We're going to finish our series that we've started as of a few weeks ago. And if you will be turning once again to the book of Hebrews. We're going to pick up in chapter 11. And the title for the lesson Why Jesus? And the answer is He brings a better resurrection.
- Hebrews 11:35
Follow along with the entire series as we wrap up this topic, Why Jesus? He's Better.
- Why Jesus? He's Better (Prophet, Priest & King)
- Why Jesus? He's Better than the Angels
- Why Jesus? He Brings a Better Hope
- Why Jesus? He Authored a Better Testament (He is our Mediator)
- Why Jesus? He Offers a Better Reward
A Better Resurrection
There's an interesting verse that you find here toward the end of the book of Hebrews, and we unfortunately did not have the opportunity or the time to go through all of chapter 11.
It's most everybody's favorite part of the book of Hebrews, and looking at the various individuals that are named for their faith. And going back then and looking into the Old Testament, the reason why they're called faithful, some of that is given for us, but then there's other individuals that we see that go unnamed in Hebrews chapter 11.
Other categories of people that go without any explanation of who they are.
- Hebrews 11:32, 35
There were individuals, according to the Hebrews writer, that did not accept deliverance that was immediate in their day. That was—they were standing maybe in the coliseum of Rome and there they were. The coliseum were filled with people and they were given one final opportunity to denounce the name of Jesus and the church that the Roman government considered to be an illegal religious organization.
They could simply say, we don't believe in Jesus. They could have said, we are not gonna follow after that particular way. We're not going to be a disciple of Jesus who is called the Christ, and if they'd said that they would've been delivered alive out of that coliseum.
But it says that these individuals, these unnamed Christians, they wouldn't accept their immediate and physical deliverance from a certain and most certain death and terrible as it was going to be.
Why? Because they had a better resurrection. They have a better resurrection waiting for them.
That's what we're going to look at this evening as we close out this particular study of why Jesus, because He's better. He's better. He's more exalted than the angels. He has a better high priesthood than the Old Testament.
He brings about a better hope. He has a new covenant attached to it because the priesthood changed or vice versa—because the law changed, the priesthood had to change. Those two kind of are either one. They had to happen. It was built on better promises. As we looked at this morning, there's a better reward in heaven, and finally there is a better resurrection.
Resurrections in Scripture Before and After Jesus
You know, Jesus is not the only individual in scripture who it says was resurrected from the grave. In fact, there's three that we can read about in the Old Testament.
- 1 Kings 17:17-24 - The Widow of Zarephath's son.
- 2 Kings 4:32 - The Shunnamite Woman's son.
- 2 Kings 13:20 The dead man who touched Elisha's bones.
Kind of a strange incident there, but in the Old Testament, those are the examples that you can read about. But there's a host of others even in the New Testament—notice just a few. We'll look at a few of them.
- Luke 7:11-17 - The widow of Nain's son.
- Matthew 9 - Jairus' daughter (also found in Mark 5 and Luke 8).
- John 11 - Lazarus
You have probably the most well-known individual resurrected from the dead besides Jesus: Lazarus. The great friend of Jesus who Jesus intentionally waits. You go to John chapter 11 and John receives word from the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, that Lazarus is about to die and they want Jesus to come down.
He's in the northern part of Galilee because he's hiding away from those in the southern part of Judah that are wanting to put him to death. And they want him to come down and heal Lazarus so that he doesn't die. Jesus tells his plan to the disciples that they're going to go down and but Lazarus is already gonna be dead when they get there.
And Jesus does this intentionally because the death of Lazarus is going to serve—even above all the other miracles that Jesus had performed to this point—to show the glory of God. An individual who was a great friend—we mentioned—of Jesus. Jesus is said to have loved Lazarus very much.
Four days in the grave, and yet all Jesus has to do is he stands there at the mouth of the common tomb because Lazarus was not a rich individual. Neither was Mary and Martha, and there was a common burial place that he would've been in, turned in, and he says, “Lazarus arise.” And out from that grave walks Lazarus. Four days in the grave.
When He is there comforting Mary, he says, take me to where the tomb is. She said, Lord, you don't want to go there. He's been dead four days. He stinks. Just let me go. Take me there. And he invites Lazarus out of the grave.
Now we see something happen in John chapter 12, the opening verses of John chapter 12. Jesus and his disciples are under persecution, and now Lazarus is under persecution. We see that a great many respond favorably to the message that Jesus very plainly is teaching by raising Lazarus from the dead: I have the power of God because I am the Son of God.
That was the message. He proved it through the miracle, and many were coming to him in obedience to the point that the scribes and Pharisees had enough and they're now looking to put Lazarus to death so that they stop his being a witness to the power of Jesus. People were traveling from all over, not necessarily to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus who was raised from the dead.
The most well-known individual to have been resurrected from the dead outside of Jesus was Lazarus.
- Matthew 27:52 - Those who arose at the crucifixion of Jesus.
The night that Jesus is put on the cross, you have those in Jerusalem that are resurrected from the dead. It says there was a—we don't know how many, we don't know who they were—but there were those that were raised out of the tombs.
- Acts 9:36 - Peter raises Tabitha
- Acts 20 - Eutychus who fell from the window raised by Paul.
And you move on a little bit later in the Book of Acts and the last one that we have record of is Eutychus, We read verse seven quite often in reference to the Lord's Supper. It's in that same discourse that you get Eutychus, who is sitting in a third-floor window listening to the Apostle Paul as he preached and he falls asleep and he falls out of the window three stories to the ground.
Can you imagine services being interrupted by someone falling from the balcony up there? Would be awful. Paul walks right over to this individual and raises him from the dead.
Several instances that we could read about in the Bible of individuals raised from the dead, and yet none of them are like the resurrection of Jesus.
There's something drastically different between all these individuals that we've discussed, that we've mentioned, and I think it worthy to bring them all up in comparison to the one resurrection of Jesus and every resurrection that will follow Jesus is significant in its differences.
That's what we're gonna look at here this evening.
We're gonna ask the question concerning what separates Jesus' resurrection from all the rest? Well, the answer is, Jesus conquers death.
Jesus Conquers Death
Jesus conquers death when He raises from the dead.
- Revelation 1:5
Wait a minute. He's not the first from the dead. We just listed a whole group of individuals that were raised out of the graves of this earth before Jesus. What makes Jesus the first from the resurrection?
Well, let's notice that it says that He's the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” — Romans 6:9
There's the difference. Christ raised from the dead dying no more. Death has no more dominion over Him. We talked a week or so ago about the one thing that man does not have authority over, and that's the grave.
- Philippians 2:u
- Hebrews 2:7, 9
We talk from Philippians chapter two that Jesus left heaven above, came down in the form of a servant like you and I to suffer death. We go to Hebrews chapter two and we see that mankind is made a little lower than the angels, and everything is supposed to be under his feet that God has created except we see one thing that is not laid under the feet of mankind.
And you get to verse nine: Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, and He's conquered death, placing everything now under His feet.
The last enemy that Jesus had to overcome was the grave, 1 Corinthians 15:26. I think we've talked about this idea before, going all the way back to the very first promise of a coming of a Savior, when God is pronouncing the separation, the punishment between the man, the woman, and the serpent for the eating of the fruit that was in the Garden of Eden.
- Genesis 3:15
Given us the first glimpse that there's going to be a Savior. But then also I believe we're given a glimpse that Satan doesn't pick up on that he can't win because he believes he's fully convinced if he can put Jesus to death, the plan of God for the establishment of his church crumbles with the death of Jesus.
But God says in that promise, it shall bruise his heel, or thou shalt bruise his heel and it shall bruise your head. What is that that he's referring to? I think it's the resurrection because when Jesus dies, he doesn't deal a death blow to Satan. That's exactly what Satan wants.
But three days later, when Jesus comes out of the grave, Satan can't win. The power of death, the power of the grave carries no sway over Jesus any longer because He overcame death.
- Colossians 1:18
He's the firstborn ever to rise from the grave, never to go into the grave again. Because He sits on the right hand of God and He is a high priest forever, according to God.
- Psalm 110:4
Jesus is a high priest forever sitting on the right hand of God where He mediates for you and for me there at the right hand of God, and He will be there until He returns. He's never going to see the grave again.
What makes the resurrection of Jesus special? That's because Jesus will conquer death and He will then place it under His control.
Jesus' Resurrection Fulfills Prophecy
What makes Jesus' resurrection special? It also fulfills prophecy—not His death. His resurrection fulfills prophecy.
That's one of the major points in the first gospel sermon that Peter brings out this idea of the resurrection. We know that there were individuals of the Jews' persuasion that didn't believe in the resurrection. We call them Sadducees. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in life after death. The Pharisees did, and it caused great contention between those various groups of Jewish leaders.
But it was one of the major points that Peter brings up in that first gospel sermon there on the day of Pentecost, when the church is established.
- Acts 2:24-28
- Psalm 16:8-11
Peter quotes from Psalm 16 and right there in Psalm 16, in verse 10, he mentions the verse that says that it is not possible for God's Holy One—in reference to Jesus—to see corruption. The body was not going to decay in the ground. The spirit of Jesus was not going to be long in Hades. He was only there for three days before He came out.
There's other passages as well.
- Acts 2:30
- Psalm 132:11
There's a couple of things that we can look at this verse and prove. First of all, that Jesus is a direct descendant of David. It says from the fruit of his body in reference to David as King, Jesus is going to be on the throne.
But when Peter recites it in Acts chapter two and in verse 30, he very specifically ties the resurrection of Jesus to this particular verse. When he says that from the fruit of his loins, he swore with an oath according to the flesh, that he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.
If Jesus died in the grave and He stayed there, how was He ever going to be raised up to the throne of David? It wasn't gonna happen. God raised up His Son from the grave.
Romans chapter one and in verse four, as part of how we understand that He is deity, that He is the Son of God. And it was certainly through the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that that happened.
“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” — Romans 1:4
The one and only act of the resurrection would've been enough or should have been enough to prove that Jesus was the Son of God. And yet for so many, that's not enough even today to read about what separated the resurrection of Jesus from the other resurrection passages in scripture.
Jesus will be raised from the dead, never to die again, and His resurrection was the fulfillment of various Old Testament prophecies.
The Future Resurrection When Jesus Returns
But finally, when Jesus returns, all will be raised and those who are not dead will be changed.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I don't know that you can have a discourse, a lesson, a whatever on resurrection and not at some point get to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
That's what we commonly call the resurrection chapter in the New Testament. There Paul will deal with the resurrection of Jesus and he speaks about it as a reality. Because there were some in that day that were saying that Jesus had not risen from the dead, that there was not going to be a future resurrection for anyone.
And Paul argues that if there is no resurrection for Jesus, then there is no forgiveness of our sins and we are of all people most miserable who believe in Jesus and are trying to follow after Jesus and in His footsteps.
If there's no resurrection, you and I are among the most miserable people in the world, but you and I are not among the most miserable people in the world because Jesus did raise out of that grave. He did ascend up into heaven as we looked at this morning, and there's going to be a time when everyone from all ages who've been in the grave will come out of those graves.
- 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
So when Jesus comes back—and we don't know when that's going to be.
- Matthew 24:36
It is a secret time between God and God Himself. It's one time that is not going to be known. We have no idea when the second coming of Jesus is going to be. It's not like those who have mentioned incorrectly that Jesus came back the second time in AD 70. That didn't happen. It's not like those who have predicted the second coming of Jesus and have been wrong every single time, and now they say He came back and we just didn't know it.
No, we're gonna know when Jesus returns. The trumpet shall sound, the dead shall arise, and we will all be changed.
We talked about the very end of our lesson this morning about bodies that are changed to incorruptible bodies, meaning those that will never decay—they're fitting for the purpose that they are built for.
There's a resurrection that is awaiting each and every one of us after we die. And here's where we mentioned earlier, just a few moments ago, that every resurrection after Jesus was raised from the dead after the establishment of the church is going to be individuals that never see death again—save the two in Acts that we read earlier, they of course died a physical death after being resurrected. They lived their life out and they die.
But when Jesus comes back, there's not going to be a need for anyone to die again. You and I will go to the graves. Our bodies will decay. They will give up on this life.
And when Jesus returns we will receive a new body—one that will never decay, one that will never die, one that is fitting for the destination that we have selected.
Notice where we go in eternity is our choice. As we talked about this morning—I didn't intentionally mean to end both sermons in the same way, but we're gonna end both sermons in the same way.
There's only two destinations for the soul when this life is over. Some want more options of where they can go possibly. Some want fewer options of where they can go because they want to deny that hell even exists. But Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 25 and in verse 46 that hell is going to be just as eternal and everlasting as heaven is going to be.
We can't get around that.
Why Jesus? We're starting out 2026 and I did this part intentionally. I wanted to end the year of 2025 looking at Why Jesus?, and answer that with because He's better. Now we've started the new year, we're in 2026, and I wanted us to begin our year thinking in this way: Why Jesus? Because He's better. He brings a better hope. He gave us a New Testament that we can have all the information we need that brings us to a right relationship with God.
- 2 Peter 1:3
The question comes to you this evening, as it does to me. What am I going to do with God's message of salvation? Yeah, will it fall on deaf ears? And I will go out the doors and I will go downstairs and maybe eat and just go on my way and live my life on my terms as some have sung about—I did it my way—or will I surrender myself to the will of the Father and do my life His way?
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” — Galatians 2:20
Can we help you? Are there struggles and trials and maybe temptations in your life that you're struggling with that the good news of the gospel message can help bring you peace? If we can help you, we would encourage you to contact us. We would be thrilled to study God's word together.
