Lesson 5 Review: Resurrections Before the Cross

Introduction

Memory Text: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever. Do you believe this?’ ” (John 11:25, 26, LEB).

There are accounts of people in the Bible who were resurrected before the Cross, but with the exception of Moses, they all eventually died again. These accounts do not suggest the existence of a supposed life after death, at death, there is no tendency not to rest in peace, we know nothing at death.

What evidences can we find in Jude 9 and Luke 9:28-36 about the bodily resurrection of Moses?

‘Jude 9 confirms the Biblical resurrection of Moses’ body because the dispute was “about the body of Moses” and not about any supposed surviving soul’. Another piece of evidence is in Christ’s transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus and were dialoguing, the Bible makes it clear that it was not their spirits that appeared, besides Elijah did not see death.

What are the similarities between the resurrection of the Shunammite woman’s son and the Woman of Zarephath’s son?

They both received back their dead sons by resurrection, and they both have the same saving faith.

What are the differences between the resurrection of the Shunammite Woman’s son and the Woman of Zarephath’s son?

‘The Phoenician widow hosted the prophet, Elijah, in an extremely difficult time when there was no safe place for him in Israel. The Shunammite woman and her husband built a special room where the Prophet Elisha could stay while passing through their region.

What important difference is there between the resurrection of the Son of the Widow of Nain and that of the Shunammite and Zarephath women’s sons?

The Widow of Nain was helped even without asking, God cares for us even when we feel unworthy to ask Him for help.

Why did the people ridicule Jesus when He said “ ’The child is not dead but sleeping’ ”? (Mark 5:38, NKJV)

1.       They knew that she was dead

2.       They did not grasp the meaning of His words.

What can we learn from Christ’s words “ ‘The child is not dead, but sleeping’ ”? (Mark 5:39, NKJV)

Sleep seems to be Christ’s favorite way of referring to death. It is a metaphor. Death is a sleep, but it is a deep sleep from which only the great Life-giver can awaken one, for He alone has the keys to the tomb.

In what sense was Jesus “glorified” by the sickness and death of Lazarus (John 11:4)?

God was glorified through the sickness and death of Lazarus. Just before Lazarus was resurrected, Jesus attested to the fact that they will see the glory of God if they believe and it happened there that they saw the life-giving power of God, the same power that spoke our world into existence, and the same power that at the end of the age will call the dead back to life in the resurrection. The resurrection of Lazarus proved that Jesus had the power to defeat death, a great manifestation of God’s glory.

In Conclusion,

There were resurrections before the Cross but none of them implied a possible experience in heaven before their resurrection, the hope of resurrection we have is in the second coming of Jesus, then we will awake to our inheritance, I pray that we take part in the first resurrection in Jesus’ name.