At the time of Jesus, many Jews believed in the resurrection of the dead, especially the Pharisees. This belief arose from the conviction that God is just and would not allow death to have the final word over the righteous. It was largely beneficial, sustaining hope, moral courage, and faithfulness in the face of suffering and injustice. Yet it could also be distorted—turned into a future reward system, tied to religious privilege, or used to neglect justice in the present.
Jesus stood firmly within this resurrection hope and affirmed it against those who denied it. However, he did not accept it uncritically. He transformed its meaning by centering it on relationship with God rather than future compensation. For Jesus, eternal life was not only something that begins after death; it begins now through knowing God and living in love. Resurrection life was already breaking into the present.
Jesus also rejected the idea of resurrection as a reward for legal or religious correctness. In his teaching, judgment was the unveiling of what a person had become—whether shaped by love, mercy, and justice. Resurrection hope was opened to sinners and outsiders, not reserved for the morally privileged.
Finally, Jesus understood resurrection as the renewal of embodied life, not an escape from the body. His own death expressed complete trust in God, and his resurrection confirmed that death, though real and painful, is not final. In Jesus’ vision, resurrection is both the future fulfillment and the present power of God’s life overcoming death.
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