Question: What became of the dense body of Jesus which was placed in the tomb, but was not found Easter morning? If the vital body of Jesus is preserved to be used again by Christ, what does Jesus do in the meantime for a vital body? Why should it not have been more practical to have obtained a new vital body for Christ at the Second Coming?

Answer: The answers to these questions are taken verbatim from Max Heindel's writings.

Study of the scriptures reveals the fact that it was the custom of Christ to draw apart from His disciples, and they knew not whither He went-or if they did, no mention has been made of it. However, the reason was that, being so glorious a Spirit, His vibrations were too high for even the best and purest of physical vehicles.

It was therefore necessary to leave it frequently for a period of complete rest so that the atoms might be slowed down to their customary pitch. Consequently, the Christ was wont to go the Essenes and leave the body in their care. They were experts, and the Christ knew nothing about handling such vehicles as He had received from Jesus. Had not this rest and care been given, the dense body of Jesus would have disintegrated long before the three years' ministry was ended, and Golgotha would never have been reached.

When the time was ripe, and the earthly ministry was ended, the Essenes ceased to interfere. Then things took their natural course, and the tremendous vibratory force imparted to the atoms scattered them to the four winds, with the result that when the grave was opened a few days later no trace of the body was found.

This is in perfect harmony with natural laws known to us by their operation in the physical world. Electric currents of low potential burn and kill, while the voltage of many times the strength passes through the body without harmful effect.

Light, which has a tremendous vibratory rate, is pleasant and beneficial to the body, but when focused through a lens, the vibratory rate is lowered and we have force which destroys. Likewise, when Christ, the great Sun Spirit, came into the dense body of Jesus, the vibratory rate, being lowered by the resistance of the dense matter, must burn up the body, as in cremation, if not interfered with. The force was the same, the result identical-save that as it was true, invisible fire which burned up the body of Jesus, and not fire clothed in flame, as in ordinary manifestation of fire, there were no ashes.

In this connection it is well to remember that fire sleeps invisibly in everything. We do not see it in the plant or the animal, nor in the stone, yet it is there, visible to the inner vision and capable of manifesting at any time when it takes a garment of flame from physical substance.

Upon the death of the dense body of Jesus, the seed atom was returned to the original owner.

During the three years' interval between the Baptism, when he gave up his vehicles, and the Crucifixion, which brought the return of the seed atoms, Jesus gathered a vehicle of ether, as an Invisible Helper gathers physical matter whenever it is necessary to materialize all or part of the body. However, material not matched with the seed atom cannot be permanently appropriated. It disintegrates as soon as the will power assembled in it is withdrawn, and this was, therefore, only a makeshift. When the seed atom of the vital body was returned, a new body was formed, and in that vehicle Jesus has been functioning since, working with the churches. He has never taken a dense body since, though perfectly able to do so. This is presumably because his work is entirely unconnected with material things.

The reason why the vital body of Jesus is preserved for the Second Coming of Christ, instead of a new vehicle being provided, is because, as Lucifer admits in Faust: "For ghosts and spirits it is the law, that where we enter we must withdraw."

When in the natural course of events, the Spirit comes to birth, it enters its dense body by way of the head, bringing with it the higher vehicles. On leaving the body at night, it leaves the same way, to re-enter in the morning in like manner. The Invisible Helper also withdraws and re-enters his body by way of the head, and when at length our life on Earth has been lived, we soar out of the body for the last time by way of the head, which is thus seen to be the natural gateway of the body.

Therefore the pentagram with one point up is the symbol of white magic, which works in harmony with the law of progression. The black magician, who works against nature, subverts the life force and turns it downward through the lower organs. The gate of the head is closed to him, but he withdraws by way of the feet, the silver cord protruding through the lower organs. Therefore it was easy for Lucifer (in Faust) to enter the study of Faust, for the pentagram turned with two horns toward him represented the symbol of black magic. However, on trying to leave, he finds the one point facing him, and cringes before the sign of white magic. He can leave only by the door because he entered that way, and thus he is caught when he finds the way is blocked.

Similarly, Christ was free to choose his vehicle of entrance into the Earth where He is now confined, but once having chosen the vehicle of Jesus, He is bound to leave by the same way. Were that vehicle destroyed, Christ must remain in the cramping surroundings till Chaos dissolves the Earth. This would be a great calamity, and therefore the vehicle He once used is most carefully guarded by the Elder Brothers.

In the meantime Jesus has been the loser of all the soul growth accomplished during his thirty years on Earth prior to the Baptism and contained in the vehicle given the Christ. This was and is a great sacrifice made for us, but like all good deeds, it will redound to a greater glory in the future. This vehicle will be used by Christ when He comes to establish and perfect His Kingdom, and it will be so spiritualized and glorified that when it is again restored to Jesus at the time when Christ turns the Kingdom over to the Father, it will be the most wonderful of all human vehicles. Although it has not been taught, the writer believes that Jesus will be the highest fruitage of the Earth Period on that account, and that Christian Rosenkreuz will come next. "Greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life," and giving not only the dense body but also the vital body, and for so long a time, is surely the ultimate sacrifice.

The Elder Brothers have placed the vital body of Jesus in a sarcophagus of glass to protect it from the gaze of the curious or profane. They keep this receptacle in a cavern deep in the Earth, where no uninitiated can penetrate. To make assurance doubly sure, however, vigilant watchers keep constant guard over their precious charge.
  — Max Heindel
  — Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, November/December, 1995