Hi Roy and Kat,
I’m thinking, and correct me if I’m off base, that some of what you’re getting at here revolves around the belief that there are two separate resurrections. It has been taught to me in the past that in the last day, there will be a resurrection of all the righteous first at the coming of Christ, and then after the millennial reign, the rest of the dead will be resurrected to judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment. So, in essence, there are two different resurrections. Many people use Revelation 20:5 as the Scripture to prove this.
Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
As Ray has pointed out that some scholars believe the first part of that verse is spurious, we may have to reconsider this idea of two separate resurrections. If that is the case, it may be that the Pharisees and the first century Jews of the day, like Martha, did believe in both the resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment, but to them, it was all one event; it wasn’t two separate events as believed by some today. In other words, when they said ‘resurrection,’ they believed all would be resurrected at one time – some to life and some to judgment.
This viewpoint could be substantiated by Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats.
Matt 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matt 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:
Matt 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
This sounds like one event. As does this, when Jesus says in John:
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Of course, everyone wants to believe that they will be in the resurrection to life. Most of Churchianity today believes that they will be in this resurrection. I mean, I hope and pray that I am found worthy to be in it, but as we know, it is God and God alone who has already made that decision even before the foundation of the earth.
God hasn’t 100% sold me yet on either viewpoint about the resurrection. I’m still studying and trying to hear what He has to say, but if Mary, by referring to the resurrection, was confirming her belief that all would be resurrected in the last day, then what could Jesus have been getting at here?
I think perhaps He may have been saying that the resurrection to life that some will experience in the last day is just a confirmation of the spiritual life that those who believe in Him now have. We were all dead in our sins, but through Jesus, we have life. So in essence, Jesus has resurrected us from our death in sin to a new life in Him. As Paul says to the Ephesians:
Eph 2:5 even being dead in the trespasses, did make us to live together with the Christ, (by grace ye are having been saved,)
Eph 2:6 and did raise [us] up together, and did seat [us] together in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 that He might show, in the ages that are coming, the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus,
Paul speaks as if this is a present reality. We are alive in Christ, after having been dead in trespasses. Christ is our resurrection and our life. It’s not just a future event that will happen at the last day. This resurrection to life is something we have here and now in Him. Death hath no power over those who believe and trust in Jesus.
And like Kat said, while Martha’s understanding of that truth may have become a little clearer after Jesus raised her brother from physical death, it wouldn’t be until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and afterwards that anyone would truly understand the life we now have in and through Him, which will lead to the confirmation of that life in the resurrection at the last day.
Thoughts?
God bless,
Eric