It was a Resurrection, not a Resuscitation

We hear tales from hospitals of people that have been certified dead returning back to life. Those whose body organs have ceased their vital functions, yet they return to life. We refer to these as cases of resuscitation. And resuscitations are common. But a common error we make as Christians is assuming what happened to Jesus on that Sunday morning was a resuscitation.

It wasn’t a resuscitation, it was a resurrection. 

Have you ever wondered why the Bible refers to Jesus as the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18)? But he wasn’t the first person in the Bible to be raised from the dead. There was Jairus's daughter (Mark 5:41-42), and Lazarus (John 11:44), and the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:15). And that man whose corpse was thrown into Elisha’s tomb by his fleeing friends (2 Kings 13:21). 

But these were resuscitations - Jesus wasn’t. And that is why He is the “firstborn from the dead”. 

Those that are resuscitated live to die. They come back to life and run the normal course till their bodies give way to sickness, accident, or old age. They still end up dying.

But Jesus died once, was resurrected, and now lives forever (Revelation 1:18). 

What happened that Sunday morning in the tomb was not a resuscitation, but a resurrection.

Who unwrapped Jesus' grave clothes? When Lazarus was raised, he came out of the tomb in his grave clothes. Jesus had to instruct the crowd to loosen those clothes so he could be free (John 11:44). But no such thing happened to Jesus. In fact, the first people to visit his tomb noted that his grave clothes were lying in the exact same position his body lay. Why was this the case? 

Because it was NOT a resuscitation, but a RESURRECTION.

The angel that rolled the stone away from the tomb didn’t do so to let Jesus out of the grave. Jesus didn’t need to be let out. Some Bible movies have inaccurately captured this, but the stone was rolled for the benefit of the eyewitnesses. So they could go inside and witness the Resurrection with their own eyes. That the person they seek is “not here, for he has risen”. 

The Resurrection is the reason Christians do not need to be worried about whether their bodies will be cremated or buried when they die. If we were going to be resuscitated, we will still need our bodies. But the resurrection has no need for old rotting, cremated, corruptible bodies - because it will give us new bodies!

“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.

The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; 

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

- 1 Corinthians 15:42-44

The Resurrection is an exciting phenomenon because it is nothing like what we know of. Paul describes it as a mystery: 

“Listen, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…for a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed”. 

Jesus was the template, the prototype, for this phenomenon, and that is why He is “the firstborn from the dead”.

This revelation should make us meet each Resurrection Sunday with joy and excitement about what is to come. We serve a God that has not only made the old pass away but is making all things new! Hallelujah!