Dead?—or Alive Somewhere Else?

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Tens of millions—if not billions—believe that when Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights (Matt. 12:40), He was not truly dead. They contend that Jesus was actually alive, that only His physical body was dead.

Yet the Scriptures plainly reveal that Jesus died and was buried in the grave, and was not conscious. When Jesus rose three days and three nights later, He did not rise from life! He rose from death! Notice Romans 14:9: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

Two important points emerge from this scripture: (1) Through His death and resurrection, Jesus became Lord (Greek: “to rule, have dominion over, exercise lordship over”) of the living and the dead. He paid the penalty for our past sins and opened the door for both the dead and the living to receive eternal life; (2) Jesus rose from a state of unconsciousness (death).

Most overlook the word “revived” in this passage. But its meaning clearly shows that Jesus rose from death, not life as most believe. The Greek word translated revived is anazao, and it means to “recover life, live again, revive.” When Jesus rose, His life was recovered from death—He lived again! He did not continue living, as He was previously dead—in a state of physical and mental inactivity! Ecclesiastes 9:5 applied to Jesus, just like all human beings: “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing [because they are not conscious], neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” (Also see Ec 9:10.)

Think of it like this: While buried in the grave, Jesus was as much “out of it” as a boxer who is knocked out cold. But Jesus was not only unconscious, He was dead. He was one step beyond a boxer. Yet like a boxer, Jesus was revived back to a state of awareness!

Why then do so many oppose the Word of God and believe that Jesus died only physically, that He continued living as a spirit somewhere else? Some even assert that Jesus preached to “spirits in prison” while His physical body was in the grave for three days and three nights.

If this were the case, then we have no Saviour, and the penalty of your sins is still in effect! You are still under the death penalty—without hope of eternal life, “for the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Only the death—not life somewhere else!—of a perfect, sinless human being could pay this debt. Only God in the flesh could save mankind. Since He created all human beings, Jesus’ life was worth more than all of our lives combined.

You will not find anywhere in Scripture that Jesus was alive and active while in the grave, or that He re-entered His physical body when He was resurrected. Those who conclude this err in their reading of God’s Word.

Rather, the Father—who was still in heaven ruling the universe—raised Jesus from the dead. It was not possible for a dead Jesus to raise Himself. Life cannot come from dead matter; it can only come from other life. The Father had life inherent within Him, and thus was able to resurrect Jesus to eternal life. In turn, Jesus is now able to impart eternal life to mankind: “For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens [Greek: “to make alive, give life”] whom He will…For as the Father has life in Himself; so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:21, 26).

Sin Equals Debt!

Some might wonder, Couldn’t God have just forgiven man’s sin? Was the death of the all-powerful Creator of all things really necessary? After all, Jesus had much to say about forgiveness.

For example, in the book of Luke, Jesus told the story of a creditor who had two debtors: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both” (Lk 7:41-42). Could God not forgive sin in like manner?

Also consider the parable of the prodigal son, found in Luke 15:1-32, who wasted his entire inheritance on riotous living. In time, he realized what a foolish mistake he had made and decided to return to his father. The result? “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Lk 15:20). His father immediately forgave him and even held a feast in his honour (Lk 15:23)!

Why could God not forgive us as did the father of the prodigal son?

Many believe that forgiveness of any sort is free. Since one cannot earn forgiveness, then it must be free, is the thinking. Yet this is not the case. While it is certainly true that it cannot be earned, forgiveness is not free, in the strictest sense.

Consider the phrase “Free as the air we breathe.” This is not entirely true. Although it is an involuntary action, it takes some amount of work to inhale the air that surrounds us. Even items that are advertised as “free” come at a price. Although you may not pay for it, someone, somewhere, in some way, did!

Forgiveness is the same. Though it is given to us as a free gift, it cost a tremendous price: the death of a God Being! Millions focus on the “free” aspect of forgiveness and miss the purpose of Jesus’ death.

When one sins, he breaks the Law of God (I John 3:4), which all of us have done, as the apostle Paul stated in the book of Romans: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). To sin is to come short of attaining God’s perfect character.

Because of sin, everyone owes God a debt—a price for that sin—which we saw earlier is the death penalty. The only way for us to personally satisfy it is to die—for all eternity! There is no other way for human beings to pay this penalty.

Thankfully, however, Jesus paid in full the debt for us. We need not suffer eternal death. Jesus met the ransom price for all human beings: “All come short of the glory of God, but they are justified for nothing by His grace through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24, Moffatt translation). His death freed mankind from its captor—Satan the devil, who, through sin, previously held power over death.

Yes, forgiveness is “free” in that we can do nothing to earn it—but it is not free in that Jesus needed to die to pay our debt. It is free to us, but not free to God.

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