ressurection

• Paul says that 'We have been testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in the fact the dead are not raised'

  For Paul, if Jesus was not resurrected then all preaching would be in vain, sins would not be washed clean and at death all would perish
• The Resurrection distinguishes the life of Jesus from that of other preachers at the time.

  E.P. Sanders asks 'Without the Resurrection, would Jesus' disciples have endured longer than did John the Baptist? we can only guess, but i would guess not,'
• Wright suggests that the belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead was the reason why Jesus' disciples regrouped and rapidly changed their traditional worship worship practices to focus on Jesus
• Resurrection became fundamental to what Christians believe about God: the same way that God raised Jesus from the dead, God will raise everyone from the dead
• Salvation is dependent on Jesus being resurrected: "If you declare with your mouth,'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved"
• The resurrection is considered the greatest miracle ever performed and is a demonstration of Jesus’ power and status
• The resurrection of Jesus disclosed God in a new and startling way, through a focus on suffering, new life and unconditional love
• The resurrection vindicates his certainty in the future kingdom of God. The preaching and miracles of Jesus had met with apparent defeat but its power demonstrated though the redirection justifies Jesus’ personal authority
• The resurrection is the full and final revelation of Jesus: it fully and finally reveals and seals the meaning of truth of Jesus’ life, person and death.
• The resurrection reveals the glorified transformed being: it reveals Jesus in a new and finally transfigured way. It is the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to the Sanherdrin “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One”
• Realisation that the weak can mediate God’s revelation: in the resurrection, there is the realisation that “the weak, the despised, and the suffering - those who become fools for God’s sake - can serve as special mediators of revelation”

  Jesus shows God’s self-giving, divine love, even to the extent of an appalling death