Resurrection

Some devotionals are more informational than inspirational. This one falls in the former category. Though you may not remember the details, don’t forget the conclusion.

Jesus’ resurrection is spoken of as the “first fruit,” meaning there is more to come. That “more” is the incredible teaching that every dead believer will one day be resurrected.

Eusebius of Caesarea wrote of a time when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. In an effort to refute the resurrection, the Romans left the corpses of a large number of Christians unburied for some time before burning them and scattering their ashes in the Rhone River. As their ashes were washed away a boastful Roman said, “Now let us see if they will rise again!”

Perhaps science has now given us a hint indicating how God may do it.

As a chaplain for Holland America Cruise Line, I met a most interesting Swiss scientist who had worked on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project, the largest atom smasher in the world. It is the biggest experimental facility ever built. Located under parts of France and Switzerland the LHC consists of a 16.777 mile ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of atomic particles.

Put on your diving helmet because here is where the results go very deep. They identified a new sub-atom particle called DS3, a meson; a type of unstable particle consisting of one quark and one antiquark. They are the most basic building blocks of matter that make up protons and neutrons. They are held together by a strong interaction, a force that is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. This is called entanglement. 

Long ago Einstein conceived of such a possibility as, “the spooky part.” 

Scientists sent pairs of entangled DS3 photons through a network of fiber-optic tubes to locations approximately seven miles apart, north and south. At this distance the behavior of one particle correlated with the behavior of the other. When compared the paths of each member of the two halves were symmetrical. Though the particles had many paths they could have traveled through the tubes, what one particle did the other did. By some means the particles communicated with each other affecting the movement of the other from some distance.

This is the process of entanglement. Thus, though the Romans scattered the atoms, all the DS3 relationships of the body stayed in touch. The reconstruction of the resurrection body would begin with DS3 gathering the atoms which constituted the body parts.

This explanation of entanglement and resurrection is far too simple. What all this means is all the particles (quarks and antiquarks) of everyone who has ever died, including those ashes in the Rhone River, are still out there waiting to be reunited on the day of resurrection.

No one will ever know the mechanical means that result in the resurrection, but this affords a hint. By whatever means Jesus’ acclamation stands:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)