Acts 24:10-21
On Trial for the Resurrection
10 When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. 11 You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. 13 And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. 14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
17 “After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. 18 I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. 19 But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. 20 Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin— 21 unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”
1 Corinthians 15:16-17
Jesus Resurrection
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Philippians 3:10-11
Attaining the Resurrection from the Dead
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Acts 17:29-31
Paul on Jesus Being Raised from the Dead
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3-5
Hope in the Resurrection
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Raised or resurrected from the dead after three days: to me that means that Something, or Someone has died for three days and has made it back to life...It is the very key to believing in eternal life and an eternal world...St. Paul was a witness of the resurrection on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), and St. Peter was one the original Twelve Disciples, who got to see Jesus (of and on) for forty days after His death...
St. Paul wrote more on the resurrection, than any other apostle, or any of the Twelve original disciples (including St. Peter)...St. Paul says he was on trial for believing in the resurrection of the dead...St. Paul knew that faith in the resurrection of Jesus was useless and our hope of heaven was gone without His resurrection...Then in his letter to the Philippians he tells them that he wants to know Jesus through the power of the resurrection and His sufferings...Paul wants to become like Him, in his own death...And somehow in his death, he too can attain the resurrection from his death...He did not just want the good, but he is willing to accept the bad, and writes "sharing in His sufferings"...He is willing to share in the fellowship of the sufferings like our Christ, had to suffer...St. Paul wanted to know and attain all the knowledge he could about the attributes of Jesus and about His resurrection...
St. Paul knew that the resurrection was irrefutable evidence that Jesus was the Messiah...The resurrection of Jesus proves that He is really the Son of God...In Paul's own words, he says that God has given us proof to all men by raising Him from the dead...St. Paul knew that if Jesus was not raised from the dead, no one is raised from the dead, and our life is futile, and our hope and faith in Him is futile, and we remain steeped in our own sins...
Jesus taught about the eternities and "Another World."...The other world He taught about (which we know very little about) is heaven...It is the Kingdom of God...It is a life with God and His Son...We are all on trial, in a way, for believing in the resurrection...Believers believe that there is this world, and Jesus is the very bridge and gate to the next world...
You either believe Jesus was resurrected or you do not...We cannot have half a resurrection or believe in it only part and parcel...It is a yes or no belief...St. Peter, who actually saw Jesus at least three times after His death (John 21:14) give us both hope and faith for our own personal belief...St. Peter was with Jesus when He walked the earth, and with Him after His death...St. Peter said this about the hope of the resurrection: Praise be to God and Father for our LORD Jesus, we have an indestructible inheritance awaiting us in heaven...We have this hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...