Several times in the gospels we are told that the apostles did not understand what it meant to rise from the dead. Jesus spoke to his apostles on several occasions that we know about, and we can easily assume that there were other occasions not recorded in scripture, about his eventual resurrection. Though he would speak to them about how scripture pointed to his rising from the dead and that they would not understand certain things about Jesus himself until after his having risen from the dead they still could not grasp what he was talking about. We can assume that the apostles were familiar with the Jewish teaching popular at the time, among everyone except the Sadducees, about the final resurrection on the final Day of Judgment. They were also familiar with the prophecy of Ezekiel that spoke about opening graves and having the dead rise from them as a prophetic image of the restoration of Israel. They would discuss among themselves what Jesus could possibly mean by his allusions to a coming resurrection and yet the truth of the resurrection escaped their understanding. Even after the resurrection event there were disciples walking along the road to Emmaus who were discussing the “rumors” they had heard about the resurrection of Jesus and they also could not understand what this meant until Jesus explained it to them and revealed himself in the breaking of the bread.

Even today we continue to struggle to understand the true nature and meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. We are much like Martha who is able to express a confession of faith and yet, we do not truly understand what that means. When we are forced to peer deeply into the darkness of death and are confronted with the reality of the death of someone whom we have loved and the finality of what that death means to our relationship with that person, we are left grasping for some light of understanding. How does life continue on after death? When a body is left behind to undergo the corruption of death, what sort of life is the resurrection? As St. John put it so well in his first letter, “What we shall later be has not yet been revealed…” Our ideas about resurrection usually fall far short of the truth revealed in Jesus.

During their time with Jesus the apostles witnessed several “signs” that pointed to the eventual life of resurrection. These “signs” were not precisely the life of resurrection for in each case the person that Jesus helped escape from death would eventually have to make a passage through death to arrive at eternal life. Jesus “cured” several people from death during his lifetime such as the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Naim and Lazarus. These persons were “resuscitated” after having succumbed to death. They returned to their former life for a time but each would have to pass through death to arrive at eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus was different from these resuscitations for he was given a “new life” by the Father. This new life would never know death. In the resurrection the body of Jesus is transformed from mortality to immortality.

This life is the life of Jesus Christ. When we “put on Christ” we “put on immortality.” Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life. All who live and believe in him will have eternal life. The presence of Jesus is a sign among us that points to the Father, the love that he has for his children and the divine life he desires to share with them. The raising of Lazarus serves as a bridge to the final offering of Jesus in Jerusalem. It is a bridge from the Book of Signs to the Book of Glory. The glory that is to be revealed will be revealed on the cross for all to see. On the cross Jesus completes his mission from the Father in perfect obedience and conformity to his will. The resurrection is the raising up of Jesus to glory. We die with Christ in baptism so that we might also share in his resurrection in glory. We are not awaiting or hoping for a “resuscitation” from death but are promised a “new life” in the resurrection that will never know death. Only by coming to know Jesus the Christ will we ever even begin to understand what lies ahead of us in the resurrection for he is the Life and Resurrection that we hope to share.