Christ's Wounds

[hansard]

Are we agreed that Jesus was raised in a body which was remarkably different from the beaten and pierced one in which he suffered three days prior? I mean, he didn’t leave the old body behind in the tomb, but the new one was transformed from the old. Right so far?
He could pass through walls and could be recognisable or unrecognisable even to those who recently knew him. Maybe he glowed slightly, or appeared as a “perfect” human, flawless in any way. Scripture is quite unclear about it.
CC 645 says, "…the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his Passion. Yet at the same time this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills; for Christ’s humanity can no longer be confined to earth…"
Yet he still chose to retain his wounds, which Thomas touched in his doubting moment.
I suppose those wounds would have been symbolic in nature–had Christ risen in his old body, he could not have walked; his thirst would have been immense (especially given that his last drink was a mouthful of vinegar three days ago); the pain from the wounds would have been immense. Therefore, it seems, his new body must have negated the effects of the wounds, while at the same time keeping the appearance of them.
The wounds would have been tangible but painless; visible, yet clean (I’m just guessing).
I’ve also wondered if Christ yet maintains those wounds in Heaven, whether he will keep them as a symbol of his trials as a human. I also wonder if the wounds will be visible when he returns. and whether he’ll keep them forever.
What’s the theology on the status of Christ’s wounds?

 

[fulbert4605]

It is my understand Jesus is no longer suffering from the effects of the wounds.

The wounds are retained on the Risen Christ so Christ can present them to the Father for obtaining graces for mankind. These are the graces Jesus merited on mankind’s behalf throughout His earthly life, but especially during the Passion.

Because of the Fall, God’s justice required a perfect, infinite satisfaction; His mercy gave us the God-man Who as our mediator offered this satisfaction for us.

This is why Jesus commands us to ask for things through Him.

squidoo.com/askinginthebible

 

[AnneElliot]

Jesus’ resurrected and glorified Body includes the marks of His passion and death because by His wounds we are healed. They are the sign of our liberation from sin, the sign of God’s love for us (i.e., Romans 5:8+ “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”). They remind us of the gravity of Christ’s Sacrifice.

Jesus will bear on His Body the marks of His passion and death forever… His Sacrifice can never be forgotten.

You might find St. Thomas Aquinas’ views on the subject interesting:
newadvent.org/summa/4054.htm#article4
“It was fitting for Christ’s soul at His Resurrection to resume the body with its scars. In the first place, for Christ’s own glory. For Bede says on Luke 24:40 that He kept His scars not from inability to heal them, “but to wear them as an everlasting trophy of His victory.” Hence Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xxii): “Perhaps in that kingdom we shall see on the bodies of the Martyrs the traces of the wounds which they bore for Christ’s name: because it will not be a deformity, but a dignity in them; and a certain kind of beauty will shine in them, in the body, though not of the body.” Secondly, to confirm the hearts of the disciples as to “the faith in His Resurrection” (Bede, on Luke 24:40). Thirdly, “that when He pleads for us with the Father, He may always show the manner of death He endured for us” (Bede, on Luke 24:40). Fourthly, “that He may convince those redeemed in His blood, how mercifully they have been helped, as He exposes before them the traces of the same death” (Bede, on Luke 24:40). Lastly, “that in the Judgment-day He may upbraid them with their just condemnation” (Bede, on Luke 24:40). Hence, as Augustine says (De Symb. ii): “Christ knew why He kept the scars in His body. For, as He showed them to Thomas who would not believe except he handled and saw them, so will He show His wounds to His enemies, so that He who is the Truth may convict them, saying: ‘Behold the man whom you crucified; see the wounds you inflicted; recognize the side you pierced, since it was opened by you and for you, yet you would not enter.’””