Why did Jesus raise people from the dead, when they would have been in heaven?

Question

The way I understand it from the bible is that you can live well you entire life, but if you lose your faith and then you die you won't go to heaven. So I'm sure that Satan would love the ability to raise people from the dead, take them out of heaven and get another chance to win them over. Yet Jesus (our saviour) seems to be the one doing exactly that.

E.g. Mark 5 describes how Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. However at her death is she not in heaven? Is Jesus not doing her a disservice by raising her from the dead and giving Satan another chance to get her?

And I suppose the same goes for curing deadly deceases.

Edit: I did not know that nobody had gone to heaven before Jesus' resurrection. However I think my question is still relevant, it would just change my question to: When Jairus' daughter died, was she not guaranteed a place in heaven?

Answer 1

This answer is based on your amendment, where you change your question to, "When Jairus' daughter died, was she not guaranteed a place in heaven? " I also note your comment to one answer, "If Jesus had not resurrected Jairus' daughter, she would have been part of the righteous dead and would get a place in heaven. Yet through Jesus' actions she may live another 60 years, during which Satan might get a hold of her."

Heaven was not opened up until after Jesus' resurrection, for he alone could open it up. That's what the temple curtain being rent in two at his death, from top to bottom, signified. That tapestry-like, immense drop curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place in the temple was to keep out all except the High Priest who could only enter once a year with blood of a sacrificed animal. But Jesus is the Great High Priest who entered into the very presence of God in heaven with his own sacrificed blood, which cleanses all repentant sinners who put faith in what he did. Read Hebrews chapter 10 for that.

This means that while Jairus's daughter was dead, her spiritual part was certainly not in heaven. Those Jewish people knew that corpses would rot while the spirit would return to God who gave it, and they would have to account to God at some point - Ecclesiastes chapter 12. They also knew that the prophet Daniel spoke of a future time when "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:1-3).

This means that those whom Jesus resurrected while he was on earth did not have that resurrection. They could carry on living on earth (where they had left off) and would then die physically later on. But don't you think that - knowing Jesus had wonderfully given then another spell of life - they would have had total faith in him? Satan wouldn't have got a look in after that! Read about the amazing results from Lazarus's resurrection in John 11:17-53. Only those who hated Jesus tried to turn such miracles of grace into excuses for killing him. It's the same today. Those who rejoice at how Jesus raises the dead trust in him and follow him; those who are already under the evil influence of Satan just keep finding fault with him. Yet the wonder of Christ's grace is that even some who were like that came to see the loveliness of the risen Christ and began following him; Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, for example.

He was able to tell Christians to be confident that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). He also said, "you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful" (1 Corinthians 1:7-9).

Only those who have not been released from bondage to, and fear of Satan, seem to worry about Satan getting a hold of them, even though they profess to be believers. Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit do not seem to have such doubts. Their confidence is in the Lord, you see; not in themselves. Jesus stated that every single person the Father had given to him would be kept secure in the hand of the Father, which is the same hand as that of the Son. Read John 10:14-30 & 17:20-26. I hope that gives you assurance.

Answer 2

Within the Christian faith, there are differing opinions about what happens after a person dies. Some people think that at the moment of death there is an instant judgment and they are sent to their eternal destination. Others think that at death people "sleep" until the final judgment when they are then judged. And others believe there is a temporary place to which the souls of the dead go where they wait for the resurrection and the final judgment.

In Luke chapter 16 Jesus speaks about a poor man called Lazarus who went to "paradise" or "the bosom of Abraham" after he died. On the other hand, a rich but selfish man, who showed no pity to Lazarus, ended up in a place of torment, there to await the resurrection and the final judgment.

While the rich man had lived for the day and only focused on life here on earth, Lazarus endured many hardships while trusting in God. So, verses 22 and 23 are significant: “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

Death can be thought of as separation. Physical death is the separation of our body from our soul/spirit, while spiritual death is the separation of our soul from God. Jesus taught that we ought not to fear physical death, but we should be most concerned about spiritual death. As we read in Luke 12:4-5, Jesus also said, "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Jesus’ use of the term “Abraham’s bosom” was a part of His teaching to focus the minds of His hearers on the fact that our choices to seek God or disregard Him here on earth literally affect where we spend eternity. Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahams-bosom.html More information here: https://www.gotquestions.org/rich-man-and-Lazarus.html

After this temporary realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people, based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).

The fact that Jesus physically resurrected people who had died did not mean he had stopped them from going to heaven. After all, they eventually died again and would then have to wait till the resurrection and the final judgment where their eternal destiny would be made known to them. The point is that where we end up for eternity depends on how we act while we yet live. There is no second chance to be saved.

As another answer says, the reason why Jesus resurrected people from the dead was to prove his divine nature and to show that he had power over nature, over life and death. Jesus said:

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies... Do you believe this?" (John 11:25).

Nobody is guaranteed anything, although those who have saving faith in Jesus, and whose lives reflect their faith in Him, can be assured of the resurrection to come. Jesus knows who belong to Him.

Answer 3

Your question is predicated on the assumption that, by resurrecting a righteous person, said righteous person is given X more years of life, during which they might make use of their freedom of the will to apostatize (i.e. abandon the faith). Philosophically speaking it sounds like a valid concern, but at the same time I would say it is quite speculative. How could you possibly know if that has ever been the case? What if God only resurrects people when He can make sure, by virtue of His divine foreknowledge (or middle knowledge, if you believe in God's knowledge of counterfactuals of freedom), that they won't become an apostate? And what if the person wasn't saved in the first place when they died, and through their resurrection they are now given an extraordinary second chance to get saved? And what about all the ripple effects their testimony would have on other people?

I think there are way too many variables at play to be able to judge God's decision to resurrect a given person as wrong.

Answer 4

Why did Jesus raise people from the dead, when they would have been in heaven?

The real reason that Jesus raised someone from the dead would be so that God could be glorified in all things (Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus).

There are two points that I would like to point out here before going on.

• When Jesus raised someone from the dead, he himself had not died, thus no one could have been able to enter the Kingdom of God! Jesus had not yet died on the Cross and Heaven was as yet unobtainable for anyone.
• Our Lord himself, stated very clearly that Jairus' daughter was not dead, but sleeping (Matthew 9:23–26; Mark 5:38–43; Luke 8:51–56)!

Of coarse Christ may have performed many miracles for the glorification of God. Certainly the individual concerned also would be in greater position to see the Divine Majesty when they die for the last and definitive time.

A point in question, from the Catholic or Orthodox viewpoint can be seen here in the personage of Lazarus.

The raising of Lazarus is a miracle of Jesus recounted only in the Gospel of John (John 11:1–44) in the New Testament in which Jesus raises Lazarus of Bethany from the dead four days after his entombment. The event is said to have taken place at Bethany (today the Palestinian town of Al-Eizariya), which translates to "the place of Lazarus". In John, this is the last of the miracles that Jesus performs before the passion, crucifixion and his own resurrection.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the miracle performed by Jesus returned Lazarus to ordinary earthly life as with the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus' daughter and that Lazarus and the others who were raised from the dead would later die again.

For example, in Catholic tradition Lazarus became the Bishop of Marseille and is considered a Martyr. Thus Lazarus himself glorified God in death and merited a greater reward in heaven, that of a martyr!

The Gospels and tradition are silent on the final demise of Jairus' daughter. But she too many have live long enough to have become a Martyr of the Faith; we just do not know! What we do know is that according to Our Lord she was sleeping and not dead (whatever that implies) when Jesus raised her from her slumber!

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. - Mark 5:38-43

If Our Lord raised certain individuals from the dead He have His reasons, and surely they became great saints. It is all mysterious and our part is to contemplate these mysteries.

Answer 5

They weren't in Heaven yet, and His miraculous deeds helped establish His status as the Messiah.

Simply put, my understanding as an evangelical/charismatic Christian is that before Jesus died and rose again, people didn't go to Heaven (aside from Enoch, who is noted to have been bodily ascended into Heaven). They went to Sheol, "the grave", which was also called Hades in some Greek translations. It wasn't until Christ's sacrifice on the behalf of humanity that the power of death was broken, and people who accepted His sacrifice were able to start going to Heaven. In fact, one of the very first things that Jesus was said to have done during the three days between His death and resurrection was escorting the righteous dead from Sheol into Heaven.

Additionally, the miraculous wonders that Christ performed were intended for the glorification of God and a demonstration of Jesus as the Messiah. By performing these works, he demonstrated that he had the power of God, and that allowed His message to reach many more people. In fact, it's recorded that at one point, there were so many people who came to see Jesus that, when some individuals were unable to reach Jesus, they opened a hole in the roof of the place Jesus was preaching at and lowered their sick friends down on ropes so that Jesus could heal them!

Answer 6

This question is based on the unwarranted assumption that people go to heaven when they die, whether immediately or at some later time. The question really should specify some denomination that believes this doctrine. It also fails to indicate why anyone would think that Jairus's daughter would have been guaranteed anything.

From a biblical point of view, there is no support for such an assumption.

When people die, they go to the grave (Hebrew sheol, Greek hades), where they rot and return to dust. They are totally unconscious and unaware of anything. The Bible often refers euphemistically to this as "sleep".

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. — Ecclesiastes 3:20

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing … — Ecclesiastes 9:5

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption — Acts 13:36

… the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. — Acts 2:29 For David did not ascend into the heavens … — Acts 2:34

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. — John 3:13

Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light. — Ephesians 5:14

When Jesus returns, the elect, the few people that have been saved during this era, will be part of the first general resurrection. They will be changed to immortal spirit beings, born again as siblings of Jesus, to rule and teach here on Earth during the Millennium.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. — 1 Corinthians 15:51

… And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. … — Revelation 20:4–5

The rest of the dead, the vast majority of everyone that has ever lived, will be part of the second general resurrection. They will be raised as physical beings at the end of the Millennium, when they will live again on Earth in the Kingdom of God and receive their chance at salvation.

When Jesus raised the dead, he simply gave them back the spirit of life, allowing them to regain consciousness and to continue their physical existence.

"Heaven" doesn't even enter into the picture.