What makes the Resurrection of Jesus unique?

How often do you revisit the empty of Jesus in scripture? How will it help us when we do?  

What makes the resurrection of Jesus so important? Here’s why I’m asking.When you study the Bible, you will find that a lot of people were raised from the dead. Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead, 1 Kings 17:21-22. Elisha raised a boy back from the dead, 2 Kings 4:32-35. In 2 Kings 13:20-21, a dead man who was thrown in the tomb of Elisha came back to life! Jesus in Luke 7:11-16 would raise a widow’s son to life. Jesus raised Lazarus who had been dead for four days back to life, John 11:43-45. After the death of Jesus some who had died were resurrected, Matthew 27:52-53. The apostles had the power to raise people back to life, Acts 9:36-43. Jesus was too, John 20:1-7. But what made His resurrection so unique? How would you answer that? And why is this important for us? Let’s consider a couple of things.

Some reasons that make the resurrection of Jesus so unique. First, Jesus predicted His death and resurrection and it came to pass as He said it would. Jesus told many that He would die and be raised from the dead, John 2:19-22; Matthew 12:40. Unlike the others who were resurrected, none of them predicted their death, much less their resurrection. But Jesus did. People can make claims of what will happen, but claims have to be backed up. That’s what Jesus did, John 10:17-18. That’s what makes His resurrection even more special.

Second, the prophets predicted the resurrection of Jesus. None of the prophets predicted the resurrection of the men and women we read about. But the prophets predicted the resurrection of Jesus, Acts 2:25-28. 

Third, Jesus rose from the grave never to die again. While others were resurrected, they eventually died. None of them are still alive on the earth. If they were, they would have more Twitter followers and more Facebook likes than anyone in the world! And none of them ascended into heaven alive. But that’s not the case with Jesus. Jesus rose to life never to die again, Romans 6:9. He ascended into heaven never to die again, Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 1:17-18. His resurrection is unique because He will never see corruption again, Acts 13:34. 

Fourth, the resurrection declared Jesus to be the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus pointed to His divine nature, Romans 1:4. A miracle itself didn’t mean that the person who worked it or who it was performed on was deity. The resurrection of people like Tabitha didn’t mean she was deity. But in the case of Christ it did. Now that we’ve answered our question, I want to ask you one more question.