What is Unique about Jesus’ Resurrection?
Exploring the Victory Over Death That Sets Christ Apart
This blog post gives you a sneak peek into the message“Resurrection Means Victory” by Lance Lambert. Want to explore further why Jesus’ resurrection is so extraordinary? Check out the full message here to learn more!
I often used to puzzle, when I was younger than the Lord (I had no Christian background and had never read my Bible until I was twelve years of age) why Christians made such a big deal about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They seemed to think it was unique, and yet Lazarus was raised from the dead. Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead. The widow of Nain’s son was raised from the dead. What was so unique about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus?
And some people would say, “Well, Jesus went into heaven,” but Enoch went into heaven. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. And where, may I ask, did Elijah go when he went up, caught up in a whirlwind?
Death Could Not Hold Him
What is the uniqueness of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? Here it is. It is contained in his own words, and these words spell absolute victory, such as this world has never known from its beginning, nor shall it ever know till its end. Here are the words of our Lord Jesus in John 10:17–18:
Therefore doth the Father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
That is the uniqueness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jairus’ daughter could not raise herself. The widow of Nain’s son could not raise himself nor could the widow of Nain raise him. Lazarus could not raise himself, nor could all the love and sorrow and longing and even hope of those around him raise him from the dead. It was the Lord Jesus that stepped in and raised them from the dead.
The uniqueness of our Lord’s resurrection is he laid down his life and he took it again. Never in the whole history of man has a man laid down his life and lay in death for many hours and then taken his life again. It has never so happened. That is the absolute victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Death could not hold him.
That is the point. Here was a life so spotless. Here was a life so perfect. Here was a life lived in the centre of God’s will. Here was a life which knew absolute, fulfilment of the divine plan for it. Death was foreign to this life. The death that he died, he died for us all.
He tasted death for every man. But death could not hold him. It had no power over him. It had, as it were, no investment in him. It had no purchase hold on him. It could not hold him. And when the moment came, Jesus stepped out of it, the victor.
