Why is the resurrection of Jesus so special?

I know this might seem like a silly question but I’ll try and explain why I am asking:

The resurrection is supposed to mean a conquering of death. However, this story sounds like to me that God had to undergo some type of ‘hard work’ in order to earn the power over death. However, did God not already have power over all things? The story almost makes it sound like God lost some kind of authority and had to re earn it… Some translations of the bible specify (forgot which verse) that his death was to pay a ransom for us. This makes it sound like God was forced to make a payment to get us back. But again… is God not the owner of all things?

Remember that this does come from a Muslims perspective of things so if I have missed something please let me know… I’ll add point to show what I mean. I do accept the story of Lazarus waking from the dead. Allah allows Jesus to perform this miracle to present proof of who he really was and of proof of the power that sent him. This to me shows that God already had power over death…

Jesus did not resurrect Lazurus to everlasting life, he resuscitated him. Lazurus did not receive a glorified body, but remained in an ordinary human body and would once again experience death at a later time.

Also, Jesus is God. Jesus has the power to resurrect himself: “I lay down my life, that I may take it again. . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

The resurrection is, ultimately, a work of the Holy Trinity.

Regarding the purpose of the Resurrection, from the Catechism:

654 The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God’s grace, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace.526 It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ’s brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren."527 We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.

655 Finally, Christ’s Resurrection - and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. . . For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."528 The risen Christ lives in the hearts of his faithful while they await that fulfilment. In Christ, Christians "have tasted. . . the powers of the age to come"529 and their lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may "live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."530

Hey Noorez :)!

Imagine if a judge counts a rapist or criminal innocent. Wouldn’t that judge be regarded as unjust? Now imagine us, sinners as well. If God says we are just, wouldn’t that make Him an unjust judge? But you see, someone must pay the consequences for sin, since sin is a disorder to the moral order. The solution that God grants us is that he himself bears the consequences through the sacrifice of His only son Jesus Christ! Through Christ’s death, we are ATONED for our sins, since the consequences of sin is death. So Jesus died so that we are not to bear the consequences of sin, which is death. This is how God’s justice is proven. God is just because He provides humanity salvation from death through the death and sacrifice of his own sin. God was never forced to sacrifice his son so that we may be called to righteousness. He could have easily saved the world through one word, but then free will comes in.

Jesus’ resurrection is mark of the New creation while Adam is the mark of the old creation. Jesus died to defy SIN and lives to reign with GOD. The resurrection of Jesus is so special because he defied death aka sin, and thus this marks the beginning of the new creation where God’s righteousness is fully revealed.

Lastly, Jesus’ conception, birth, life and death also provide us with moral maxims, not only of love but also of **humility. ** There was a reason why God chose to be born through a woman, why Jesus was born on a manger, why He chose to wash His apostles feet, why he bore the shame, the humiliation and death on the cross. It’s the humility, an example he provided us himself, so we all can follow.
***Jesus said, “Here I am among you as one who serves.”
(Luke 22:27)

Jesus’ resurrection is soo special because he IS the beginning of the new creation!

“For Adam, the first man, was a figure of him who was to come (cf. Rom 5:14), namely, Christ the Lord. Christ … is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col 1:15). He himself is the perfect man. To the sons of Adam he restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward . . . By his incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every man. By suffering for us he not only provides us with an example for our imitation. He blazed a trail, and if we follow it, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.”- Catholic Culture

Wonderful couplet to answer this question:In dying, Jesus destroyed Death,
In rising, he restored Eternal Life.
Because Christ lives, so shall we! :smiley:

I believe the ransom idea you speak of is found among certain Protestant denominations but not in Catholicism. While there is overlapping similar meaning to the resurrection among different Christian groups, there are also some important differences, involving the concept of justification, for example.

Honestly, no one has ever said it better than St. Paul himself in his first letter to the Corinthians - Jesus’ resurrection is the key to the Christian religion. Through His resurrection, he destroyed death for all who would accept Him. St. Paul wrote (paraphrased): “If there is no resurrection, then Jesus has not been raised. If He has not been raised, then our faith is in vain, and we are the most pitiable of all.” Catholics believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection creates the reversal of the curse brought upon all humanity by Adam’s disobedience.

You really need to explore some of the traditions which predate Christianity, if you want to understand the recurrent themes such as virgin birth and resurrection. None of these themes were original to Christianity at the time. Check out the works of Joseph Campbell as a starting point. The lectures of Alan Watts, available on YouTube, will also put Christian ideology into a larger framework, if you want the larger view than those who are immersed within it can see fir themselves.

I couldn’t have said it any better. :thumbsup:

noorez #1

The Resurrection of Christ follows His Crucifixion by which He redeemed the human race from the effects of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve thus making it possible for all to receive the grace they need for salvation.

His Resurrection and historically recorded appearances establish the proof that He is God and therefore confirms all that He did in His teaching and the establishment of His Catholic Church through whom all salvation comes to those who merit it.

The “hard work” was the reality to show His infinite love for each one of us and repair the cataclysmic effects of the Fall which had closed heaven to all of mankind.
