It seems almost natural for man to believe in an afterlife. And no one is offended when they hear heaven. I have never seen people arguing about heaven. People use their imagination for heaven. And they fill their heaven with good things. Everyone is happy there. No one is against happy heaven. It seems easy and comforting to believe in heaven.
On the other hand, it is not easy to believe in the resurrection of the body. Too many questions arise about the reality of the resurrection. Instead of asking or answering, the gospels make sure that the resurrection of the body is real. And Jesus Christ proves with his resurrection of the body. The gospels honestly admit that some disciples had difficulty accepting and understanding it. But their struggling makes it clearer that Jesus was demonstrating the reality of the bodily resurrection, not a spiritual vision or apparition. Jesus showed he had defeated death and we can be like him after our deaths. Jesus did not rise from death in heaven. He rose from death into this world. By his resurrection to earth, our world is no longer under the total dominion of death. The risen Jesus was in our world. This world now received a new meaning because a risen person from death can dwell in it. It is now under the dominion of the Risen One from death. The disciples realized death did not rule over them anymore. Jesus liberated them from death although they must undergo death. The disciples were no longer afraid of death. When they saw the risen Jesus, they recognized eternal life is real.
Heaven feels far from here in terms of both time and space. But the resurrection of the body changes our reality on earth. Death does not scare us anymore. Jesus teaches us that we can start our heavenly life already here on earth for we have seen our goal and purpose in his resurrection.
