I've never quite understood the view that Christ is a spirit, is only a spirit, that he is non-corporeal. I've read the Bible. I've read the different creeds (Apostle's, Nicene, Athanasian). I've never found anything to explain this belief to my satisfaction.
Certainly, there are scriptural references to a Spiritual aspect of Christ (e.g., John 4:24, "God is a spirit...") but it seems to me that the Lord, after he appeared to them following his resurrection, went to very great lengths to convince the apostles that he had a physical body just like they.
In Luke 24:36, it records where the Lord appears to the gathered apostles. The record does not specify how he appeared only that he "stood" among them. It is not clear to the apostles who this person is and verse 37 says they "supposed that they had seen a spirit." Recognizing this, the Lord asks why they were troubled and why they doubted that it was really him. As proof that he was really there, he even invites them to come "handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." In verse 39 he says, "Behold my hands and my feet" as evidence of who he is. In verse 40, he shows them "his hands and his feet." What are significant about them? They bear the wounds of his crucifixion and identify him as the Savior. Further, he asks for something to eat and they give him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb, which he eats before them.
I have to believe that the apostles followed the invitation of him who they considered their master, and truly did "handle him". Surely they confirmed this assertion that he was physically there and not just a vision or an apparition. If not, would this not have been recorded?
Thomas was not there at this first gathering and when the apostles spoke of their experience with the resurrected Christ, he would not believe them. In John 20:25, Thomas says, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Thomas demanded that he touch a physical being before he would believe that Christ was truly resurrected. One can only assume that Thomas' requirements were based upon the apostles' description of the earlier visit and their confirmation of the physical nature of the Christ.
One week later, another gathering occurred and Christ appears to them again. He tells Thomas to "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side". Once again, the record does not say so but we must assume that Thomas followed the admonition of his master for the record does declare that Thomas answered him and said "My Lord and my God".
I do not know how much more clear he could be: I have flesh and bones unlike a spirit. See, I even eat just as you do, unlike a spirit. Do not doubt; come and feel the wounds in my hands and feet so you will know that it is really me. We assume that one or more of the apostles did this, touching him and feeling of the wounds in his hands and feet, just as he requested. Certainly, some of them did because they were willing to testify to Thomas that the Lord physically appeared to them at the meeting. But their witness was not enough for Thomas and he wanted his own experience of touching the Savior to confirm he was really, physically there.
It seems to me there is a preponderance of evidence that he was very physical at these visits. Yet the doctrine persists that Christ is incorporeal. I simply do not understand. If he was physically resurrected -- and the evidence certainly convinces me that he was -- then how is it he is now a spirit only? Did he at some point chuck his body? If so, where is it recorded? And lacking a record, where does this doctrine come from?
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