 15:35-37

In this apologetic discourse to the Corinthians, Apostle Paul pointedly confronts the sin of unbelief behind the philosophical and scientific doubt of one who denies the bodily resurrection. “You fool!” Paul calls him, alluding to the corrupt man in Psalm 53 who says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Ps 53:1) To clarify and illustrate the nature of the resurrection, Paul likens it to the science of seeds- both are shrouded in mystery, and in both cases, there must first be a death for there to be life. There is another profound truth revealed in Paul’s extended metaphor. As the sown seed transforms altogether to become a completely different body, so the resurrection of a man will lead to a completely new life.

Apart from Christianity, every religion under the sun aims to add to what you already are. Men strive for self-improvement, to become more moral and good. But what man needs is not improvement, but forgiveness from God. A flower is not sown into the ground to grow into a flower; rather, its seed is sown to sprout and grow into a flower. Likewise, the resurrection can not be obtained in our flesh, because nothing can change our sin nature. Only those who are forgiven can be resurrected like Christ- those who are sown as a seed of wheat.

Paul’s reference to wheat points to the many instances in the Bible where God refers to His elect as wheat. (Jn 12:23-25, Matt 13:24-25,30) It contrasts to unbelievers being called the seed (or sons) of Satan. (Jn 8:44) How do you know you are of the wheat? God graciously reveals this to us in His parable of the seeds sown in the soils.

The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places…when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matt 13:20) Those who are of the seed of wheat have no fear. They are forgiven, and by their conviction of true forgiveness, they know the risen Jesus is always with them. They live before the sight of God, and therefore have no fear of man. (Acts 4:19-20)

And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns…and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (v.22) Those who are of the seed of wheat have no idols. The gospel will never operate on the person who clings to the world. He tries to serve two gods, because he is not truly forgiven and therefore still loves the world. (Matt 6:24) Only God can convict you of forgiveness, causing you to love Him and seek His will. Forgiveness causes man to die to sin, and live to God. (Matt 6:33)

And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. (v.23) Those who are of the seed of wheat bears fruit. The good soil is the man who conforms to Jesus’s death, and confesses Christ as Lord and God. Jesus is the Lord- He is absolutely sovereign, and therefore entitled to our absolute submission. He is God- He is of absolute deity, and deserves all our worship.

Thomas confessed Jesus as his Lord and his God when he believed in the resurrected Jesus. (Jn 20:27-28) Does this confession direct your entire life? We are controlled by what we worship. The one who is forgiven by God yields to Christ, leading to spiritual fruit. God provides the means of grace- worship, prayer, and the Word- to help us bear fruit as our faith in Christ is strengthened. Blessed is the one whose fruitful life shows the evidence of a forgiven life that has been sown as the seed of wheat.