By Joseph Kelly
 What is the Resurrection?
 Why is it important?
 How does it compare in the Synoptics?
 What does ‘Resurrection’ mean?
 Of Christ: The bodily raising of Jesus, by his own
divine power, from the dead on the third day after his
death on the Cross.
 From the dead: The raising of the righteous who will
live forever with the risen Christ, on the last day. In
addition to our immortal souls living on, our mortal
bodies will one day come to life again. (Source: Catechism of the
Catholic Church)
 “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in
vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:14)
 The Resurrection has given “definitive proof” to
Christ’s divine authority
 If Christ did not rise from the dead, then he wasn’t
God…but He did, and we too, shall rise from the dead,
so long as we have faith in Him and follow His
teachings.
 Although it took place at a particular time in history
(and can be verified by the empty tomb and the
testimony of the Apostles and others who saw Christ
resurrected), it is something that transcends history.
 Entrance of Christ’s humanity into the glory of God
(Christ possessed a glorified body after the
Resurrection)
 Fulfills the promises of the Old Testament
 The first mention of the Resurrection is found in
similar places in the Synoptics:
 In Matthew: 16:21-23 (after Peter’s confession, before the
Transfiguration)
 In Mark: 8:31-38 (after Peter’s confession, before the
Transfiguration)
 In Luke: 9:22-27 (after Peter’s confession, before the
Transfiguration)
 Prior to and after the first prediction of the Passion
and Resurrection, the Synoptics follow a similar
pattern
 All three begin with either an “Infancy narrative” (MT
and LK) or Preparations for the Messiah to come (MK)
 Next, all three give accounts of Jesus’ public ministry
 Jesus’ public ministry culminates in Peter’s confession
of Jesus as the Messiah
 Not a mere ‘revolutionary’ or ‘liberator,’ but God Himself
 After the Transfiguration, the manifestation of Jesus’
divinity, Jesus and His disciples head towards
Jerusalem
 Jesus comes down from the mountain after the
Transfiguration, only to be raised up on the Cross, die,
and rise again.
 He comes not only to raise up the body, but to also heal
the soul from corruption. To do this, He must be God.
 From all the Gospels, we know Jesus dies a brutal death
under the Romans
 Those reviling Jesus: “He saved others, let him save
himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen one!”
 Jesus would reply to this in His Resurrection.
 The good thief: “Jesus, remember me when you come in
your kingly power.”
 He needed not witness the Resurrection to have faith in who
Jesus is.
 The Roman centurion in Mark: “Truly this man was the
Son of God!”
 A pagan, not a Jew, exclaims the identity of Jesus.
 All three Resurrection accounts are similar, but also
unique
 In all three, angels are at the empty tomb (in MT and
MK, one, in LK, two) and women are the first ones at the
tomb
 In all three, Jesus appears to His disciples (Luke records
the Road to Emmaus)
 In all three, Jesus commissions his disciples to preach
the Gospel (MK and LK record the Ascension)
 The Latin translation: “Rising up” or “resurrection”
(re=a prefix used for emphasis, surgere, surrexi,
surrectus=to rise up, arise)
 Literally, a “re-rising”
 The Greek term, “Anastasis” is translated into Latin as
“Resurrectio”
 The Greek translation: “rise,” rising up,” “resurrection”
(ana=prep. meaning ‘up’ or ‘along’, stasis=uprising)
 Derived the verb “anistemi” (áνίστημι), which means
raise, erect, raise up, stand up; causal
 The noun and verb forms are found in many places
throughout the New Testament
 Áνίστημι: ana (again, prep. meaning “up” or “along”) +
stemi (the Greek verb meaning “to stand”)
 Literally, “to stand up” or “to raise up”
 Used frequently with egeiro
 The Greek translation: trans: “to awaken,” “to arouse”;
intrans.:“to wake up,” “to rise up”
 Similar to “anistemi” (they appear together 14 times in
the Synoptics: MK: 5.41-42, 9.27, 12.25-26, LK: 5.23,
24, 25, 6.8, 8.54-55, 9.7-8, 11.8, Acts: 9.40-41, 10.26,
12.7)
 “Egeiro” is usually the command, “anistemi” the
response
 Interesting comparison in LK 24, vv. 6 and 7
 Anastasis: Appears in the Synoptics 12 times: MT 4 MK 2
LK 6
 The entire NT: 42 (JN 4)
 Anistemi: Appears in the Synoptics 47 times: MT 4, MK 16,
LK 27
 The entire NT: 107 (JN 8)
 Egeiro: In the synoptics, it appears 72 times: MT 36 MK 18
LK 18
 The entire NT: 143 (JN 13); in the letters attributed to Paul
(including Hebrews), it appears 42 times
 Egeris: “Resurrection” (appears once, in MT 27:53)
 “and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection…”
 In the New Testament, the word refers to an event, a
rising from the dead, not just an awakening (egeiro).
 When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in John,
egeiro is used, not anastasis or anistemi.
 In Acts, anastasis and anistemi are used over and over
again in referring to the Resurrection of Jesus.
 Many events in the life of Christ anticipate the
Resurrection:
 the raising of the dead to life, the healing of the blind,
lame, and sick, even the casting out of demons…even the
placement of some words.
 Luke 1:39—Áναστâσα (Anastasa=‘Rising…’)
 This is the first word in verse 39, immediately after
Gabriel departs and Mary gives her “Fiat.”
 Mark 5:41-42— “’Little girl, I say to you, arise’…And
immediately the girl got up and walked.”
 The Catechism of the Catholic Church
 Synoptics Concordance
 “egeiro,” “anistemi,” “anastasis.” In A Greek-English Lexicon
of the New Testament, 2nd Ed. Frederick William Danker,
ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.
 Oepeke, A. “anistemi” in Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, ed. Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985. 6061.