Doctrine of Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Doctrine of Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Introduction:

The Doctrine of ‘Resurrection of Jesus Christ’ acknowledges that Jesus is risen from the death at cross, on the third day. Though resurrection is claimed by many religious leaders, there needs to be some valid reasons and standards for the evidence of resurrection, which fails for all the claims other than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are biblical evidence that commend the resurrection of Jesus Christ and also there are people who are living evidence who had encountered Jesus Christ and reflect the love and grace of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Also, the resurrection doesn’t just stop with Jesus, but in the day of judgment there will be resurrection for every one of us for eternal life as well as judgement.

Etymology and Synonyms

The word ‘Resurrection’ is used in the New Testament only and the Greek word for it is Anastasi (Ανάσταση) (Act 17:18).

There are also similar words for resurrection such as raised up (egeiro- εγείρω) (1 Cor 6:14), rising up (egersi- έγερση) (Matt 27:53), etc.

Validation of Resurrection

Jesus clarifies to Sadducees who questioned about marriage of the woman who loses her husbands one after another without children. Jesus told that there will not be birth or death or marriage in the resurrection.

After the Pharisees plotted against Jesus by questioning about paying tax, Sadducees came to Him on the same day. Sadducees say that there is no resurrection. They called Jesus as Teacher and they quoted and asked about the saying of Moses that if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. They said that there were seven brothers among them. The first married and died and having no offspring left his wife to his brother, So also the second and the third, down to the seventh. After all of them, the woman died. After saying those things, the Sadducees asked whose wife she will be in the resurrection, out of seven because they all had her. Jesus answered them that they are wrong because they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God, because the sons of that age marry and are given in marriage but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, and they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels in heaven and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Jesus also told them that they are concerned about the resurrection of the dead and asked them haven’t they read that the dead will raise, and what was said to them by God that He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Jesus concluded saying that He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Jesus acknowledged that therefore they do greatly err. When the crowd heard it, they were astonished at His teaching. Then some of the Scribes answered that He had spoken well, calling Him teacher, for they no longer dared to ask Him any question (Matt 22: 23-33; Mark 12: 18-27; Luke 20: 27-40).

Jesus affirms that those who do good without any expectation of getting back will be rewarded at the resurrection.

Jesus told to the man who had invited Him that when they give a dinner or a banquet, they ought not invite their friends or their brothers or their relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite them in return and they be repaid. But when they give a feast, they ought to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and they would be blessed because they cannot repay them. For they would be repaid at the resurrection of the just. When one of those who reclined at table with Him heard those things, He told Him that blessed is everyone who would eat bread in the kingdom of God (Luke 14: 12-15).

Jesus doesn’t resist Martha saying that Lazarus would rise again in the resurrection on the last day, and affirmed that He is the resurrection and the life.

Then when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha told Jesus that if He had been there, her brother would not have died, calling Him Lord. She told that but even then she knows that whatever He asks from God, God would give Him. Jesus told her that their brother would rise again. Martha told Him that she knows that he would rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus told her that He is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die. Jesus asked whether she believe that. She told Him yes, calling Him Lord, and told that she believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world (John 11: 17-27).

The resurrection of dead was claimed to be one of the foundational doctrine of Christ.

The author of Hebrews writes that therefore they shall leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment (Heb 6: 1, 2).

Misunderstandings about Resurrection

The false news that Jesus was not resurrected and His body was stolen was spread among the Jews.

The chief priests and elders spread the news to people that Jesus’ disciples came by night and had stolen him away while they were asleep. And the story had been spread among the Jews to that day (Matt 28: 11-15).

Sadducees believed that there is no resurrection.

The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all (Act 23: 8).

Some people believed that resurrection had already happened.

Paul writes to Timothy to avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who had swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some (2 Tim 2: 14-26).

Prophesies concerning Resurrection:

There were many prophesies concerning the resurrection and even Jesus revealed His disciples that He must suffer, be killed and be resurrected.

Jesus began to teach and show His disciples and strictly charged and commanded not to tell anyone that the Son of man must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be rejected by the Elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day. (Matt 16: 21; Mark 8: 31; Luke 9: 21, 22).

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus told the disciples teaching them that the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill Him and when He is killed, He will be raised on the third day. And they were greatly distressed (Matt 17: 22, 23; Mark 9: 31, 32).

Jesus foretells about His death and resurrection to Disciples:

On the way Jesus told the disciples about what was to happen to Him saying to look at Him and told that they are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written about the Son of Man will happen, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and Scribes, they will condemn Him to death, deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, spitted upon, shamefully treated, flogged, crucified, died and then He will be raised on the third day (Matt 20: 17-19; Mark 10: 31-34; Luke 18: 31-34).

Resurrection of Jesus:

God had offered the believers to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God with all the power and authority after his resurrection.

Peter writes that blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, he had caused the Elect exiles to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for them, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1: 3-5).

Baptism, which corresponds to Noah’s ark, then saves them, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him (1 Peter 3: 21, 22).

Witnesses and Testimony about the Resurrection of Christ:

There were many witnesses for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and many of them quoted from the previous scriptures about that. Also, some of the disciples or apostles were persecuted because they preached about resurrection.

It is written in the Book of Psalms that, may His camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it, and let another take His office. So one of the men who had accompanied them during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from them, one of those men must become with them a witness to His resurrection (Act 1: 20-22).

Peter called his recipients as brothers and mentioned that he may say to them with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with them to that day. Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that He would set one of the descendants on his throne, He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. That Jesus God raised up, and of that they all were witnesses (Act 2: 29-32).

And as Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening (Act 4: 1-3).

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with Paul. And some asked what does that babbler wish to say and others said that He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Act 17: 18).

Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus told the men of Athens that the times of ignorance God overlooked, but then He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He would judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He had appointed, and of that He had given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. Then when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others told that they will hear him again about that (Act 17: 30-32).

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ the Lord, through whom they have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including they who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints that Grace to them and peace from God their Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1: 1-7).

Resurrection of Man:

There were some instances in which dead men had risen from the dead and appeared to the people who are alive.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, when He received the sour wine, He said that it is finished and breathed His last, bowed down and yielded up His spirit. And behold the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection and they went to the holy city and appeared to many (Matt 27: 50- 53).

Paul confessed to Felix, the governor, that according to the way, which they call a sect, he worships the God of their fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which those men themselves accept, that there would be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So, he always takes pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. Then after several years he came to bring alms to his nation and to present offerings. While he was doing that, they found him purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia ought to be there before him and to make an accusation, Paul asked whether they shall have anything against him. Or else those men shall themselves say what wrongdoing they found when he stood before the council, other than that one thing that he cried out while standing among them that it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that he is on trial before them that day (Act 24: 1-21).

United with Christ in the Resurrection:

We are united with God in the resurrection when we repent and accept Jesus. When we know Christ and the power of His resurrection, we will be able to bear the sufferings for doing good works and try to be like Him even if it costs our lives.

Paul asks the Romans what shall they say then and are they to continue in sin that grace may about. Paul then says by no means and asks how then they who died to sin can still live in it. Paul then asked that whether they know that all of them who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. They were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father they too might walk in newness of life. For if they have been united with him in a death like his, they shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. They know that their old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that they would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Then if they have died with Christ, they believe that they will also live with him. They know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again, death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So, they also must consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. They ought not to let sin therefore reign in their mortal body, to make them obey its passions. They also should not present their members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present themselves to God as those who have been bought from death to life, and their members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over them, since they are not under law but under grace (Rom 6: 1-14).

Paul writes to the Philippians that indeed, he count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. For His sake he had suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that he may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that he may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, that by any means possible he may attain the resurrection from the dead (Phil 3: 8-11).

Significance of Resurrection:

Those who had done good will receive the resurrection of life and those who had done evil will receive the resurrection of judgment. Apostles testified the resurrection of Jesus and possessions were shared equally amidst all believers.

Through the resurrection of Christ, we have the hope and foundation for all our beliefs. Also there is a spiritual body through which Jesus said not to marvel at that, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs would hear His voice and come out, those who had done good to the resurrection of life and those who had done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5: 28, 29).

Then the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one told that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostle’s feet (Act 4: 32-37).

Paul writes to the Corinthians that if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how some of them can say that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then their preaching is in vain and their faith is in vain. They are even found to be misrepresenting God, because they testified about God that He raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, their faith is futile and they are still in their sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ they have hope in that life only, they are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come Also, the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, So also in Christ shall all be made alive(1 Cor 15: 12-22).

Paul writes to Corinthians that someone will ask how the dead are raised and with what kind of body do they come. Paul calls them as foolish person and says what they sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what they sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. So, Paul asked whether it is with the resurrection of the dead, and what is sown is perishable, and what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour and it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, and it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, and it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus, it is written that the first man Adam became a living being and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, So also are those who are of the dust, and as in the man of heaven, So also are those who are of heaven. Just as they have borne the image of the man of dust, they shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Cor 15: 35-49).

Misconceptions of Resurrection:

Resurrection is sometimes conceived differently than it is actually meant. Also, some people claim resurrection falsely and mislead many people from the truth.

1.      Resurrection is not for the soul but just the body or vice versa.

2.      Resurrection is Reincarnation.

3.      Resurrection is Resuscitation/ Restoration.

4.      Resurrection is not real and Resurrection of Jesus is just the illusion of the disciples and others or they may have lied.

5.      Resurrected body is the same as the Normal physical body, so any change to the physical body will effect the resurrected body.

 

Conclusion:

Resurrection brings the greatest hope and confidence to receive the eternal reward or judgment for all our works in the life on earth. It makes the individuals to acknowledge God of sovereignty and immortality. Also, it motivates and compels the individuals to live a righteous and beneficial life that is pleasing to God without compromising the values and principles of the Bible by having an eternal perspective. It also encourages to lead others in the right paths that really satisfies the inner self of every individual in the life on earth as well the life after death.