1 Peter 3:18
1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
JWs cite "put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit" as proof that Jesus was raised as a spirit creature rather than in a physical body. The Watchtower teaches that Jesus' fleshly body was dissolved or preserved by God, and he resumed existence as Michael the Archangel in spirit form. The phrase "the man Jesus is dead, forever dead" appears in Watchtower literature.
The contrast "in the flesh / in the spirit" describes the realm or mode of existence, not the substance of Jesus' resurrection body. The same dative construction appears in — "according to the flesh" (Davidic lineage) versus "according to the Spirit of holiness" (declared Son of God by resurrection). Jesus explicitly denied being a spirit after his resurrection: "a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (). He ate fish (), invited Thomas to touch his wounds (), and identified his body as the temple he would raise (). The NT attributes the resurrection to the Father (), to Jesus himself (), and to the Holy Spirit () — a trinitarian pattern pointing to one divine act.