‘All Those in the Tombs Will Hear His Voice’

Jesus made a number of puzzling references to a future resurrection—puzzling, that is, if we try to reconcile them with the traditional view of heaven and hell.

by Scott Ashley

Few questions are more important than what happens to us after death. For religious believers the question is particularly important, because most religions promise their adherents some kind of life beyond the grave.

What did Jesus Christ teach about life after death? Most people would find the answer surprising, because statements in the Gospels about life beyond the grave differ considerably from what traditional Christianity has long taught.

For example, John 3:13 plainly says that “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man” (New International Version, emphasis added throughout). Statements like this show that Jesus and His disciples did not teach that heaven was the reward of the saved (to learn more, read “Do Good People Really Go to Heaven When They Die?”).

Instead Christ repeatedly spoke of a future resurrection of the dead, a fact most of His hearers understood and accepted. After all, they were familiar with biblical passages showing that such notable figures as Job (Job 14:14-15), David (Psalm 16:9-10) and Isaiah (Isaiah 26:19) clearly expected to be raised from the grave. Jesus’ close friend Martha, for example, told Jesus that she knew that her dead brother Lazarus would “rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24).

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn46/thoseintombs.htm

Related Information on UCG Sites:

Table of Contents that includes ""All Those in the Tombs Will Hear His Voice'"
Other Articles by Scott Ashley

Second resurrection:

Search Our Site
Key Subjects Index
General Topics Index
Biblical References Index
Good News Magazine Index
Booklets and All Literature Index
Home Page of this site