In Isaiah 26 we read ‘A Song of Praise’ and the following passage eluding to a future time where a song of praise to the lord will be sang in the ‘land of Judah’ including the following paragraph:

“But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—

let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—

your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.”

Isaiah 26:19

In the book of Daniel we also read the following:

“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

(…)

 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

Daniel 12:2&13

This suggests to believe that one day the dead will become alive again. The passage of David also points to a final judgement and that at the end everyone will get their deserved inheritance.

During the time of Jesus not all the dead were resurrected and a final judgement did not happen. Until this day the dead remain buried and thus for many Jews this indicates that the Messiah did not arrive yet.

How can then Christians claim Jesus is still the Messiah?

Death resurrections in the Gospels

The gospel shows that for Jesus nothing was impossible including resurrecting the dead. For example we read the following:

“Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God.”

Luke 7:11-16

Further we read that Jesus also raised Lazarus who was dead already for 4 days. I also include a pre-passage where Jesus talks with Martha, the sister of Lazarus, as the content of the conversation is quite important in our context:

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:21-27

Through this, Jesus says that everyone who believes in him will live also if they are dead. I understand this as our spirit / soul living on after death and getting into paradise or the limbo. 

Nevertheless, Jesus did also truly raise Lazarus and got him back on to this very earth including his spirit:

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

John 11:38-44

We further understand from John that this last major sign of his omnipotence actually led to the plot by the Pharisees to kill Jesus. As one can imagine, killing God – the commander of life and death – is quite useless. As the innocent lamb, he did let it happen, however as we read on we understand that this led to the ultimate resurrections. First, the resurrections of the holy:

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:50-54

After 3 days, we read in all four Gospels that Jesus resurrected himself by his own will:

“Jesus Has Risen

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28

If someone is doubting that Jesus did resurrect himself, I would like to remind that person what fearful followers Jesus had and that all but one were fleeing when Jesus was captured and dragged to be crucified. They left Jerusalem and went into hiding, however after 3 days, after Jesus resurrected himself from the dead, they took courage and gathered again. They went into the world to spread the word and achieved making Christianity the most popular religion until this very day despite heavy persecution and death sentences faced by all of them, except the one that was there during his crucifixion. People rarely risk death for something they know is false or fabricated. Therefore, the most plausible explanation of their radical change is that they had truly encountered the risen Jesus: They must have seen something after Jesus’s death that convinced them that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is all powerful and that there is life after death. Else they would have not so readily given their life for him and his cause.

Concluding from this, according to the Gospels, Jesus did indeed resurrect others as well as himself from death. He also clearly pointed to a spiritual resurrection of those that believe in him. However it is a fact that most of the dead, also very good and holy people remain dead also to this very day. So also if Jesus was the Messiah, how can that be?

Resurrections in the book of Revelation

The last book of the Bible, is the book of Revelation. It gives an outlook and prophecy of the future. At the very beginning we read the following words spoken by the “Son of Man”, most likely Jesus:

“Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Revelation  1:17-18

This indicates that Jesus is the ruler of resurrections. Because he holds the keys, he can choose when and how the final resurrection happens; the delay does not weaken his messianic claim but presupposes his authority over the timing. Further on we read the following:

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Revelation 20:4-6

Further on we read the following:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 20:11-15

This very much relates to the passage of Daniel that we read initially and that indicates that there is a final judgement, allowing those who are holy to be resurrected and live forever, while the bad will perish.

Conclusion

Isaiah 26 and Daniel 12 seem unfulfilled because the general resurrection has not occurred. I agree that the full realization of the Isaiah prophecy did not come into effect yet. However, if I read the book of Revelation I understand that this is very much by intention. Jesus did prove during his time on earth that he is omnipotent and he was raising multiple people from death and eventually even raised himself. I understand that if someone believes in Jesus, he or she will live on even if they are being dead.   Jesus opened the gates to the real resurrection – of being able to enter paradise if someone was fulfilling the Mosaic commandments. The final judgement and resurrection of all is still to come as the book of Revelation confirms, however Jesus did initiate the process. 

Thus, Jesus fulfills these prophecies by inaugurating resurrection (raising others and himself) and by holding authority to bring about the final resurrection and judgment at the divinely appointed time.

Let me conclude with this final quote:

“For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Philippians 3:18-21

The topic of resurrection in the books of Maria Valtorta

In the visions of the Italian mystic Maria Valtorta, the topic of resurrection is a very prominent one. For example In this passage Jesus talks about it directly:

“Two are the resurrections of what is arid and dead to life. Two are outlined in the words of the prophet. The first is resurrection to Life and in Life, that is, in Grace which is Life, of all those who receive the Word of the Lord, the spirit generated by the Father, and is God like the Father, Whose Son He is, and is named Word, the Word Who is Life and gives Life. That Life of which everybody is in need, and of which Israel, like the Gentiles, is devoid. Because if so far it was sufficient for Israel to hope for and await the Life coming from Heaven, in order to have eternal Life, from now on Israel will have to accept the Life in order to live. I solemnly tell you that those of My people who do not accept Me-Life, will not have the Life, and My coming will be for them cause of death, because they will have rejected the Life that was coming to them to be communicated to them. The hour has come when Israel will be divided into those who are alive and those who are dead. It is the hour to choose to live or die. The Word has spoken, He has shown His Origin and Power, He has cured, taught, raised people from the dead, and He will soon have accomplished His mission. There is no more excuse for those who do not come to the Life. The Lord passes by. Once He has passed, He does not come back. He did not go back into Egypt to give life back to the first-born of those who had scoffed at and oppressed Him in His children. He will not come back this time either, after the sacrifice of the Lamb has decided destinies. Those who do not receive Me before My passing, and who hate and will hate Me, will not have My Blood to sanctify their spirits, they will not live and will not have their God with them for the remainder of their pilgrimage on the Earth. Without Divine Manna, without the protective bright cloud, without the Water coming from Heaven, devoid of God,they will go wandering through the vast desert that is the Earth, all the Earth, entirely a desert, if those who cross it lack union with Heaven, the closeness of the Father and Friend: God. And there is a second resurrection: the universal one, when the bones which have been dry and scattered for ages, will become fresh and covered with sinews, flesh and skin. And it will be the Judgement. And the flesh and blood of the just will rejoice with their spirits in the eternal Kingdom, and the flesh and blood of the damned will suffer with their spirits in the eternal punishment. I love you, o Israel; I love you, o Gentilism; I love you, o Mankind! And because of this love I invite you to Life and to the blissful Resurrection.»

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 532. In the Synagogue of the Roman Freedmen

In this passage, Jesus talks to an orphan boy that he meets on the day about death and resurrection:

“« Do not weep. Listen. Do you know where we are? This is Bethel. Holy Jacob dreamt of the angels here. Do you know? Do you remember? »

« Yes, Lord. He saw a ladder that from the earth reached up to Heaven and the angels went up and down, and my mother used to say that when one dies, if one has always been good, one sees the same thing and goes up that ladder to the House of God. My mother used to tell me many things… But now she does not tell me any more… I have them all in here and that is all I have of hers…» Tears stream down his little sad face.

« Do not weep like that! Listen, Jabez. I also have a Mother and Her name is Mary and She is holy and good and can tell many things. She is wiser than a teacher and more gentle and beautiful than an angel. We are going to see Her now. She will love you so much. And She will tell you many things. And then John’s mother is with her and she is very good, too, and her name is Mary. And there is the mother of my brother Judas, and she is as sweet as a honey cake and her name is Mary, too. They will love you so much. Because you are a clever boy and for My sake, because I love you so much. And you will grow up with them and when you are big, you will be a holy man of God, like a doctor you will preach Jesus Who has given you a new mother here and Who will open the gates of Heaven to your dead mother and to your father, and will open them also to you when your hour comes. You will not even need to climb the long ladder of Heaven when you die. You will have climbed it during your lifetime, being a good disciple, and you will find yourself up there, at the gate of Paradise, and I will be there and I will say to you: “Come, My friend and son of Mary” and we shall be together. » Jesus’ bright smile, while walking slightly bent to be closer to the raised face of the child who is walking beside Him with his hand held by Jesus, and the wonderful story wipe his tears and make him smile.

The boy, who is far from being dim of wit but is only stunned by grief and the hardships he has suffered, is interested in the story and asks: « You said that You will open the gates of Heaven. Are they not closed because of the great Sin? My mother used to say that no one could enter until forgiveness had come and the just were waiting for it in Limbo. »

« It is so. But preaching the word of God I will go to the Father and… having obtained forgiveness for you, I will say to Him: “Father, I have fulfilled Your will. Now I want My reward for My sacrifice. Let the just, who are waiting, come to Your Kingdom.” And the Father will say to Me: “Let it be done as You wish.” I will then come down and I will call all the just, and at the sound of My voice Limbo will open its gates and the holy Patriarchs, the bright Prophets, the blessed women of Israel will come out rejoicing. And do you know how many children? There will be children of all ages, as many as the flowers in a flowery meadow! And they will follow Me singing and will ascend to the beautiful Paradise. »

« And will my mother be there? »

« Most certainly. »”

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 194. From Shechem to Beeroth.

And another one where Jesus compares his death to the story of Jonah remaining in the belly of the sea-monster:

“«Listen. The sign of Jonah that I promised to the wicked, and I promise to you

perfection in believing when you see that it is accomplished, is this.

As Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and then was vomited on the shore to convert and save Nineveh, so it will happen to the Son of man. To calm the billows of a great satanic storm, the mighty ones in Israel will deem it necessary to sacrifice the Innocent. But they will only increase their dangers, because in addition to Satan who will perturb them, they will have God Who will punish them after the crime. They could defeat the storm by believing in Me. But they will not believe, because they see in Me the cause of their perturbation, of their fears, dangers and refutation of their false holiness. But when the hour comes, the insatiable monster, that is, the bowels of the earth, which swallow every man who dies, will open up to give the Light back to the world that denied it.

So as Jonah was a sign of the power and mercy of the Lord for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of man will be the sign for this generation. With the difference that Nineveh was converted whereas Jerusalem will not be converted, because it is full of the wicked generation of which I spoke. So the Queen of the South will rise on Doomsday against the men of this generation and will condemn them. Because she came, in her days, from the end of the world to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, whilst this generation, which has Me with them, will not listen to Me and they persecute and drive Me away as if I were a leper and a sinner, and yet I am much greater than Solomon. Also the people of Nineveh will rise on Doomsday against the wicked generation that will not turn to the Lord its God, because they were converted by the preaching of a man.

And I am greater than any man, be it Jonah or any other Prophet. I will therefore give the sign of Jonah to those who ask for a definitely unequivocal sign. I will give one and one sign to those who arrogantly refuse to bow to the proofs that I have already given them of people rising from death by My command. I will give all signs. The sign of a decomposed body that becomes alive and whole-some, and the sign of a Body that rises by Itself from death because Its Spirit is gifted with almighty power. But they will not be graces. They will not smooth the situation. Neither here, nor in the eternal books. What is written, is written. And proofs will pile up, like stones for a lapidation. They will pile up against Me, to harm Me, but unsuccessfully. And against them to crush them forever by the sentence of God reserved for the wicked incredulous.

That is the sign of Jonah of which I spoke.”

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 343. At Caesarea Philippi