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Jehovah's Witnesses and the Resurrection of Jesus
God's Word tells us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is very important.
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. (Rom. 10:9, NAS) What does "raised him from the dead" mean? What is the nature of Christ's resurrection? Was it a physical or spiritual resurrection? Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead. Instead, they claim that he was raised a spirit creature without a physical body. According to them, the nature of Christ's resurrection was spiritual and not physical. Are the Jehovah's Witnesses right? What does the Bible tell us about the resurrection of Jesus Christ? In light of Romans 10:9, let us consider the following three questions.
1. Is it possible that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead?To answer this question we must look at all the resurrection accounts recorded in the Bible.
Elijah and the widow's son.
And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." (1 Kgs. 17:22-23, NAS)
What was the nature of this resurrection? Was it spiritual or physical? Did Elijah tell the widow that her son was raised as an invisible spirit creature or did he give her son back to her alive? The widow's son was bodily resurrected. She would never be satisfied with anything less than her son being bodily resurrected.
Elisha and the Shunammite's son.
When Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed. So he entered and shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the LORD. ...the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite." So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, "Take up your son." (2 Kgs. 4:32-36, NAS)
Was this a physical or a spiritual resurrection? Did Elisha give the son's lifeless body back to his mother and comfort her with words about a resurrected spirit creature? No. He gave her son back to her alive! This too was a bodily resurrection.
Elisha's bones and a dead man.
And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet. (2 Kgs. 13:20-21, NAS)
What was raised here? A ghost? A spirit creature? The man came to life and stood up on his feet. This is a physical, bodily resurrection.
Jesus resurrects a ruler's daughter.
While he was saying these things to them, behold, there came a synagogue official, and bowed down before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." ... But when the crowd had been put out, He entered and took her by the hand; and the girl arose. (Mat. 9:18-25, NAS)
What was the ruler hoping for? He knew Jesus could resurrect her. Was she resurrected as an immaterial, invisible spirit creature or was she raised bodily? She was raised bodily!
Jesus resurrects a widow's son.
Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep." And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. (Lk. 7:12-15, NAS)
Once again we have to ask the question about the nature of this resurrection. Did Jesus resurrect an invisible spirit to comfort the grieving widow? No. He delivered her son back to her alive in the flesh.
Jesus raises Lazarus.
He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. (John 11:43-44, NAS)
How was Lazarus raised? He was raised physically.
The resurrection from the tombs.
and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Mat. 27:52-53, NAS)
What was raised to life? Their bodies were raised to life. This is yet another example of bodily resurrection.
Peter and Tabitha.
But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. (Acts 9:40, NAS)
How was she raised? Bodily or spiritually? She was raised bodily.
Paul and Eutychus
And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." And they took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted. (Acts 20:9-12, NAS)
The people were comforted by the young man's bodily resurrection.
Since every resurrection in the Bible is a bodily one, then logically it is possible that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead.
2. Is it probable that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead?
All references to resurrection speak of bodies being raised to life. Are there any indications in the Bible that we should view Christ's resurrection differently? For instance, can you find one example in the Bible, excluding Jesus, of someone being resurrected as a spirit creature instead of bodily? No!
Was Christ's resurrection described differently than all the other resurrections? No. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is described with the same terminology as used of all other resurrections.
Since all the resurrections recorded in the Bible are bodily in nature and no resurrection is spiritual, then Christ must have been raised bodily from the dead. We thus must conclude that it is highly probable that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead.
3. Was Jesus Christ actually raised bodily from the dead?
God's Word tells us that Christ's body could not be destroyed or dissolved into gasses. (Acts 2:25-27)
His body was not in the tomb. "He is not here, but He has risen." (Luke 24:1-8, NAS)
Jesus himself said that his body would be raised. In John 2:18-22 he said that he would raise his "body" in three days. Was he speaking of his own physical body or the church? Read verse 22 and note that "when therefore He was raised..." refers to his physical body.
Christ had the power to take his life back again. (John 10:17-18)
ConclusionGod's Word thus reveals that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was possible, probable, and actual. Now comes the most important question of all.
Will you confess that the Lord Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead? Is He your living Savior?
The Jesus of the Jehovah's Witnesses is dead. He is not worthy of our love and he cannot save us. Only a living Christ is ready, willing, and able to be our Savior. Turn to him in prayer and receive forgiveness from Him. (Romans 10:9-13)
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