Article 8
How do we know that the resurrection will really happen?
For more information please see the book 'What Does the Bible REALLY Teach' at www.jw.org
How do we know that the resurrection will really happen?
How
does Jehovah feel about resurrecting the dead?
Who
will be resurrected?
IMAGINE that you are running away from a
vicious enemy. He is much stronger and faster than you are. You know that he is
merciless because you have seen him kill some of your friends. No matter how
hard you try to outrun him, he keeps getting closer. There seems to be no hope.
Suddenly, though, a rescuer appears at your side. He is far more powerful than
your enemy, and he promises to help you. How relieved that makes you feel!
In a
sense, you are being pursued by such an enemy. All of us are. As we
learned in the preceding article, the Bible calls death an enemy. None of us
can outrun it or fight it off. Most of us have seen this enemy claim the lives
of people dear to us. But Jehovah is far more powerful than death. He is the
loving Rescuer who has already shown that he can defeat this enemy. And he
promises to destroy this enemy, death, once and for all. The Bible teaches: “As
the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing.” (1 Corinthians 15:26) That is good news!
Let us
take a brief look at how the enemy death affects us when it strikes. Doing this
will help us to appreciate something that will make us happy. You see, Jehovah
promises that the dead will live again. (Isaiah
26:19) They will be brought back to life. That is the hope of the
resurrection.
WHEN A LOVED
ONE DIES
Have you lost a loved one in death? The pain,
the grief, and the feelings of helplessness can seem unbearable. At such times,
we need to go to God’s Word for comfort. (2 Corinthians
1:3, 4) The Bible helps us to understand how Jehovah and Jesus feel
about death. Jesus, who perfectly reflected his Father, knew the pain of losing
someone in death. (John 14:9) When
he was in Jerusalem, Jesus used to visit Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and
Martha, who lived in the nearby town of Bethany. They became close friends. The
Bible says: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” (John 11:5) As we learned in the
preceding chapter, though, Lazarus died.
How
did Jesus feel about losing his friend? The account tells us that Jesus joined Lazarus’
relatives and friends as they grieved over this loss. Seeing them, Jesus was
deeply moved. He “groaned in the spirit and became troubled.” Then, the account
says, “Jesus gave way to tears.” (John
11:33, 35) Did Jesus’ grief mean that he had no hope? Not at all. In
fact, Jesus knew that something wonderful was about to happen. (John 11:3, 4) Still, he felt the
pain and sorrow that death brings.
In a
way, Jesus’ grief is encouraging to us. It teaches us that Jesus and his
Father, Jehovah, hate death. But Jehovah God is able to fight and overcome that
enemy! Let us see what God enabled Jesus to do.
“LAZARUS, COME ON
OUT!”
Lazarus had been buried in a cave, and Jesus
asked that the stone sealing its entrance be taken away. Martha objected
because after four days, Lazarus’ body must have begun to decay. (John 11:39)
From a human standpoint, what hope was there?
The stone was rolled away, and Jesus cried
out with a loud voice: “Lazarus, come on out!” What happened? “The man that had
been dead came out.” (John 11:43, 44)
Can you imagine the joy of the people there? Whether Lazarus was their brother,
relative, friend, or neighbor, they knew that he had died. Yet, here he was—the
same dear man—standing among them again. That must have seemed too good to be
true. Many no doubt embraced Lazarus joyfully. What a victory over death!
Jesus
did not claim to perform this amazing miracle on his own. In his prayer just
before calling out to Lazarus, he made it clear that Jehovah was the Source of
the resurrection. (John 11:41, 42)
This was not the only time that Jehovah used his power in this way. The
resurrection of Lazarus is just one of nine miracles of this kind recorded in
God’s Word. To read and study these accounts is a delight. They teach us that
God is not partial, for the resurrected ones include young and old, male and
female, Israelite and non-Israelite. And what joy is described in these
passages! For example, when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead, her
parents “were beside themselves with great ecstasy.” (Mark 5:42) Yes, Jehovah had given them a cause for joy that they
would never forget.
Of course, those resurrected by Jesus
eventually died again. Does this mean that it was pointless to resurrect them?
Not at all. These Bible accounts confirm important truths and give us hope.
LEARNING FROM THE
RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS
The
Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not
alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms
this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of
heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No.
The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was
dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.—John 11:11.
The
account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a
mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front
of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus,
did not deny this miracle. Rather, they said: “What are we to do, because this
man [Jesus] performs many signs?” (John
11:47) Many people went to see the resurrected man. As a result, even more
of them put faith in Jesus. They saw in Lazarus living proof that Jesus was
sent by God. This evidence was so powerful that some of the hardhearted Jewish
religious leaders planned to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.—John 11:53; 12:9-11.
Is it
unrealistic to accept the resurrection as a fact? No, for Jesus taught that
someday “all those in the memorial tombs” will be resurrected. (John 5:28) Jehovah is the Creator of
all life. Should it be hard to believe that he can re-create life? Of course,
much would depend on Jehovah’s memory. Can he remember our dead loved ones?
Countless trillions of stars fill the universe, yet God gives the name of each
one! (Isaiah 40:26) So Jehovah God
can remember our dead loved ones in every detail, and he is ready to restore
them to life.
How, though, does Jehovah feel about
resurrecting the dead? The Bible teaches that he is eager to raise the dead.
The faithful man Job asked: “If an able-bodied man dies can he live again?” Job
was speaking about waiting in the grave until the time came for God to remember
him. He said to Jehovah: “You will call, and I myself shall answer you. For the
work of your hands you will have a yearning.”—Job 14:13-15.
Just
think! Jehovah actually yearns to bring the dead back to life. Is it not
heartwarming to learn that Jehovah feels that way? But what about this future
resurrection? Who will be resurrected, and where?
“ALL THOSE IN
THE MEMORIAL TOMBS”
The
Bible’s resurrection accounts teach us much about the resurrection to come.
People who were restored to life right here on earth were reunited with their
loved ones. The future resurrection will be similar—but much better. As we
learned in article 3, God’s purpose is that the whole earth be made into a
paradise. So the dead will not be raised to life in a world filled with war,
crime, and sickness. They will have an opportunity to live forever on this
earth in peaceful and happy conditions.
Who
will be resurrected? Jesus said that “all those in the memorial tombs
will hear his [Jesus’] voice and come out.” (John 5:28, 29) Similarly, Revelation 20:13 says: “The sea gave up those dead in it, and death
and Hades gave up those dead in them.” “Hades” refers to the common grave of
mankind. This collective grave will be emptied. All
those billions who rest there will live again. The apostle Paul said: “There is
going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) What does that mean?
“The righteous” include many of the people we
read about in the Bible who lived before Jesus came to the earth. You might
think of Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Ruth, Esther, and many others. Some of
these men and women of faith are discussed in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. But “the
righteous” also include Jehovah’s servants who die in our time. Thanks to the
resurrection hope, we may be freed from any dread of dying.—Hebrews 2:15.
What about all the people who did not serve
or obey Jehovah because they never knew about him? These billions of “unrighteous”
ones will not be forgotten. They too will be resurrected and given time to
learn about the true God and to serve him. During a period of a thousand years,
the dead will be resurrected and given an opportunity to join faithful humans
on earth in serving Jehovah. It will be a wonderful time. This period is what
the Bible refers to as Judgment Day.
Does
this mean that every human who ever lived will be resurrected? No. The Bible
says that some of the dead are in “Gehenna.” (Luke 12:5) Gehenna got its name from a garbage dump located
outside of ancient Jerusalem. Dead bodies and garbage were burned there. The
dead whose bodies were thrown there were considered by the Jews to be unworthy
of a burial and a resurrection. So Gehenna is a fitting symbol of everlasting
destruction. Although Jesus will have a role in judging the living and the
dead, Jehovah is the final Judge. (Acts
10:42) He will never resurrect those whom he judges to be wicked and
unwilling to change.
THE HEAVENLY RESURRECTION
The
Bible also refers to another kind of resurrection, one to life as a spirit
creature in heaven. Only one example of this type of resurrection is recorded
in the Bible, that of Jesus Christ.
After Jesus was put to death as a human,
Jehovah did not allow His faithful Son to remain in the grave. (Psalm 16:10; Acts 13:34, 35) God
resurrected Jesus, but not as a human. The apostle Peter explains that Christ
was “put to death in the flesh, but . . . made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18) This truly was a
great miracle. Jesus was alive again as a mighty spirit person! (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) Jesus was
the first ever to receive this glorious type of resurrection. (John 3:13) But he would not be the
last.
Knowing that he would soon return to heaven,
Jesus told his faithful followers that he would “prepare a place” for them
there. (John 14:2) Jesus referred to
those going to heaven as his “little flock.”
(Luke 12:32) How many are to be in this relatively small group of faithful
Christians? According to Revelation 14:1, the apostle John says: “I saw, and,
look! the Lamb [Jesus Christ] standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a
hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father
written on their foreheads.”
These
144,000 Christians, including Jesus’ faithful apostles, are raised to life in
heaven. When does their resurrection take place? The apostle Paul wrote that it
would occur during the time of Christ’s presence. (1 Corinthians 15:23) As you will learn in a later article, we
are now living in that time. So those few remaining ones of the 144,000 who die
in our day are instantly resurrected to life in heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:51-55) The vast majority of mankind,
however, have the prospect of being resurrected in the future to life in
Paradise on earth.
Yes,
Jehovah really will defeat our enemy death, and it will be gone forever! (Isaiah 25:8) Yet, you may wonder, ‘What
will those resurrected to heaven do there?’ They will form part of a marvelous
Kingdom government in heaven. We will learn more about that government in the
next chapter.
[Footnotes]
The other accounts are found at 1 Kings
17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:32-37; 13:20, 21; Matthew 28:5-7; Luke 7:11-17;
8:40-56; Acts 9:36-42; and 20:7-12.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES
▪ The Bible’s resurrection accounts give us a
sure hope.—John 11:39-44.
▪ Jehovah is eager to bring the dead back to
life.—Job 14:13-15.
▪ All of those in the common grave of mankind
will be resurrected.—John 5:28, 29.
For more information please see the book 'What Does the Bible REALLY Teach' at www.jw.org
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