John 20:19—How could Jesus walk through a closed door with a physical body?

Problem: It is inferred by some critics that, since the resurrected Christ could appear in a room with closed doors (John 20:19), this proves that His body must have dematerialized to do so, showing that His resurrection body was not essentially or continuously material. However, many other Scriptures indicate that Jesus’ resurrection body was literal “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39) that could eat physical food and even had the crucifixion scars in it (Luke 24:40–43).

Solution: Jesus’ resurrection body was essentially and continuously material

Expanded from Luke 24:34:
Luke 24:34
—Was Jesus invisible to mortal eyes before and after He appeared?
Problem:
The phrase “He appeared” means “He made Himself visible” to them (cf.
1 Cor. 15:5–8
). Jesus also disappeared (
Luke 24:31
). Some
take this to mean that Jesus was not essentially material, but simply materialized when He appeared to His disciples and dematerialized when He disappeared. However, other passages declare that Jesus had the same continuously material body of flesh and bones in which He died (
Luke 24:39
;
John 20:27
).
Solution:
That Jesus’ resurrection body was essentially material is clear from the following facts. First of all, Christ’s resurrection body could be seen with the naked eye during His appearances. They are described by the word
hora_o
(“to see”). Although this word is sometimes used of seeing invisible realities (cf.
Lk. 1:22
;
24:23
), it often means to see by the naked eye. For example, John uses the same word (
hora_o
) of seeing Jesus in His earthly body before the Resurrection (
6:36
;
14:9
;
19:35
) and also of seeing Him in His resurrection body (
20:18
,
25
,
29
). Since the same word for body (
s_oma
) is used of Jesus before and after the Resurrection (cf.
1 Cor. 15:44
;
Phil. 3:21
), and since the same word for seeing it (
hora_o
) is used of both, there is no reason for believing the resurrection body is not the same literal, physical body.
Furthermore, even in the phrase “he let Himself be seen” (aorist passive,
ophth_e
), it simply means that Jesus took the initiative to show Himself to the disciples, not that He was essentially invisible. The same form (“He [they] appeared”) is used in the Greek OT (
2 Chron. 25:21
), in the Apocrypha (
1 Mac. 4:6
), and in the NT (
Acts 7:26
) of purely human beings appearing in normal physical bodies. In this passive form the word means to initiate an appearance for public view, to move from a place where one is not seen to a place where one is seen. It does not necessarily mean that what is by nature invisible becomes visible. Rather, it means more generally “to come into view.” There is no reason to understand it as referring to something invisible by nature becoming visible, as some do. For in this case it would mean that these human beings in normal pre-resurrection bodies were essentially invisible before they were seen by others.
Furthermore, the same event that is described by “He appeared” or “let Himself be seen” (aorist passive), such as the appearance to Paul (
1 Cor. 15:8
), is also described in the active voice. Paul wrote of this same experience in the same book, “Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” (
1 Cor. 9:1
). But if the resurrection body can be seen by the naked eye, then it is not invisible until it makes itself visible by some alleged “materialization.”
Jesus also disappeared from the disciples on other occasions (see
Luke 24:51
;
Acts 1:9
). But if Jesus could disappear suddenly, as well as appear, then His ability to appear cannot be taken as evidence that His resurrection body was essentially invisible. For by the same reasoning His ability to disappear suddenly could be used as evidence that it was essentially material and could suddenly become immaterial.
Finally, there are much more reasonable explanations for the stress on Christ’s self-initiated “appearances.” First of all, they were the proof that He had conquered death (
Acts 13:30–31
;
17:31
;
Rom. 1:4
). Jesus said, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold I am alive forever more. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (
Rev. 1:18
; cf.
John 10:18
). The translation (“He let Himself be seen,”
1 Cor. 15:5ff
) is a perfectly fitting way to express this self-initiated triumphalism. He was sovereign over death as well as His resurrection appearances.
Furthermore, no human being saw the actual moment of the Resurrection. But the fact that Jesus appeared repeatedly in the same body for some 40 days (
Acts 1:3
) to over 500 different people (
1 Cor. 15:6
) on 12 different occasions is indisputable evidence that He really rose bodily from the dead. In brief, the reason for the stress on the many appearances of Christ is not because the resurrection body was essentially invisible and immaterial, but rather to show that it was actually material and immortal. Without an empty tomb and repeated appearances of the same body that was once buried in it, there would be no proof of the Resurrection. So it is not surprising at all that the Bible strongly stresses the many appearances of Christ. They are the real proof of the physical Resurrection.

. The fact that Jesus could get into a room with a closed door in no way proves that He had to dematerialize in order to do it. This is clear for several reasons.

First, the text does not actually say Jesus passed through a closed door. It simply says that “when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst” (John 20:19). The Bible does not say how He got into the room.

Second, if He chose to do so, Jesus could have performed this same miracle before His death in His pre-resurrection material body. As the Son of God, His miraculous powers were just as great before the Resurrection.

Third, even before His resurrection Jesus performed miracles with His physical body that transcended natural laws, such as walking on water (John 6:16–20). But walking on water did not prove that His pre-resurrection body was immaterial. Otherwise, Peter’s pre-resurrection walk on water (Matt. 14:29) would mean his body dematerialized for a moment and then quickly rematerialized!

Fourth, although physical, the resurrection body is by its very nature a supernatural body

Expanded from 1 Cor. 15:44:
Problem: Paul declares that the resurrection body is a “spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44), but a spiritual body is an immaterial body. However, elsewhere the Bible says Jesus’ resurrection body was made of “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).

Solution: A “spiritual” body denotes an immortal body, not an immaterial body. A “spiritual” body is one dominated by the spirit, not one devoid of matter. The Greek word pneumatikos (translated “spiritual” here) means a body directed by the spirit, as opposed to one under the dominion of the flesh. It is not ruled by flesh that perishes, but by the spirit that endures (1 Cor. 15:50–58). So “spiritual body” does not mean immaterial and invisible, but immortal and imperishable. This is clear from several facts:

First, notice the parallelism mentioned by Paul:

The complete context indicates that “spiritual” (pneumatikos) could be translated “supernatural” in contrast to “natural.” This is made clear by the parallels of perishable and imperishable and corruptible and incorruptible. In fact, this same Greek word (pneumatikos) is translated “supernatural” in1 Corinthians 10:4when it speaks of the “supernatural rock that followed them in the wilderness” (rsv).

Second, the word “spiritual” (pneumatikos) in 1 Corinthians refers to material objects. Paul spoke of the “spiritual rock” that followed Israel in the wilderness from which they got “spiritual drink” (1 Cor. 10:4). But the OT story (Ex. 17; Num. 20) reveals that it was a physical rock from which they got literal water to drink. But the actual water they drank from that material rock was produced supernaturally. When Jesus supernaturally made bread for the five thousand (John 6), He made literal bread. However, this literal, material bread could have been called “spiritual” bread (because of its supernatural source) in the same way that the literal manna given to Israel is called “spiritual food” (1 Cor. 10:3).

Further, when Paul spoke about a “spiritual man” (1 Cor. 2:15) he obviously did not mean an invisible, immaterial man with no corporeal body. He was, as a matter of fact, speaking of a flesh and blood human being whose life was lived by the supernatural power of God. He was referring to a literal person whose life was Spirit directed. A spiritual man is one who is taught by the Spirit and who receives the things that come from the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:13–14). The resurrection body can be called a “spiritual body” in much the same way we speak of the Bible as a “spiritual book.” Regardless of their spiritual source and power, both the resurrection body and the Bible are material objects.

. Hence, it should be expected that it can do supernatural things, such as appearing in a room with closed doors.

Fifth, according to modern physics, it is not an impossibility for a material object to pass through a door. It is only statistically improbable. Physical objects are mostly empty space. All that is necessary for one physical object to pass through another is for the right alignment of the particles in the two physical objects. This is no problem for the One who created the body in the first place.