Article June 19, 2006 Issue

Practical resurrection: it's possible today

SUZANNE RIEDEL

RESURRECTION is Christianity's ultimate promise. It clearly reveals Christ Jesus' spiritual stature, and puts him far above the average person. After all, there isn't a record that anyone today has duplicated his feat. So in order to understand the relevance of Jesus' experience to our lives, we need to consider what resurrection actually is.

According to the Gospels, Jesus raised several people before raising himself: Jairus' daughter, a widow's son, and Lazarus. And centuries before him, the Bible records both Elijah and Elisha raising children from the dead. Jesus' disciple Peter raised Dorcas, and Paul raised Eutychus.

The implications are enormous for humanity. It wasn't just Jesus who did these things. He instructed his followers to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead" (Matt. 10:8)—to do as he had done. And they did! Doesn't that mean that we, too, can aspire to raise ourselves and others?