So what Jesus resurrected? Has he been the only one who has ever been raised from death?
Yes, to this question, there is no big deal because so many other people have been raised from death.
Example before Jesus:
• The widow of Zarephath’s son - 1 Kings 17:22
• The Shunamite’s son - 2 Kings 4:35
• Elisha’s bones brought a dead man alive - 2 Kings 13:21
Examples during the life of Jesus:
• Jairus' daughter was brought back to life – Matt. 9:25
• Saints at the crucifixion - Matt. 27:52
• Lazarus – John 11:44
The Difference:
1. 1. All the people mentioned above died again and are permanently dead until we meet in heaven if they make it, but Jesus is alive today and forever more. So, it is a big deal. In Revelation 1:18, Jesus says, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Romans 6:9 says, “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.”
2. Jesus surrendered his own life, unlike the others who had no control over their lives or deaths. In John 10:17-18, Jesus said. “Therefore, My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
In John 19:11, Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
3. Jesus is the only one who died for our offenses—Romans 4:25: “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”
4. Jesus is the only one who was raised for our justification - Romans 4:25.
5. Only Jesus’ resurrection brought us incorruptible and undefiled bodies and the hope of eternal salvation. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
6. Jesus is the only One who went to prepare a place for us. Halleluiah! In John 14:1-3, He said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many [a]mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may also be.”
Brethren, Jesus Christ's resurrection can only profit you if you, too, resurrect. Jesus has paved the way for your resurrection, but you have to walk in that way.
Jesus is the WAY, the Truth, and Life. Only Jesus can save you. Mixing Jesus with other powers will not work.
The day of resurrection is fast approaching for every one of us. I hear the bible say in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 that, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
In John 3:3, Jesus answered Nicodemus, saying, “ … “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We must be born again in order to resurrect. I pray for grace for you and me, even now.
Halleluiah! Jesus is alive forever more. Rejoice! This is a big deal; Jesus is different from everyone else.
