Resurrection of Butterflies

When a person first hears about a coming resurrection of the dead, it is completely understandable that this idea creates some serious skepticism. To make this event all the more remarkable, it is said that the resurrected body will be significantly improved over the old one that was once dead and sealed in a grave. We are also told that these new bodies will mount to the sky during a mass rapture event. And finally, we are told that these bodies will retain the memories they made in their past lives and be reacquainted with family and friends. This event is simply too hard to believe as it defies the laws of nature. But, this event is actually happening in nature every year all around us. It goes unnoticed because it happens on a smaller scale and not to humans…yet.

So, what does scripture actually state about the physical properties concerning the resurrection of a decayed body. Also, is there some example of this event in nature that a follower can actually see in order to support their faith that this event will become a reality? Well, first and foremost, Jesus made it clear when He said, ”With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”(Mark 10:27) He also promised in great detail that though followers may die, He will resurrect them from death and take them to be with Him. (John 11:25, 14:3). Like the old adage goes, “God said it, I believe it and that’s it!” Second, science tells us that matter cannot be created nor destroyed {The Law of Conservation of Mass}. So, while the flesh of the human body breaks down in death, the molecules or matter continues to exist. It’s simply that the molecules are no longer arranged in the same molecular order as they once were in life. So, if matter cannot be created nor destroyed, where did matter come from in the first place?

The Bible answers this question when it states that, “In the beginning God ‘created’ the heavens and the earth.”(Genesis 1:1) The Hebrew word created means something coming from nothing. So God created matter, He created it from nothing and He created it so that it cannot be destroyed. As hard as this is to believe, quantum physicists currently theorize that while matter must have come from something, that something is currently unknown and may never be known. They cannot explain how physical matter could come into existence from nothing. But, they do know that once matter came into existence, by necessity it brought with it space and time in which the matter could exist.

Science says that, in the beginning there was nothing but a single incredibly dense molecule. And this molecule was in perfect gravitational balance within itself. For an unknown reason, this molecule became out of balance and ruptured, spewing out enormous amounts of gas and molten rock. In fact, astronomers have instruments that can still hear the rumbles of this event as they travel from one end of space back to the other. This rupture is referred to as the Big Bang Theory. Because there is no possible way to explain how this molecule could exist when nothing else existed, this mysterious molecule is rightly referred to as the God Particle. Scripture tells us that if there was a particle, then only God could have created it. But, the rules of science do not allow the introduction of the supernatural into an equation as the supernatural cannot be mathematically quantified nor rationally explained. So, while God did not scientifically explain creation in scripture, it is enough to say that He caused the creation of matter, the universe, earth and mankind. Therefore, all matter that was created by God currently still exists and will never cease to exist. It may change in form but it can never be annihilated. If you can accept the scientific theory that all matter came from one molecule, then accepting the idea of a resurrection from the dead is easy. Which brings us to the lowly yet beautiful butterfly.

Everyone knows that the Butterfly starts off its life as an egg. The egg hatches revealing a caterpillar. The caterpillar initially spends its life on the earth eating vegetation until, with age, it becomes a full grown geriatric adult. It is at this stage of life that it feels a change occurring within its body. It stops eating and attaches a slender silk thread to a branch from which to hang. For a butterfly, its outer skin hardens to create a burial encasement. For a moth, it wraps itself in a silk cocoon. Then, lying in its self-made death bed, it slowly becomes unconscious as it begins the process of death. It eventually stops breathing, dies and decomposition begins at which time its body completely dissolves. While most people assume that the caterpillar is busy inside the cocoon growing legs and sprouting wings, this is not true. The truth is more startling than science fiction.

The caterpillar is actually in a state of histolysis in which it dissolves itself into a thick gray gooey liquid the consistency of Elmer’s Glue. In this liquid state, it has no head, no body, no wings and no legs. The caterpillar, for all intents and purposes has ceased to exit. Its body has completely broken down into individual molecules floating in a liquid only held intact by it's cocoon.

However, over the course of two weeks, the goo begins to miraculously defy the laws of nature and reconstitute itself . Where once there was only a liquid grey slime, the vague outlines of a head, body, wings and legs begins to coalesce. The dead caterpillar has gone through a remarkable metamorphous. It is not only being resurrected from the dead, it is coming back to life as a new and improved creature. Once it was an ugly, slow, ground dweller that died leaving a putrefied corpse. Now is has miraculously been regenerated into a delicate living creature of beauty and capable of flight. But believe it or not, this is not the most incredible part of this resurrection story.

In the biology labs of Georgetown University, an experiment on caterpillars was conducted before they turned into butterflies. The lab technicians took two groups of identical butterflies and housed them in two different cages. They kept them in the exact same environment with the exact same light, food and water supplies. Then they introduced one group to the smell of ethyl alcohol. Caterpillars and butterflies are by nature indifferent to this smell. However, this one group of caterpillars was not only introduced to this smell, but the smell was followed by a mild shock that caused them to react. The caterpillars experienced this procedure every hour for eight hours. Both sets of caterpillars grew at the same rates, matured and cocooned themselves at the same time. After five weeks, all the butterflies emerged at the same time all looking exactly alike.

However, when both sets of butterflies were exposed to the smell of ethyl alcohol, the group that had been exposed as caterpillars and shocked, immediately reacted by flying wildly around in their cage. While the group that had not been expose to the smell and shocked did not react at all. This was positive proof that the memories of the shocked caterpillars had somehow survived their state of death and been replanted into the brains of the butterflies. How extraordinary!

So, we can say for certain by way of an example provided by nature that, a living creature can die and its molecules dissolve within a tomb. Yet eventually have its molecules not only reassembled, but experience a remarkable change in its body's abilities. It then experiences a resurrection from its old coffin back to life. It now finds itself a new creature made more powerful and magnificently more beautiful than its original body. A creature capable of mounting to the skies yet still having the memories of the life it once lived so as to fully appreciate its new state of being. Remarkable! (Isaiah 40:31; Revelation 21:5-7).

To view image, put it about 18"directly in front of eyes. Focus only on center of screen for 30 seconds while relaxing eyes as if daydreaming and be patient, the image will appear.