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Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection are the focal point of Scripture and the most important events in the history of the world.
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The resurrection of Jesus is different from the Bible’s other resurrections in
a very notable way: Jesus’ resurrection is the first “permanent” resurrection;
all the other resurrections in the Bible were “temporary” in that those raised
to life died again. Lazarus died twice; Jesus rose, nevermore to die. In this
way, He is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus’
resurrection justifies us and ensures our eternal life: “Because I live, you
also will live.”
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The Bible records several accounts of resurrection.
Every time a person is raised from the
dead, it is a stupendous miracle, showing that the God who is Himself the
Source of Life has the ability to give life to whom He will — even after death.
The following people were raised from the
dead in the Bible:
The
widow of Zarephath’s son (1
Kings 17:17–24).
Elijah the prophet raised the widow of Zarephath’s son from the dead.
Elijah was staying in an upper room of the
widow’s house during a severe drought in the land. While he was there, the
widow’s son became ill and died.
In her grief, the woman brought the body of
her son to Elijah with the assumption that his presence in her household had
brought about the death of her boy as a judgment on her past sin.
Elijah took the
dead boy from her arms, went to the upper room, and prayed, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to
him!” (verse
21).
Elijah stretched
himself out on the boy three times as he prayed, and “the Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and
he lived” (verse
22).
The prophet brought
the boy to his mother, who was filled with faith in the power of God through
Elijah: “Now I know that you are a man of
God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth” (verse 24).
The
Shunammite woman’s son (2
Kings 4:18–37). The
prophet Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead.
Elisha regularly stayed in Shunem in an
upper room prepared for him by this woman and her husband.
One day, while Elisha was at Mount Carmel,
the couple’s young son died. The woman carried the body of her son to Elisha’s
room and laid it on the bed (verse 21).
Then, without even telling her husband the
news, she departed for Carmel to find Elisha (verses 22–25).
When she found Elisha, she pleaded with him
to come to Shunem. Elisha sent his servant, Gehazi, ahead of them with
instructions to lay Elisha’s staff on the boy’s face (verse 31).
As soon as Elisha and the Shunammite woman
arrived back home, Elisha went to the upper room, shut the door, and prayed.
Then he stretched out on top of the boy’s
body, and the body began to warm (verse 34).
Elisha arose, walked about the room, and
stretched himself out on the body again. The boy then sneezed seven times and
awoke from death (verse
35).
Elisha then delivered the boy, alive again,
to his grateful mother (verses
36–37).
The man raised out of Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:20–21). Elisha is connected with another resurrection that occurred after his death.
Sometime after Elisha had died and was
buried, some men were burying another body in the same area.
The grave diggers saw a band of Moabite
raiders approaching, and, rather than risk an encounter with the Moabites, they
threw the man’s body into Elisha’s grave.
Scripture records that, “when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet” (verse 21).
The widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11–17). This is the first of the resurrections that Jesus performed.
As the Lord approached the town of Nain, He
met a funeral procession leaving the city. In the coffin was a young man, the
only son of a widow.
When Jesus saw the
procession, “his heart went out to [the
woman] and he said, ‘Don’t cry’” (verse 13).
Jesus came close
and touched the coffin and spoke to the dead man: “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (verse 14).
Obeying the divine
order, “the dead man sat up and began to
talk” (verse
15).
And thus Jesus
turned the funeral into a praise and worship service: “God has come to help his people,” the people said (verse 16).
Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:52–56). Jesus also showed His power over death by raising the young daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader.
The Lord was surrounded by crowds when
Jairus came to Him, begging Him to visit his house and heal his dying
twelve-year-old daughter (verses
41–42).
Jesus began to follow Jarius home, but on
the way a member of Jarius’ household approached them with the sad news that
Jairus’ daughter had died.
Jesus turned to
Jarius with words of hope: “Don’t be
afraid; just believe, and she will be healed” (verse 50).
Upon arriving at Jarius’ house, Jesus took
the girl’s parents, Peter, James, and John and entered the room where the body
lay.
There, “he took her by the hand and said, ‘My
child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up” (verses 54–55).
Jesus and His disciples then left the
resurrected girl with her astonished parents.
Lazarus of Bethany (John 11). The third person that Jesus raised from the dead was His friend Lazarus.
Word had come to
Jesus that Lazarus was ill, but Jesus did not go to Bethany to heal him.
Instead, He told His disciples, “This
sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may
be glorified through it” (verse 4).
A couple days
later, Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus had died, but He promised a
resurrection: “I am going there to wake
him up” (verse
11).
When Jesus reached
Bethany, four days after Lazarus’ death, Lazarus’ grieving sisters both greeted
Jesus with the same words: “Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have died” (verses 21 and 32).
Jesus, speaking to Martha, promised to
raise Lazarus from the dead (verse 23) and proclaimed Himself to be “the resurrection and the life” (verse 25).
Jesus asked to see
the grave. When He got to the place, He commanded the stone to be rolled away
from the tomb (verse
39),
and He prayed (verses
41–42)
and “called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus,
come out!’” (verse
43).
Just as Jesus had
promised, “the dead man came out” (verse 44).
The result of this
miracle was that God was glorified and “many
of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed
in him” (verse
45).
Others, however, refused to believe in
Jesus and plotted to destroy both Jesus and Lazarus (John 11:53; 12:10).
Various
saints in Jerusalem
(Matthew
27:50–53).
The Bible mentions some resurrections that
occurred en masse at the resurrection of Christ.
When Jesus died, “the earth shook, the rocks split and the
tombs broke open” (verses
51–52).
Those open tombs remained open until the
third day.
At that time, “the bodies of many holy people . . . were
raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went
into the holy city and appeared to many people” (verses 52–53).
On the day that Jesus was raised to life,
these saints were also raised and became witnesses in Jerusalem of the life
that only Jesus can give.
Tabitha (Acts 9:36–43).
Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, was a
believer who lived in the coastal city of Joppa. Her resurrection was performed
by the apostle Peter.
Dorcas was known
for “always doing good and helping the
poor” (verse
36).
When she died, the believers in Joppa were
filled with sadness. They laid the body in an upper room and sent for Peter,
who was in the nearby town of Lydda (verses 37–38).
Peter came at once and met with the
disciples in Joppa, who showed him the clothing that Dorcas had made for the
widows there (verse
39).
Peter sent them all out of the room and
prayed.
Then “turning toward the dead woman, he said,
‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took
her by the hand and helped her to her feet” (verses 40–41).
The overjoyed believers received their
resurrected friend, and the news spread quickly throughout the city.
“Many people believed in the Lord” as a result (verse 42).
Eutychus (Acts 20:7–12).
Eutychus was a young man who lived (and
died and lived again) in Troas. He was raised from the dead by the apostle
Paul.
The believers in Troas were gathered in an
upper room to hear the apostle speak. Since Paul was leaving town the next day,
he spoke late into the night.
One of his audience members was Eutychus,
who sat in a window and, unfortunately, fell asleep. Eutychus slipped out of
the window and fell three stories to his death (verse 9).
Paul went down and “threw himself on the young man and put his
arms around him” (verse
10).
Eutychus came back to life, went upstairs,
and ate a meal with the others.
When the meeting
finally broke up at daylight, “the people
took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted” (verse 12).
Jesus
(Mark
16:1–8).
Of course, any list of resurrections in the
Bible must include the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
His death and resurrection are the focal
point of Scripture and the most important events in the history of the world.
The resurrection of Jesus is different from
the Bible’s other resurrections in a very notable way: Jesus’ resurrection is
the first “permanent” resurrection; all the other resurrections in the Bible
were “temporary” in that those raised to life died again.
Lazarus died twice; Jesus rose, nevermore
to die.
In this way, He is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep” (1
Corinthians 15:20).
Jesus’ resurrection justifies us (Romans 4:25) and ensures our eternal life: “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).
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