We know that when people die, their bodies stay dead—which is why our mouths drop open and our eyes widen when we read biblical stories of dead people coming back to life. The God of heaven and earth is the God of life.
In the Old Testament, there were three occasions when people died and came back to life.
In 1 Kings 17:17–24, Elijah raised a widow’s son.
In 2 Kings 4:18–37, Elisha raised the Shunammite’s son.
In 2 Kings 13:21, a dead man revived when his body was thrown into the same place as Elisha’s bones.
In association with Elijah, one person came to life. In association with Elisha, two people came to life. That second person’s restoration to life confirms the greatness of Elisha’s ministry. This second person who was raised from the dead in 2 Kings had merely been thrown in the same place as Elisha’s bones. And “as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet” (2 Kgs 13:21). The fact that Elisha himself was dead is a confirmation of God’s power working through the prophet’s ministry—even in a posthumous scene like 2 Kings 13:21.
These three stories in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha tell of bodies brought to life that would later die again. Bodily restoration foreshadowed the physical glorification of God’s people, so it was not equivalent to this glorification. The Old Testament resurrections were of mortal bodies that remained mortal.
In the first-century Roman Empire, a man named Jesus of Nazareth raised people from the dead. Among his other miracles—which included causing the blind to see and the deaf to hear—the raising of a dead body would recall the Old Testament prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha. After all, it’s not as if the Old Testament was filled with stories of bodies coming to life. The powerful ministries of these two prophets echoed in the surpassing ministry of Jesus.
Before dying on the cross, Jesus performed an extraordinary number of miracles (John 20:30; 21:25). And on three occasions he raised people from the dead.
Jesus raised a ruler’s daughter (Matt 9:23–25).
Jesus raised a widow’s son (Luke 7:11–17).
Jesus raised his friend Lazarus (John 11:38–44).
If you’re keeping score so far, the physical resurrections in the Old and New Testaments pan out like this. Elijah raised one person. Elisha raised two people. Jesus raised three.
Compared to the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, the ministry of Jesus is greater. Like Elijah, Jesus raised a widow’s son (1 Kings 17; Luke 7), but the number of people raised by Jesus was greater than the number by Elijah. (In a previous article about resurrections in the Old Testament, I identified seven correspondences between the resurrection in 1 Kings 17 and the one in Luke 7.)
Jesus also raised more people than Elisha did. The second resurrection that’s associated with Elisha is impressive, because one person came back to life when Elisha was dead. But Jesus surpasses this as well!
Here’s what I mean. While there are three accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead before his own death, the Gospel of Matthew tells us what happened right after Jesus died. When Jesus died, “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matt 27:52). How many? We’re not told. But bodies came back from the dead. As with earlier resurrections in the Gospels and in the Old Testament, these raised bodies would die again.
On the third day, the Lord Jesus rose and put on bodily immortality. His resurrection was unto glory. He was the firstfruits of the future resurrection of God’s people. When Jesus returns, he will raise the dead (John 5:28–29). And this time the dead who come to life will not die again. He will raise them to immortality, that they might dwell bodily as he does—with imperishable life.
If you are intrigued by the teaching of resurrection hope in the Old and New Testaments, consider getting a copy of Resurrection Hope and the Death of Death (published by Crossway in 2022).