Death and Resurrection Theme

The Christians highly value the stories about the death and the resurrection portrayed in the Bible. In fact, Jesus Christ was able to return dead people to life as well as to speak about the possibility of resurrection. However, there is only one way of resurrection and people need to experience sufferings to find it. The paper discusses various extracts related to the death and the resurrection to determine how the words from the Bible can be applied to personal life. Each believer can experience resurrection if his faith is complete and unshakeable.

The Resurrection Theme in the Old Testament

Job 19:19-27 is a perfect example of how people reach the highest spiritual growth. Thus, a human being should understand the bottom of his heart to find peace. According to this extract from the Bible, the main hero looses people he loved, even his body betrays him. First, he seems to resist God. Then, he decides to trust Him and His will. The man also expresses hope about soul resurrection. This topic is applicable to personal life. Everyone experiences health issues or betrayal of close people and starts complaining. However, the relief comes only when a person accepts the situation and realizes that everything is for the better. Besides, Job 19:19-27 is the first place in the Bible when the person openly speaks about the resurrection of dead people. Job says: ‘And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God’ (Job 19:19-27, New International Version). These words could have both direct and indirect meaning. On the one hand, people can die and forget their attachments, desires, passions, and personal beliefs because they will live in eternity after death. On the other hand, it implies that only a person that experiences the real faith can resurrect as a follower of God (Chang 16). Therefore, the words of Job demonstrate people that only trust in God can help to fight the death and return to real life.

The Bible contains parts where people die and resurrect directly. For example, the extract 1Kings 17: 17-23 tells about the resurrection of the widow’s son. This is the first place where believers can read about the resurrection of a dead person. This process is not simple. Indeed, it requires total faith, sincere prayer, compassion, and perseverance. This situation can also relate to the real life. For instance, the believer can ask God for help if someone is ill. This prayer should be sincere and come from the heart. The person should believe that God can solve the issue. Compassion is also very important because it makes a prayer special. Perseverance is necessary because God often does not help immediately. He probably wants to check the true intention and boost human spiritually. For example, Elijah prayed three times to God to be heard: ‘Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him’ (1Kings 17: 17-23). Each time he did not demonstrate any doubts whether God was listening to his prayer.

The Comparison of Extracts from the Old and New Testaments

God is so powerful that He can even hear and save people from the hell. For instance, the extract Jonah 2 describes the man, who appears in the whale body and stays three days and three nights inside. This story does not have logical explanations. However, the salvation of the person in the desperate circumstances is not random. It proves that God has unlimited power. It might seem that a human being needs only to ask God for help. In the extract, when people ask the Master to show His sign, he replies: ‘But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah’ (Matthew 12:38-40). Similarly to the prophet Jonah, the Son of God will be also three days and three nights on the Earth. These two extracts from the Old and New Testaments could mean that faith of humans is so weak that they can come to God only through sufferings (McTavish 134). Only when people are in trouble, they start to pray to God asking for salvation. Therefore, these stories teach people that the sorrow opens their hearts to God and serves as a sign of the resurrection. In daily life, humans should behave as Jonah, who did not lose hope and continued to pray to God, even in the hell.

The Death and Resurrection Theme in the New Testament

Another important episode for understanding the death and the resurrection is presented in the Gospel of John 11:1-44. Accordingly, the death of Lazar was necessary for glorifying the Son of God and raising the faith in humans. The episode also demonstrates that God loves all people who believe in Him. When they suffer, He feels compassion. However, this is the only way to make people understand that Christ is “the resurrection and the life” as well as to help humans to resolve the consequences of their sins (McTavish 134). Interestingly, people tend to increase the pace during certain events in their lives, especially negative ones. Though, only God knows when it is the right time to stop. For example, Christ waited for two days before he went to Lazar to save him. It was probably necessary to spread the faith among others. If Christ had come earlier, people would not have believed in His power. They demanded undeniable evidence. Therefore, the story of Lazar’s resurrection teaches people two lessons. The first lesson is that only God knows what a human being will face in the future. The second lesson shows that it is necessary to rely on His will so that nothing will happen without a reason. For example, a person should not worry about the death. If God gives a life, He knows when to save.

Besides, the theme of death and the resurrection is described in Luke 24:1-9 when Christ returns to life and meets women. These females stayed loyal to God until the end. As a result, they received a great honor from the Lord. Similar cases are present in real life. Only people, who do not betray their beliefs, can experience the resurrection. Therefore, God teaches faithfulness despite any circumstances. To guard faith means to be genuine in the daily life with others, not only with God. For example, people should be sincere in their family. Sometimes, couples face obstacles and want to surrender. However, it is not a solution. People need to overcome difficulties together and learn how to love. In time, they reach the feeling of unconditional love. If women did not have loyalty in their hearts, they would not be able to see this magic.

The essence of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is also explained in John 20:19-29. When Christ comes to the frightened followers, He sends them the Holy Ghost, a power of spreading the words of God among people. Common citizens also need to “die” and “resurrect” to develop a power to affect people. For example, when people manage to suppress their physical instincts and grow spiritually, others might trust them more. Moreover, in the story people felt happier after they saw the Holy Ghost (Rabens 209). In fact, the Holy Ghost is considered to be a spiritual resurrection of humans.

Conclusion

The death and the resurrection can have different interpretations. On the one hand, the Bible describes resurrection of people who really died. This fact gives hope about life after death. Moreover, Jesus Christ died and resurrected to prove humans that they can find salvation. On the other hand, the resurrection can also be spiritual when people choose God as the only Lord of their hearts. In this case, humans reach peace and rescue.