Bible verses about the resurrection
The resurrection of Jesus is the turning point of the Bible’s story. On the third day after His crucifixion the tomb was empty, and the risen Lord appeared to His disciples. Everything the apostles preached afterward rested on this event.
Scripture does not present the resurrection as a symbol or a beautiful idea. It happened, it had been foretold in the Old Testament and it was confirmed by many witnesses. Paul goes so far as to say that if Christ had not risen, Christian faith would be empty. Because He did rise, death is no longer the end for those who belong to Him.
These verses tell of the empty tomb, the new life the resurrection brings now and the hope it gives for the future. The events of the days before Easter are described in What is Holy Week?
He is risen
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Matt 28:6 · King James Version (1769)
The angel spoke to the women who came to the tomb early on the first day of the week. William MacDonald notes that the stone was rolled away not to let the Lord out but to let the women see that He had already risen, just as He had said.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:
1 Cor 15:3–4 · King James Version (1769)
Paul reminds the Corinthians of what he handed on to them as most important. The New Geneva Study Bible calls these lines the core of the teaching of the whole early church, and John MacArthur points to Old Testament passages such as Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53 that spoke of Christ’s suffering and rising.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1 Cor 15:14 · King James Version (1769)
Some in Corinth denied that the dead are raised. Paul answers that then Christ has not risen either, and both preaching and faith are empty. Matthew Henry puts it plainly: “The doctrine of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the foundation of Christianity.”
New life now
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:4 · King James Version (1769)
Baptism pictures being buried with Christ and rising with Him. MacArthur explains that union with the risen Christ gives the believer’s life a new character: it is no longer ruled by sin.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:9 · King James Version (1769)
Saving faith includes believing that God raised Jesus from the dead. MacDonald explains that the resurrection is God’s proof that Christ fully finished the work of our salvation.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Pet 1:3 · King James Version (1769)
Peter praises God for giving believers new birth. Their hope is called living because it rests on a Savior who is alive, unlike earthly hopes that can fail.
The hope of resurrection
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 11:25–26 · King James Version (1769)
Jesus spoke these words to Martha before raising her brother Lazarus. MacArthur notes that He turned her faith from a distant resurrection at the last day to Himself, and Albert Barnes explains the claim this way: “I am the author or the cause of the resurrection.”
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Cor 15:20–22 · King James Version (1769)
The firstfruits were the first sheaf of the harvest, offered to God (Leviticus 23:10). The New Geneva Study Bible explains that Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of the full harvest to come. Death came through Adam, and life comes through Christ to all who are in Him.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 15:55–57 · King James Version (1769)
Paul echoes the prophets (Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14). MacArthur compares death to a bee whose sting has been pulled out: its sting was sin, and Christ defeated it by His death and resurrection.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thess 4:14 · King James Version (1769)
The Christians in Thessalonica were grieving for believers who had died. Paul does not forbid sorrow, but he gives it hope: just as Jesus died and rose, God will raise those who have fallen asleep in Him.
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 1:18 · King James Version (1769)
The risen Christ said this to John, who had fallen at His feet in fear. Holding the keys means having authority: MacArthur notes that Christ decides who lives and who dies, and when.
Because Jesus lives, those who trust Him can face even death with hope.