Resurrection

Resurrection

At Easter, we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This fact makes Christianity (along with Judaism and Islam, as both precursors and descendants of Christianity) unique among all other religions and worldviews. What is the significance of the resurrection of Jesus?

 

Apart from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—each of which has its origins in the Bible—no other religion teaches a resurrection from the dead. All other religions do teach the existence of an afterlife, in which the soul or spirit of man survives the body and lives on in a "paradise" or a "Valhalla." Buddhism teaches an endless cycle of reincarnation, in which the spirit returns repeatedly in a different body. No worldview outside the Bible teaches that the body itself will rise again, whether it is buried or cremated. The Bible is even more definitive and clear on this than it is about the possible continued existence of the soul after death. There are a few texts that seem to indicate that there is a conscious state of the spirit or the soul after death. One might think of the Gospel of Luke with the Lord’s account of the rich man and por Lazarus (Luke 16:19) and Jesus’ promise to the crucified thief who repented: ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise' (Luke 23:43).  Another might think of a letter by Paul, 2 Corinthians, where he writes about ‘willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’ (2 Corinthians 5:8) Furthermore, the letter to the Hebrews speaks of ‘the spirits of just men made perfect’ (Heb.12:23) and Revelation of ‘souls under the altar.’ (Rev.6:9) But these few mentions are where it ends. And nowhere is it stated that if we did not believe in a conscious state after death, the foundation of the Christian faith would disappear and we would have no hope whatsoever. However, this is stated about :the doctrine of the resurrection:

'And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.'

Furthermore, the Bible’s testimony regarding the resurrection is abundant and crystal clear compared to the sparse and sometimes somewhat vague information about the life of the soul after death. Already in the Old Testament, Job proclaims:
“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that He will rise at the latter day on the dust.
And though my skin is destroyed,
in my flesh I shall see God.
I shall see Him for myself,
and my eyes shall see Him, and not another;
my reins fail me with longing within me.”

 

ISAIAH proclaims:
“The dead shall live again; my corpse also shall rise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust.
For your dew is as the dew of light;
and the earth will give life to the dead.”

In the announcement of his Passion, Jesus tells his disciples three times that, after being mistreated and dying, he would rise again after three days. The three Synoptic Gospels, MATTHEW, MARK, and LUKE, all mention these predictions.

 

Moreover, He also told the religious elite several times that He would rise again. He did this when they asked for a sign at the beginning of his ministry following His action of cleansing the temple:

“What sign will You show us, since You are doing these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… He was speaking of the temple of His body.” (John 2:20-22)

Later, they asked Him for a SIGN FROM HEAVEN. And Jesus answered:

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Math.12:39)

 

These pronouncements had become ingrained in the memory of the religious elite and prompted drastic measures. On the Sabbath following the crucifixion, they went to Pilate to request a guard at the tomb of Jesus.

"Lord, we remember that this tempter, while He was still alive, said, 'After three days I will rise.' Command then that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead...'" (Math 27:63,64)

The crucifixion, however, had shattered all hope the disciples had of a future with their Messiah. Several times, the women who came from the tomb reported that their Master was no longer in the tomb and had risen. But they didn't believe a single thing of what they witnessed (Mark 16:11, Luke 24:11). And Jesus had to appear to them and speak to them several times to move them. Only after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit did the message of the resurrection begin to spread throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and the Roman Empire.
Not the virgin birth of Jesus, not the holy life of Christ, nor even the crucifixion of Jesus, but the resurrection of Jesus was the central theme. On the day of Pentecost, it was proclaimed in the hearing of the Jews in Jerusalem, supported by the Psalms of David:

“This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses… Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:24, 36)

And some time later, following the healing of a lame man at the temple:

“But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be granted to you; But you have killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of whom we are witnesses.’ (Acts 3:14,15)

And a day later before the Sanhedrin:
‘…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands before you in good health.’ (Acts 4:10)

And again some time later, again before the Sanhedrin:
‘The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God has exalted him with his right hand as Leader and Savior…’ (Acts 5:30, 31)

And a few years later, during Peter’s first sermon to the circle of the Roman Centurion:

They also killed him by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised up on the third day and granted to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead…’ (Acts 10:39,40)

And later, during the first preaching in Antioch of Asia (modern-day Turkey) on the apostle Paul’s first missionary journey:

‘When they had fulfilled all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days He was seen by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and are now his witnesses to the people.' (Acts 13:29-31)

 

And again some time later on the Areopagus in Athens, on Paul’s second missionary journey:

“Though the times of ignorance were overlooked, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom he has appointed, of which he has given assurance only by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

After being imprisoned for two years because of accusations and attacks by the Jews—who want nothing to do with Jesus Christ and a resurrection from the dead—Paul is given the opportunity to bear witness before King Agrippa, Herod’s successor, and this testimony revolves around the resurrection:

“Having received help from God, I stand to this day and testify to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses foretold would happen: that Christ must suffer and that, after the resurrection from the dead, he would first proclaim light both to the people and to the world.” peoples." (Acts 26:22,23)

Strangely enough, the central message of Christianity has been supplanted by something completely different, namely the belief in the continued existence of the soul after death. But although the Bible does not deny this, it is absolutely not the core. A continued existence of the soul after death is a message that Christianity shares with many different religions. This can give the impression that it all amounts to the same thing, and many people today think so. This is even promoted by certain churches, that, concerning the 'afterlife', there is no essential difference between the teachings of Christ and various religions. But the core of the teachings of Christ is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead points to the eventual resurrection of all people from the dead (John 5:28). Above, Paul indicates: He is 'the firstborn from the resurrection of the dead.' The resurrection of Jesus has consequences for every person who has ever lived.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”

(1 Cor.15:22)