Resurrection

A resurrection is the act of being raised from the dead. In the Bible, this word is used in three main ways.

The Bible uses this term in three contexts:

• raising the dead to earthly life,

• the resurrection of Jesus, and

• the final resurrection of all people.

Raising the Dead to Earthly Life

First, resurrection can mean that God brings a dead person back to ordinary earthly life. This happened through prophets and apostles. Examples include:

• the prophet Elijah resurrecting a boy (1 Kings 17:8–24),

• the prophet Elisha resurrecting the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37),

• Jesus resurrecting Jairus’s daughter and Lazarus (Mark 5:35–43; John 11:17–44),

• the apostle Peter resurrecting Dorcas (Acts 9:36–42), and

• the apostle Paul resurrecting Eutychus (20:9–12).

These events are also known as "resuscitations" (from the Latin meaning "to wake again") because the people died again at a future time and were subsequently revived.

The Resurrection of Jesus

Second, the word most often refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God raised Jesus from the dead in a unique way. He did not return to ordinary mortal life but entered a new, transformed life that will never end.

The Final Resurrection of All People

Third, resurrection refers to the future raising of all people at the end of time. God will raise the dead for judgment and for reward (John 5:29; compare Revelation 20:5–6). This event is often called the eschatological resurrection (the resurrection at the end of history).

Preview

• Resurrection in the Old Testament and Judaism

• The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

• The Resurrection Accounts

• The Importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

• The Resurrection in General

• Resurrection and Gnosticism

Resurrection in the Old Testament and Judaism

The idea of resurrection to eternal life developed gradually in Israel. People saw life and death as limited to physical existence. Death meant leaving this world and entering Sheol, a place of shadows. Sheol was the home of the rephaim, or "the spirits of the dead" (Isaiah 14:9). It was a place without hope (2 Samuel 12:23; Job 7:9–10).

The greatest tragedy of Sheol was separation from God. A person who entered Sheol was cut off from fellowship with the Lord. At this stage in Israel’s understanding, there was little hope that the dead would rise again (Psalms 6:4–5; 88:10–12).

Even in this atmosphere of hopelessness about personal life after death, Israel developed a deep sense of faithfulness to God. People trusted God even when the future was unclear. Job gave voice to this struggle when he asked, “When a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14).

As Job looked for what seemed impossible, another passage points toward hope. Job 19:25–26 speaks of a living redeemer (go’el, a family protector who defends and restores a relative). This difficult passage suggests that God would act on Job’s behalf even beyond death. Some readers understand this as pointing toward the reality of resurrection.

Some argue that Hosea 6:1–3 suggests a resurrection. However, it is more likely that Israel understood this passage as a promise of God’s continued care. This promise applied even when Israel suffered defeat at the hands of its enemies. It is difficult to know whether Paul understood Hosea’s reference to the “third day” as pointing to Jesus. The text itself does not make this clear.

This passage, along with texts like the "dry bones" vision of Ezekiel (chapter 37), focuses mainly on restoring hope to Israel after national defeat. They describe renewal for the people as a whole, not clearly a return to life after death for individuals. Even so, such texts may have contributed to a growing sense in Israel that death could not be the final word.

Daniel 12:2, however, gives a clear reference to the resurrection of the dead. This passage describes a twofold resurrection among the people of Israel. Some are raised to eternal life, and others are raised to eternal shame and contempt. But his text does not describe a general resurrection of all people.

During the intertestamental period (the time between the writing of the Old and New Testaments), views about resurrection became more defined. One Jewish group, the Sadducees, rejected belief in resurrection and in a conscious life after death. They argued that the writings of Moses did not teach resurrection.

The Sadducees believed that life belonged only to this earthly world. For them, hope for the future continued through one’s children rather than through personal life after death (Ecclesiasticus 46:12). They understood Sheol, the place of the dead, as a state without relationship with God and without real purpose or hope.

Many Christians are familiar with the Sadducean view because of the encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. They tried to trap him by asking about a woman who had been married to seven brothers (Mark 12:18–27). Jesus rejected their understanding of resurrection. He also challenged their understanding of God and of the Scriptures.

The Pharisees believed in resurrection, as did the Essenes and the Jewish community at Qumran. Several Jewish writings from this period describe a twofold pattern of resurrection. Important eschatological passages appear in Second Esdras 7 and the Apocalypse of Baruch 50–51. Both writings may date to the first century AD.

In the Similitudes of First Enoch, righteous Jewish people could generally expect resurrection, but the wicked could not (First Enoch 1:46; 51; 62). Elsewhere in First Enoch, however, there are hints that some wicked people may be raised for judgment (First Enoch 22; 67; 90).

In these texts, the resurrection of the righteous is often connected with a spiritual kind of body. By contrast, 2 Maccabees 7:14 and the following verses present a less developed view that emphasizes a more physical resurrection. The ascetic community at Qumran (a group that practiced strict self-control and simple living) also expected a resurrection on the great day of the Lord.

In Judaism, there was a growing expectation of an eschatological day (a future time at the end of history) when resurrection and judgment would occur. However, Jewish writings do not suggest that the Messiah would rise from the dead.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The resurrection of Christ is the central truth of Christianity. For Paul, the resurrection was essential. He based both Christian preaching and Christian faith on it. He argued that without the resurrection, Christianity would be empty and without meaning (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). For Paul, the resurrection revealed the power of God at work in Jesus (Romans 1:4).

The resurrection of Christ also stands behind many other New Testament teachings. New life and living hope are grounded in the resurrection (1 Peter 1:3). The resurrection provides the basis for witness and fellowship with God, because the risen Lord has been seen and touched (1 John 1:1–4). It also forms the foundation for ministry and apostleship (Acts 1:21–25).

The Gospels themselves would not be good news if they did not end with the resurrection of Christ. His resurrection serves as the model for all believers. Those who belong to Christ will also be raised when he returns.

The Resurrection Accounts

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to Christianity. At the same time, it has been the subject of much discussion and debate. Scholars often point out differences among the Gospel accounts.

For example, how many women went to the tomb, and who were they? Was there one angel at the tomb, as described in Matthew and Mark, or were there two angels, as described in Luke and John? Did the women come to anoint the body, as in Mark and Luke, or did they come simply to see the tomb, as in Matthew?

The accounts also differ in what happened next. Did the women say nothing to anyone because they were afraid, as Mark reports, or did they tell the disciples, as Matthew says? Scholars also ask about the order of the appearances of Jesus. Did these appearances take place in Jerusalem, as in Luke and John 20, or in Galilee, as in Matthew and John 21, or in both places?

Other questions focus on the nature of the risen body of Jesus. Could these different accounts be brought together into a single explanation? These and many similar questions have shaped much modern scholarly discussion about the resurrection.

Many of these questions did not begin with modern scholars. In the second century AD, Tatian tried to remove such questions by writing the Diatessaron (a harmony that combined Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into one account). He hoped that Christians would accept this work as a version without differences.

Although many Christians valued this harmony, they continued to copy and preserve the four Gospels. They believed that God, through divine inspiration, had given a strong and trustworthy witness about his Son in these writings.

Many people today still try to solve the differences between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John by harmonizing the accounts. They do this to address detailed historical questions. However, this approach often overlooks the unique witness of each Gospel. Others focus mainly on the differences and speculate about how the Gospel accounts were formed. In doing so, the reality of the resurrection can become lost in the details of human analysis.

Both approaches reflect attempts to protect faith and reason, but they do so in different ways.

The Empty Tomb

There are many explanations for the empty tomb of Jesus:

• Some say the disciples stole the body, as suggested by Matthew 28:13. This view, however, would require explaining the rise of the Christian church as the result of deliberate deception.

• Others suggested that Jewish leaders removed the body, or that the disciples went to the wrong tomb. In these cases, the body could easily have been produced by opponents of the Christian message. Since this did not happen, these explanations fail to account for the empty tomb.

• Another proposal is that Jesus did not truly die but only fainted and later revived in the cold tomb. This view also raises serious problems. A weak and injured survivor would not have inspired the powerful faith and mission of the early church.

All of these explanations rely on human reasoning that assumes a real resurrection of Jesus could not have taken place. They attempt to explain the evidence while excluding the possibility of divine action.

Despite the differences in the materials, the Gospel writers share much common material in their accounts of the empty tomb. However, they did not use the tomb as a basis for resurrection faith. Except for John 20:8, the empty tomb caused surprise and fear. It even seemed "like nonsense" (Luke 24:11). It was not the empty tomb accounts but the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection that inspired faith.

The Appearances of Jesus after His Resurrection

Unlike the tomb stories, the appearance accounts share little common material. Even so, these appearances became the foundation for faith that something extraordinary had happened.

An enemy of the church like Paul was transformed into a devoted apostle (Acts 9:1–22; 1 Corinthians 15:8). A fearful fisherman like Peter left his former life behind and took up leadership again (John 21). A doubter like Thomas made one of the strongest confessions in early Christianity when he called Jesus “my Lord and my God” (John 20:24–28). Two discouraged travelers on the road to Emmaus also encountered the risen Jesus. Their despair turned into renewed energy, and they hurried back to Jerusalem to share the news (Luke 24:13–35).

Scholars have long debated the nature of the resurrection appearances. Beginning with Paul’s list of appearances in 1 Corinthians 15:5–8, some argue that all appearances were the same in kind. They point especially to Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus. The account in Acts presents this event as visionary or spiritual in character (Acts 9:1–9; see also 22:6–11; 26:12–19). On this basis, these scholars claim that all resurrection appearances should be understood in a similar way.

Because of this view, statements that describe the risen Jesus as touchable and able to eat food are often rejected. Passages such as (Luke 24:41–43) are explained as later additions to an earlier tradition that described only visions. This line of reasoning depends on an assumption that a bodily resurrection is not possible.

Another theory is based on a sharp division between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. According to this view, the resurrection should not be understood as a historical event. Instead, it is described as a faith experience of the disciples.

This view faces a serious difficulty. The witnesses of the resurrection proclaimed it as something that actually happened. They spoke of the risen Jesus as a real and tangible presence, not merely as an inner experience of faith.

The Importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The Bible records several cases in which people were raised from the dead. Elijah raised a widows son, and Jesus raised another widows son as well as Lazarus. In each case, God restored these people to ordinary earthly life.

However, this kind of restoration, sometimes called resuscitation, is not the same as the resurrection of Christ. These people returned to life only to die again. Jesus rose to live forever.

They were raised still subject to decay and death. Jesus was raised incorruptible, no longer subject to death. They were raised without a change in their nature. Jesus was raised in a transformed and glorified form.

When the Lord resurrected, three important things happened:

1. He was glorified.

2. His body was transformed.

3. He became a life-giving spirit.

All three things happened at the same time.

First, he was glorified. This means that God revealed his honor and power through him after the resurrection (see Luke 24:26). Second, his body was transformed into a glorious body, one no longer subject to weakness or death (Philippians 3:21).

Third, and in a mysterious way, he became a life-giving spirit. This means that the risen Christ now gives life to others through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Together, these changes describe the unique nature of Christs resurrection life.

Before the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, he said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23–24). This statement gives a clear picture of resurrection. Jesus compared his death to a seed planted in the ground. The seed must die in order to produce new life. In the same way, his death would lead to resurrection and to life for many others.

Paul used this example to answer two questions the Corinthians asked about resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:35):

1. How are the dead raised?

2. What kind of body do they have?

To the first question, Paul replied, "You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Corinthians 15:36). This aligns with the Lord’s saying in John 12:24, and the two explain each other. The grain must "die" before it can grow.

Paul spent more time answering the second question about the kind of body that is raised. Guided by the Spirit, he explained this mystery using the same image of a grain of wheat. He showed that the body raised in resurrection is very different in form from the body that was buried.

Through a natural process, a single bare grain grows into a full stalk of wheat. The grain and the stalk are connected. They are the same life, but expressed in a new and greater form. The stalk can be described as the glory of the grain, or the grain brought to its full expression.

In the same way, the resurrected body of Jesus was very different from the body that was buried. In death, he was sown in corruption, dishonor, and weakness. In resurrection, he was raised in incorruption, glory, and power. The natural, earthly body Jesus had was transformed into a spiritual body—that is, a real, physical resurrection body fully directed and empowered by God’s Spirit. Paul also says that Christ became a “life-giving spirit.” This does not mean Christ ceased to be embodied or became identical with the Holy Spirit. Rather, in his risen and exalted state, Christ now gives resurrection life to others through the Holy Spirit.

With this new spiritual existence, Christ, as spirit and through the Holy Spirit, can live within millions of Christians at the same time. Before the resurrection, his human body had limits. After his resurrection, all Christians could experience Jesus without limits.

Before his resurrection, Christ could only live among his disciples. After his resurrection, he could live within them. Because Christ became a life-giving spirit through the resurrection, those he lives within can experience him. The Spirit of Christ now makes Christ truly and spiritually real and experienced by us.

When we read the last chapters of the Gospels, we see a great change in our Lord after the resurrection. By entering into glory, he introduced a new way of human existence.

At one moment, he could be seen, and at another moment, he became invisible (Luke 24:31). He was no longer limited in the usual ways by space, and perhaps not even by time. Early on the day of resurrection, he appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden (John 20:11–17). Then he appeared to some other women (Matthew 28:9).

After this, he ascended to the Father (John 20:17). He later appeared to Peter, who had returned home (John 20:10; Luke 24:34). On the same day, in the late afternoon, he walked 11.3 kilometers (seven miles) with two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–33). After this, he appeared to the disciples as they gathered in a closed room in Jerusalem (Luke 24:33–48; John 20:19–23).

It is nearly impossible to arrange all these events in the exact order that they happened. What Jesus did that day goes beyond normal human experience. The many appearances on a single day show that resurrection brought a profound change.

As spirit, and yet still with a body that was glorified, Jesus was no longer limited by time and space. This new mode of existence marks the uniqueness of his resurrection life.

Through resurrection, Jesus took on a different form (see Mark 16:12). However, he remained the same person. In his identity, however, he remained the same. The Jesus who walked in Galilee and was crucified at Calvary is the same Jesus who was raised from the dead. His person did not change and never will. In this sense, he is unchanging. What did change was his form. Through resurrection, he became a life-giving spirit.

Because of this new form of existence, Christ is able to live within all Christians at the same time. His resurrection makes this shared and living presence possible.

Resurrection and regeneration are closely connected in Scripture. In a similar way, crucifixion and redemption belong together and cannot be separated. Just as redemption was not possible without the crucifixion of Christ, regeneration is not possible without his resurrection.

Regeneration means being born again to new life. Scripture states clearly that believers have been born again through the resurrection of Christ (see 1 Peter 1:3).

After Christ resurrected from death, he called the disciples his brothers (Matthew 28:10; John 20:19). He said that his God was now their God, and his Father was their Father. Through the resurrection, the disciples became the true brothers of Jesus, sharing the same divine life and Father. As "firstborn from among the dead" (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:18), Jesus Christ became "the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29).

Resurrection in General

Paul looked forward to the day of the Lord. On that day, the dead in Christ would be raised, and those still living would join them in final victory (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18). Paul had no doubt that this resurrection was a glorious hope.

He taught that resurrection involves a real and personal body. At the same time, this body is not physical in the ordinary sense but spiritual in nature (1 Corinthians 15:35–44). For Paul, resurrection meant transformation into a new mode of life.

Paul did not usually speak of two resurrections, as the writings of John do in some passages (for example, John 5:29). Instead, he focused on resurrection to life. The book of Revelation may help explain New Testament thinking on this issue. It speaks of a blessing for those who share in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5–6).

In Revelation, the word “resurrection” is not directly used for judgment. Even so, the appearance before the judgment seat and the sentence of the second death in the lake of fire show a clear difference. Resurrection to judgment is not the same in nature as resurrection to life.

Resurrection and Gnosticism

Gnostic views about the end of time were shaped by Greek ideas of immortality. In this way of thinking, salvation involved leaving the body behind and rising spiritually to the Pleroma (the fullness, or the Gnostic heaven). The physical body was seen as a temporary shell that had to be discarded.

Because Gnostics used familiar words in new ways, the Gospel of Philip helps explain how they reshaped Christian ideas. This text argues, “Those who say that the Lord died first and [then] arose are in error; because he first arose and [then] died. If anyone does not attain the resurrection first, will he not die?” (Philip 56:15–19). Here, resurrection is not understood as a future event. Instead, it is redefined as a present spiritual awakening in this life..

In this view, resurrection is removed from its future hope and reinterpreted as something already completed. This helps explain the strong criticism found in 2 Timothy 2:17–19 against Hymenaeus and Philetus, who claimed that the resurrection had already taken place. Their teaching reflected this same realized understanding of resurrection.

The Pauline communities and the wider church rejected this view. They affirmed resurrection as a real future event grounded in the raising of Jesus. For this reason, the church also rejected Gnostic teaching, and this rejection has continued throughout Christian history.

See also Dead, Place of the; Eschatology; Second Coming of Christ; Spirit.