A resurrection is a raising to life of a dead person. Jesus pointed out many times in His ministry that He had power over death (Matthew 16:21, John 5:24, John 10:17-18), so much power and authority that He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). There are Gospel accounts where people saw Him raise dead people to life - the dead daughter of a synagogue ruler (Matthew 9:18-26), a widow’s dead son (Luke 7:11-17), and His own friend Lazarus who had been dead for four days (John 11:1-44). But Jesus’ power over death is most greatly displayed in His own resurrection. All four Gospel accounts, and many of the New Testament epistles, tell us that Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion and burial and was seen by many witnesses (Matthew 28:1-15, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-48, John 20:1-21:25, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). The resurrection of Christ means that there is a living hope for His disciples (1 Peter 1:3). As Jesus rose from death He broke death’s power, and therefore those who place their trust in Him need no longer fear its grip (Hebrews 2:14-15). The Bible promises that when Christ returns, there will be a resurrection of all people: those who placed their trust in Him during their life on earth will rise to eternal life but those who rejected His rule while alive will face His judgement and an eternity in hell (John 11:24, Revelation 20:11-15).
