Lesson 8: THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS AND ETERNAL LIFE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the student can;

Doctrine: Illustrate the link of Jesus’ resurrection with life eternal

Morals: Translate the challenges of the resurrection into moral actions.
Worship: Pray and reflect the Lectio Divina for Easter celebration

PAYMENT DONE!

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town.One
Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by
the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak, “I was
walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging his bird
cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, “What do you have there, son?” “Just some old birds,” came
the reply. “What are you going to do with them?” I asked. “Take ‘em home and have fun with
‘em,” he answered. I’m gonna tease ‘em and pull out their feathers to make ‘em fight. I’m gonna
have a real good time.” “But you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do
then?” “Oh, I got some cats,” said the little boy. “They like birds. I’ll take ‘em to them.”

The pastor was silent for a moment. “How much do you want for those birds,
son?”“Huh?? !!! Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They
don’t sing. They ain’t even pretty!” “How much?” the pastor asked again. The boy sized up the
pastor as if he were crazy and said, “$10?The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten
dollar bill. He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the
cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting
the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting
them free.
Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this
story:

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation.Satan had just come from the
Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. “Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people
down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn’t resist. Got ‘em all!” “What are you
going to do with them?” Jesus asked.Satan replied, “Oh, I’m gonna have fun! I’m gonna teach
them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and
smoke and curse. I’m gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I’m
really gonna have fun!” “And what will you do when you are done with them?” Jesus asked.
“Oh, I’ll kill ‘em,” Satan glared proudly. “How much do you want for them?” Jesus asked. “Oh,
you don’t want those people. They ain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and they’ll just hate
you. They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don’t want those people!!” “How much?
He asked again.Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your blood, tears and your life.”

Jesus said, “DONE!” Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.

So we have Easter

Our sin violates God’s perfect justice, so He has every right to demand that a price be
paid to satisfy this justice. Christ’s death was that price, and the price was also a ransom that
secured our release from our bondage to sin. Jesus’ resurrection completes the process. In this
lesson we will look into understanding the resurrection of Jesus and eternal life.

FOUR ACCOUNTS, ONE REALITY

The Resurrection Narratives are easy to find in each Gospel – just check out the last
chapter of each of the Synoptic Gospels (Mt. 28, Mk. 16, and Lk. 24) and the last two chapters of
the Gospel of John (Jn. 20-21). 

MATTHEW28 MARK 16 LUKE24 JOHN20-21

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andtell his aretoldbya“young 3)]discovertheem Jesusloved” (20:1-
disciples(28:1-8). mandressed ptytomband 2).
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andthattheyshould that tomb,find
tell“his Jesushasbeenrais itempty,andreturntot
 disciplesand ed.Theytell heirhomes(20:3-10).
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andtoallthe
rest”(24:1-12).

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The Gospels can’t keep their stories straight! How many women went to the tomb and
when did they leave? How many angels visited the tomb? Did Jesus appear to all the women or
just Mary Magdalene?

Actual contradictions in the Resurrection reports would raise serious concerns for
Christianity. If these discrepancies are legitimate, they would be a strike against the preservation
of Scripture, but errors would not prove anything against the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection or
the infallible original records. Nevertheless, Christians need not worry. These accounts can be
reconciled. Indeed, when we put all the pieces together, the wonder of the Resurrection shines
out in even greater glory.

There is no need to assume a discrepancy. Though they report some of the details
differently, the Gospels agree in all important points. The accounts are in harmony on the fact;

1. that Jesus was dead and buried;

2. that the disciples were not prepared for His death, but were totally confused;
3. that the tomb was empty on Easter morning;
4. that the empty tomb did not convince them;
5. that Jesus had risen;
6. that Mary thought the body had been stolen.
7. that the disciples had certain experiences which they believed to be appearances of
the resurrected Christ
 8. that the disciples proclaimed the resurrection story in Jerusalem, in the place where
Jesus had been killed and buried. 

All these facts considered together constitute a powerful argument for the validity of the
resurrection story. 

In these fundamental truths, there are absolutely no contradictions. The so-called

variations in the narratives are only the details which were most vividly impressed on one mind
or another of the witnesses of the Lord's resurrection, or on the mind of the writers of these four
respective Gospels. The closest, most critical, examination of these narratives throughout the
ages never had destroyed and can never destroy their powerful testimony to the truth that Christ
did rise from the dead on the third day, and was seen by many.

THE RESURRECTION AND ETERNAL LIFE

The ultimate meaning of Christ’s Resurrection?

“The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ’s works and
teachings.  All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if
Christ by His Resurrection has given proof of His divine authority, which he had promised”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 651).

The Nicene Creed used at Mass speaks of Christ’s Resurrection in terms of the phrase “in
accordance with the Scriptures“?

“Christ’s Resurrection is the fulfillment of the promises both of the Old Testament and of
Jesus Himself during His early life (Matthew 28:6; Mark 16:7; Luke 24:6-7, 26-27, 44-48).  The
phrase ‘in accordance with the Scriptures’ (Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; cf. also the Nicene Creed)
indicates that Christ’s Resurrection fulfilled these predictions” (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, 652).

Christ’s Resurrection as related to His Divinity?

“The truth of Christ’s divinity, i.e. that Jesus Christ is God, is confirmed by His
Resurrection.  He had said: ‘When you lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am
He’ (John 8:28).  The Resurrection of the Crucified One shows that he was truly ‘I Am,’ the Son
of God and God Himself.  So St. Paul could declare to the Jews: ‘What God promised to the
fathers, this He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the
second psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten You’ (Acts of the Apostles 13:32-34;
Psalm 2:7)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 653).
The Resurrection of Christ as related to the Incarnation?

The Resurrection and Incarnation are connected to each other, because in order to “raise
up” our fallen human nature in the Resurrection, the Son of God had to become “Man.”
Therefore, the Resurrection is the fulfillment or the reason why God became Man.  The
Incarnation is defined as “the fact that the Son of God assumed human nature and became man in
order to accomplish our salvation in that same human nature” (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, Glossary, p. 883). “Christ’s Resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God’s
Son and is its fulfillment in accordance with God’s eternal plan” (Catechism, 653).

What is the nature of the “new life” given to us by Jesus’ Resurrection?

The “new life” opened to us by Jesus’ Resurrection includes these aspects of our redemption:

1. This new life is above all a justification that reinstates us in God’s grace, ‘so that as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the
newness of life” (Romans 6:4; cf. also Romans 4:25).  

Justification means “the gracious action of God which frees us from sin and
communicates (i.e. gives to us) the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
(Romans 3:22; Catechism, Glossary, p. 885). Justification involves the remission of sins,
and the sanctification (i.e. being made “holy” by God) and renewal of the interior human
person (Catechism, 1987-1989). 

Remission of sins means “the forgiveness of sins, which is accomplished in us

through faith and Baptism” (Catechism, Glossary, p. 896). Faith and Baptism
come as a result of the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
Sanctification means “to make holy.” 

Sanctification is the healing of our human nature that was wounded or damaged
first by Original Sin, and then by the actual sins we commit (i.e. our Mortal and
Venial Sins). We are sanctified or healed in our nature by God’s Grace – which
gives us a share (participation in) in the actual life of God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If we “share” or participate in the life of a God
Who is All-holy and Immortal, that sharing in God’s life makes us holy and
immortal. Sanctifying Grace is the grace that gives us a share in God’s life.
Adam and Eve lost this participation in God’s life when they committed Original
Sin. We gain God’s life back through Sanctifying Grace given in Baptism.

2. Justification consists in both victory over death caused by sin and a new participation in
grace” (Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 Peter 1:3).
 3. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ’s brethren, as Jesus Himself
called His disciples after His Resurrection: “Go and tell My brethren” (Matthew 28:10;
John 2017).  Filial adoption is the name given to the process in which god “adopts” us, or
makes of us His sons and daughters: “He is destined us in love to be His sons” and “to be
conformed in the Image of His Son” through “the Spirit of sonship” (Ephesians 1:4-5, 9;
Romans 8:15, 29; Catechism 257).
What will cause our resurrection from the dead?

“Christ’s Resurrection – and the risen Christ Himself – is the principle and source of our
future resurrection: ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have
fallen asleep…for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all remain alive” (1 Corinthians
15:20-22; Catechism, 655).

 “The principle and source”: this phrase means that Jesus Himself and His Resurrection
will be the CAUSE of our rising.

When does this “new life” in Christ, leading to our resurrection, begin?

It begins with Baptism.  We are already participating or sharing in God’s life – but this
life will only come to completion when we are raised from the dead.  And yet, even now “the
risen Christ lives in the hearts of His faithful while they await that fulfilment.  In Christ,
Christians “have tasted…the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5) and their lives are swept
up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may ‘live no longer for themselves but for
Him Who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15; Cf. Colossians 3:1-
3; Catechism, 655).
 LET US LEARN MORE

Activity A: Participating in the Resurrection

Direction: We are already participating or sharing in God’s life – but this life will only come
to completion when we are raised from the dead.  And yet, even now “the risen
Christ lives in our hearts while they await that fulfilment.  In what way you can
concretize this participation in God’s life at present.
Activity B: Lectio Divina for Easter
Direction: Pray and reflect the Lectio Divina for Easter
Open this link https://portlanddiocese.org/sites/default/files/files/lectio-divina-
easter-1st-sun.pdf then make you prayer about resurrection.
References:

Poblocki, R. (2108). Catholic Q&A: The Meaning and Effects of the Resurrection of Jesus.
Retrieved from https://www.thestationofthecross.com/catholic-qa-the-meaning-and-
effects-of-the-resurrection-of-jesus/

Brockhaus, H. (2017). Pope on Easter: The Resurrection is more than a party – it’s the source of
eternal Life. Retrieved from https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-on-easter-
the-resurrection-is-more-than-a-party-its-the-source-of-eternal-life-96535

Catholic Strength. (2018). I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. Retrieved from
https://catholicstrength.com/2018/04/09/i-am-the-resurrection-and-the-life/

V. (2013). Why to save them? Stories for Homilies.

https://stories4homilies.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/why-to-save-them/

Ekeh, A. (2014). The Resurrection Narratives in the Four Gospels. Amy Ekeh.
http://www.amyekeh.com/blog/2014/4/22/resource-the-resurrection-narratives-in-the-
four-gospels

bethinking.org. (2007). Don’t the resurrection accounts contradict each other?

https://www.bethinking.org/did-jesus-rise-from-the-dead/q-dont-the-resurrection-
accounts-contradict-each-other