Funerals, burials and grave markers have become big business today. In a world that is becoming more and more crowded with people, the space available for cemeteries is dwindling and more emphasis is being placed on cremation. In some nations, cremation is the only form of body-disposal that is allowed. In other nations and religions anything but the burial of the full body is not allowed.
A couple of years ago, eight members of our family went on a trip to Poland to find the graves of our family members who died almost 100 years ago. It may seem strange, but there was something definite that happened within our minds when we actually found the headstone of a family member in a spiritual sense. There is some strange connection to our ancestry. It was disappointing when we were not able to find a well-marked grave. Cemeteries have stories to tell. The death of babies, mother and child on the same day, the dates of birth and death of family members all tell a story. But it is true that in time the memory of a person is forgotten (Eccl. 9:5).
It seems remarkable that the graves of the heroes of the Bible are nowhere to be found. There may be a few exceptions, but it seems we cannot find the graves of the kings of Israel, the judges that were in control before them, the twelve apostles and other remarkable leaders such as Paul, Timothy, Barnabas and others. There are some cases where God Himself took great care to ensure the disappearance of the body of one who died. Why should this be? Why is there no grave of Moses (Deut. 34:7), Aaron, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob? There may be theories and accepted sites, but no evidence or proof. Is there a reason these bodies have remained hidden? We could say the same about the bodies of some great people of the past. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Nebuchadnezzar are among the long list of missing "graves."
Since the existence of humans on earth, any number of tragedies have struck that have made burial impossible. There have been thousands of deaths at sea, many have been literally blown apart in the explosions of the world wars. A number have been eaten by wild animals and no doubt there were other things that result in the lack of a body to bury in a recorded grave.
Does it really matter? Obviously, in time any body disintegrates to the point of being unrecognizable. We are made of the earth and will return to the earth at death (Gen. 3:19). There are a number of scriptures that allude to graves being opened at the coming of Jesus Christ (Ezek. 37:12, John 5:28). Even during the time Christ was crucified , some graves were opened and the dead in those graves rose (Matt. 27:53). At the resurrection of Lazarus, many people witnessed the grave opening and Lazarus walking out in his burial clothing (John 11:43). In the amazing resurrection of Jesus Christ, it was very important that there was a well known grave containing His body. Verification of His body brought back to life was an important part of the resurrection plan of God for Jesus Christ (Acts 2:27). Why do we read about these different circumstances? Why was it important in some occasions to know exactly where the grave was and who was in it?
The Bible helps us understand that there were moments in which God wanted to make a very specific point. The resurrections of Jesus Christ and Lazarus were specifically planned as a witness to humans who would soon become the building blocks of the Body of Christ - the Church. People needed to actually "see" the resurrected body. Those bodies did not decay and turn back into dust. Lazarus, of course, continued to live a normal life and then died and returned to dust. Jesus' body never decayed. He was changed into a spirit body for all the disciples to see.
The resurrections that are to come are different. In these cases, the details of the resurrections are not as important as the fact that they will occur. Revelation 20:4,5 explain that there is a "first resurrection" and another greater one for the "rest of the dead." Verses 12-15 tell of humans who were drowned (the small and the great of this world) and who will be resurrected. We refer to that as the second resurrection. Nothing more is said about the circumstances of this resurrection - only that it will occur. It is clear that over the past 6000 years that humans have dwelt on earth - most graves (that is, most bodies) have long since turned to dust and no longer exist. They are disintegrated into so many elements, and then in many cases scattered all over. Where is the grave? Where is the body? Does God "need" a body to resurrect a person?
It seems that the spirit in man does not function unless it is in a body. In the story of creation, God first formed man out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 1:26,27), then He breathed into that body the breath of life and at the same moment, the spirit in man (which comes from God) was given or placed into the body - and the dust of this earth became a living human being (Eccl. 3:19, 21, 12:7, Isa. 42:5). Paul explained that God gives humans a physical or a spiritual body (I Cor. 15:44). He explains that our spirit is placed in a body - and we understand that the spirit in man carries with it a record of all that man or woman is. When that spirit is once again housed in a physical or spiritual body - it functions and the person lives once again. Our booklet entitled: "After Death Than What?" explains this in more detail.
It seems then, that in order for a human to live, the spirit in man (which bears record of all that person is) must be housed in a body and the "breath of life" given in order for the person to be "alive." Does God need the actual body of a human in order to resurrect that human? Yes, He does need a body made of the elements of this earth, but science teaches us that our body cells die and new ones are formed at such a rate that in about seven years, the elements making up our bodies are not those with which we were born. Of course, the simple fact that babies are born with a weight of about 7 pounds (3kg) and soon gain weight until they are 10 or 20 times as heavy shows that the elements for the larger body have to be added. So the body (which is made of dust) can be made up of dust or earth that comes from anywhere. We do not retain the same body all of our lives. So all God needs is a body - which He can and will create from the dust of this earth - just as He did the body of Adam. The statements about the graves being opened, then, do not preclude the fact that you "must" have a grave to open. It is a statement that encompasses the fact that all human beings who have ever lived from the time of Adam and Eve until the resurrections that are mentioned in the Bible - will live again. Those innocents who have died as babies, or the billions who have died without knowing God or His Lamb - will awaken to live, learn and be given the opportunity for eternal life.