On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9
One difference between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints and other Christian denominations, is that we believe in the literal resurrection of the body. In the New Testament Jesus taught," Therefore, doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again, No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. " (John 10:17-18).
The resurrection of Christ was the first time anyone had been resurrected;
In the New Testament, we have four cases of someone being raised from the dead. The first
one is in Luke 7:11-15, where we read, " And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city
called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead
sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother."
The second one is found in Mark 5:35-43: " While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the
synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter,and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he
saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was
of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged
them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to
eat."
The third incident involved Lazzarus as found in the 11th chapter of John: "Now a
certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary
which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. " Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his
disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought
to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus
unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may
believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. " Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: And many of the
Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them
concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto
Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world. " And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly,saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and
came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his
feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. " When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her,he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto
him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave.It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of
God? " Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus
lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast
sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him." There are couple of things to note in this story. Why did Jesus wait so long before performing this miracle? The scripture tell us that Jesus cried over the death of His beloved friend. If he loved him so much, why did it take Him two more days before He got there? In verse 4 we're
told that there was a divine purpose for this. What was that purpose? The Jews believed that the spirit
of a man left the body after three days. By waiting three days there was no way anyone could say that Lazarus wasn't dead.
The reason this was important was to help people understand that Jesus, was the resurrection
and the life. Jesus Himself would die and come back to life. Many times when speaking of His own resurrection His words were misunderstood by His own closest disciples. They believed in the final resurrection, but
they didn't believe that this event would happen to Jesus in their lifetime. Perhaps the raising of Lazarus from the dead was meant to show them the
possibility of His own resurrection, thereby hoping they would have a better comprehension of what was about to happen.
The fourth incident of someone being raised from the dead is found in Acts 9:36-42 " Now there
was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid [her] in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was
there, they sent unto him two men, desiring [him] that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter
arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the
widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning [him] to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter,
she sat up. And he gave her [his] hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows,
presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord." But these incidences were about being called back from death to a mortal body. This was not resurrection but restoration of mortal life.
The resurrection of Christ is found in the Bible.
This is the most transcendent event in all of human history. This was the Savior fulfilling His mission. Without this victory over death, no one could return back to the presence of God. The resurrection was the final act of Sacrifice which Jesus took upon Himself.
Proof of the Saviors complete resurrection (he could eat and he had scars, a spirit cannot have scars, for that is only the attributes of a physical body).
" Jesus stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you " And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD." The wounds were there! Later, He appeared to them again, but this time Thomas was there.
In Luke 24:36-44 we read,
" And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto
them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my
hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see
me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat
before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
But the reality of Christ's body being resurrected is even easier than that to prove. If Jesus was only a spirit, who would have discovered that He had been resurrected? Nobody because His body would still have been in the tomb! The proof of His resurrection was the empty grave, meaning that His body was gone! This is what the Jews had feared. That's why they asked to
have a great stone placed to seal the entrance of the sepulcher, to prevent someone from taking the body.
The spirit doesn't die, only the body. We lay our mortal clay down. But the resurrection is the literal bringing together of the body and the spirit. We shall inherit BODIES in the resurrection.
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo,
they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: /And I will lay sinews upon you, and
will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld,lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these slain, that they may live So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
Jesus declared in John 2:19-21 " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.
But he spake of the temple of his spirit."
"He lives, He lives who once was dead" and because he overcame death I will live again after the resurrection. I will praise Him ever more
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The Lord gave us a clear explanation about the resurrection in the scriptures. Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:35-42 " But some man will say,
How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption."
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