The season around Easter is a wonderful time to meditate on an event that is vital to the Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Afterall, the apostle Paul said if Jesus has not been raised, our faith is in vain and we are still dead in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17–18). Thankfully, we know this is not the case! Instead, the resurrection gives Christians hope that they are forgiven and an eager anticipation that they, too, will share in a resurrection like Christ’s through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11). That the resurrection is instrumental to our salvation is clear, but how did it happen? How was Christ raised from the dead? The answer lies deeply rooted in the work of the Trinity.
Raised by the Father’s Glory
While, naturally, the focus of the resurrection falls upon Jesus, it is important to acknowledge the role of the Father in the resurrection. Like other redemptive acts in Scripture, we can understand the distinct actions of each person of the Trinity without separating their work. God the Father is the main agent in raising Jesus from the grave on the third day. The apostle Paul explains, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Scripture’s broader understanding leads us to this conclusion as well (Acts 3:15; Rom. 8:11; Eph. 1:19-20; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 1:21).
While acknowledging the Father’s role in Jesus’ resurrection, it is important to note that this does not diminish Jesus’ or the Spirit’s part in this event. Scottish Theologian John Murray writes, “This does no prejudice to the action of Jesus himself in his death and resurrection. But it is important to observe here as elsewhere how the apostle brings into distinct prominence the actions of God the Father in the acts of redemption.”
Jesus’ Victory over death in his resurrection
So, the Father is the main agent in the resurrection, but Scripture also draws attention to the fact that Jesus himself has a part to enact in his own resurrection. As odd as it may sound, it is true! Understanding this will not only help us better understand different Bible passages, but also the wonderful reality that Christ himself defeated death.
Speaking of the metaphorical temple of his body and his future resurrection, Jesus declared, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Elsewhere in John’s gospel, Jesus reminds his hearers of his authority to both lay down his life and to take it up again (John 10:10, 17–18). Perhaps most explicitly, before raising Lazarus from the grave, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25a). Jesus, one divine person in his two natures—human and divine—possessed the divine attribute of omnipotence to raise himself from the dead. Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck writes, “In death his divine nature remained most intimately united with his human soul and body and possessed the omnipotent ability to bring forth life out of death.”
Thus, it is fitting that in the Apostles Creed we confess that on “The third day he rose again from the dead.”
Holy Spirit: The Giver of Life
Finally, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit emerges as an agent in the resurrection (1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:18). Romans 8:11 specifically affirms the Spirit’s role: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” In addition to understanding the Spirit’s role in Christ’s resurrection, this verse reminds Christians that, through the Holy Spirit, we too have the hope of the resurrection (Phil. 3:20–21).
One Work of God
While the three persons of the Godhead are involved in distinct ways, it is important, like the rest of God’s redemptive acts, to see the unity of the Trinity’s work. Dutch theologian Geerhardus Vos summarizes the cohesiveness of the Trinity’s work in both the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection of Christ: “In all their external works, the three persons act together. And the work of the resurrection finds a parallel in the act of the incarnation, in which the same conjoint working of the divine persons manifests itself.”
Understanding that the resurrection is a Trinitarian act is not a meaningless or abstract truth. Instead, knowing this helps us better understand how Scripture speaks about the pivotal event of the resurrection. Additionally, grasping this truth gives us a better appreciation of the amazing salvation that was accomplished for us by our Triune God. As we contemplate the event of the resurrection this Easter, let us be ever thankful and praise our most worthy Triune God and victoriously ask: “O death where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).
Footnotes
John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, repr. 1997), 156.
Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Sin And Salvation In Christ, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 3.437.
Emphasis Added
Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics: A System Of Christian Theology, trans. and ed. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2020), 3.592.
