“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
[1 Corinthians 15:3-4 HCSB]
Amazing
This weekend past, I was blessed beyond measure. I studied scripture with large crowds of people, played games with passels of wonderful kids, sang amazing songs of truth beautifully led by gifted friends, witnessed nine moving baptisms, and got to be a small part of twenty people trusting Jesus as Savior. Wow. Hashtag blessed indeed.
One of those new Christians – a young man – told me after a service, “That information you shared about how Jesus’ resurrection differs from other ancient legends was what I needed. That made the difference for me.” In case it can be useful for you, friends, I include it below.
Full resurrection life
Jesus rose from the dead according to the scriptures. And this is not same as or even similar to any other mythical story about resurrection. Look at the contrast:
Mythical resurrections
Pieced together after dismemberment or decay
Not fully alive [either alive only part of the year like Persephone or in a zombie-like state like Osiris]
Released by death’s power; even with another power added, Hades always must give permission
Jesus’ resurrection
Whole physical body
Completely alive in perfection
Conquered death’s power
There were “resurrection” stories in the ancient world. But none of them were like what witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection describe. The others were considered mystical, legendary, or promissory. But no one – and I mean no one – really believed Baal rose in a physical, perfect way. No one believed that of Osiris…or Heracles…or Dionysius…or Mithras.
At best, these gods and heroes were considered less than fully alive. They were in a sort of half-life. And it was always Hades that sent them back. Death was never conquered by resurrection. Oh no! Death was still very much in charge. In fact, they were released by Hades’ own power. That’s why the Greek thinker and writer Aeschylus declared in the 5th c. B.C. that “No one has come back to full life from the dead and no one can.” It’s telling that this was not considered blasphemous in Athens.
Dr. N.T. Wright summarizes well: “We are forced to conclude that when the early Christians said that Jesus had been raised from the dead…they were using the language in its normal sense. That which Aeschylus said couldn’t happen to anyone…had happened to Jesus, all by himself. That was what they [the early Christians] intended to say.” – N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God