In John 11, Jesus finally makes it to Bethany where Lazarus had died a few days earlier. Prior to raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus has an interesting discussion with Martha, a sister of Lazarus: "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again, in the resurrection at the last day' " (John 11:24-25).
In her response, Martha refers to an expectation about the end of the world, one that was commonly accepted by many Jews of her day. As Martha understood it, when God brought down the curtain of history, all the dead would be raised. (According to Mark 12:18, a group called the Sadducees did not accept this doctrine).
In John 5, Jesus himself endorsed the view that Martha took. He said that a time is coming "when all who are in their graves . . . will come out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned" (John 5:28-29). Clearly, this language refers to the end of time and the final judgment of all who have lived.
Now, this is very different from several stories found the Bible where someone was brought back from the dead. That is, they were resuscitated or restored to life. Here is a list of those instances:
Widow of Zarephath’s son — raised by Elijah
1 Kings 17:17–24Shunammite woman’s son — raised by Elisha
2 Kings 4:18–37Man revived when touching Elisha’s bones
2 Kings 13:20–21
New Testament
Jairus’s daughter — raised by Jesus
Mark 5:21–43; Matthew 9:18–26; Luke 8:40–56Widow of Nain’s son — raised by Jesus
Luke 7:11–17Lazarus of Bethany — raised by Jesus
John 11:1–44Tabitha (Dorcas) — raised by Peter
Acts 9:36–42Eutychus — revived by Paul after falling from a window
Acts 20:7–12
One other passage, Matthew 27:52-53, tells of a large number of people, unnamed and described collectively, who, when Jesus died, "were raised to life." They went into Jerusalem, and "appeared to many people." It is a unique scenario in Scripture, . . . as was the death of Jesus.
However we speak about these events, we should not refer to them as examples of resurrection. Why? Because although all of these people were brought back to this life. They were not immortal. They were not raised to new and unending life. Not one of them was resurrected. That has happened only once: in the case of Jesus of Nazareth.
Think of it this way. Of all the people in the passages listed above, how many of them are still alive? Answer: none. They all died again. Incidentally, there's a passage somewhere in the writings of C. S. Lewis where he remarks that it must have been difficult for Lazarus to have been raised from the dead. It meant that, knowing what it was to die, he eventually had to do his dying all over again.
But not Jesus. Romans 6:9 says, "For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him." Unlike Lazarus, Jesus did not have to do his dying all over again. In fact, Paul insists that he cannot die again. That's because on the third day after his humiliating execution, Jesus was not brought back to this life. He was not resuscitated. Instead, he was resurrected.
But what does it mean to have a resurrected body? And what does that say about the future of your body? More about that another time.
