Jesus wasn’t the first person raised from the dead in Scripture. So why does the New Testament treat his resurrection as something utterly different?
For years, I struggled to grasp the full significance of Jesus' resurrection. I knew it was unique—treated by the New Testament as something far greater than any resurrection before it. But why? What made this resurrection categorically different?
At first, the usual answers didn’t fully satisfy me. Of course, any resurrection is miraculous, an event beyond natural explanation. But Jesus wasn’t the first person in Scripture to be raised from the dead. If he had been, the uniqueness of his resurrection would have been easier to grasp. Yet, paradoxically, the fact that he did raise others before his own death adds an important layer to the story—one that connects his resurrection to us in a deeply personal way (John 5:25).
Still, I felt like something was missing. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I hadn’t yet seen the full magnitude of what happened.
How Jesus' Resurrection Stands Apart
I fully acknowledge that Jesus' resurrection is treated by the New Testament as something in an entirely different category. Many traditional answers explain this difference:
- Jesus' resurrection was to immortality, not back to mortal life.
- Others who were resurrected—like Lazarus (John 11) or Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5)—eventually died again. Jesus' resurrection, however, was to a new kind of life (Romans 6:9).
- Jesus' resurrection was self-proclaimed and self-powered.
- No one else predicted their own resurrection with absolute certainty. Jesus did—multiple times (Mark 8:31, John 2:19).
- Jesus didn’t just say he would rise; he claimed he had the authority to lay down his life and take it up again (John 10:18).
- Jesus’ resurrection was a declaration of his divine Sonship and enthronement.
- Paul says he was "declared to be the Son of God in power... by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).
- Peter preached that God “made him both Lord and Christ” by raising him (Acts 2:36).
These answers are true and foundational to Christian belief. But despite knowing them, something still wasn’t clicking in my heart. I felt like I was missing an even deeper reality.
A New Perspective: The Uniqueness of His Death
That’s when my thinking shifted. Instead of asking, “What makes Jesus’ resurrection unique?” I began to ask, “What made his death unique?”
This shift in perspective was the first step for me to process the resurrection in a new way.
Every human being who dies does so as a result of their own sin (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 5:12). Some sins are great, some are small, but in an average lifetime, they add up. Yet, even the worst sinners in history, those who committed unspeakable atrocities, will only ever carry the weight of their own personal sins into the grave.
But Jesus was different.
- He never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22). He didn’t owe death anything.
- Yet, he bore the sins of the entire world (Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 2:2).
- His death wasn’t just the death of an innocent man—it was the death of a sin-bearer who carried the weight of every sin ever committed by every person throughout history.
And this is where everything changed for me.
I pictured it. What does it mean to take all human sin into death?
Imagine the total weight of all sins ever committed—from Adam to the end of time. Every murder, every act of betrayal, every lie, every moment of cruelty, every war, every abuse, every blasphemy, every hidden thought of evil.
Now imagine all the sins yet to be committed. Every sin of every generation yet to come—past, present, and future—gathered into one place, one moment, one person.
And he takes them into death.
This was the full magnitude of what Jesus bore. Yes, this is central to Christian belief, and may reveal nothing new to you, but as I weighed the resurrection against that backdrop, it took on a whole new significance.
If his death was infinitely different from any other death, then his resurrection had to be infinitely different from any other resurrection.
No other resurrection in history had to break through that barrier.
From the Cross to the Empty Tomb
I started to adjust my framework pertaining to the events of that most historic week:
- On Friday, the Passover Lamb was slain, taking into death the sins of all humanity.
- On the Sabbath, the Son of God lay in the grave, bearing the full weight of a fallen creation while the world rested.
- And at the first light of the first day of the week, something utterly new began—the first day of new creation, when life broke through death forever.
This wasn’t just a resurrection. It was a transformation of reality itself.
- If his death truly bore all sin, then his resurrection was the absolute defeat of sin’s power.
- If his death absorbed all the curse, then his resurrection was the breaking of the curse itself.
- If his death was a victory over Satan, then his resurrection was the inauguration of a new kingdom.
Resurrection as the First Day of New Creation
This is why Paul connects Jesus' resurrection to new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 1:18). Jesus didn’t just return from the dead—he ushered in a new reality.
The first creation began when God spoke light into darkness (Genesis 1:3). The new creation began when the Light of the World (John 8:12) walked out of the tomb.
This was the power of God being displayed at a level never seen before. Not just the reversal of death, but the undoing of sin itself.
Living in the Power of This Resurrection
For years, I struggled to grasp the magnitude of Jesus' resurrection. But when I saw it in light of the unfathomable weight of his death, everything changed.
Now, I ask myself:
- If Jesus truly conquered sin in his death, do I still carry guilt he already buried?
- If he rose into a new creation, am I living in that new reality?
- If the power of God was displayed like never before, am I trusting that power in my own life?
Jesus' resurrection wasn't just a miracle. It was the beginning of something entirely new - a reality in which death itself is undone. And that changes everything.
A death that bore the full weight of all human sin across all time could not be answered by anything less than a resurrection of unmatched, universe-shaking power - the very power of God unleashing new creation itself.
And that’s what makes the resurrection of Jesus stand alone in all of history.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.