20. Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, predicted the Savior's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, and explained the resulting resurrection of mankind:—"For behold, he surely must die, that salvation may come; yea, it behoveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord; Yea, behold this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam, being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. But, behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord."[1147]
21. The New Testament furnishes abundant evidence that the doctrine of the resurrection was very generally understood during the time of Christ's earthly mission, and in the succeeding apostolic era.[1148] The Master Himself proclaimed these teachings. In reply to the hypercritical Sadducees,[1149] He said:—"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."[1150] the Jews who sought His life because of His deeds and doctrine He spoke in this way:—"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."[1151]
22. That Christ fully comprehended the purpose of His approaching martyrdom, and the resurrection which was to follow, is abundantly proved by His own utterances while yet in the flesh. To Nicodemus He said:—"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."[1152] And to Martha, who was bewailing the death of her brother Lazarus, he declared: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."[1153] Of His own resurrection He prophesied freely; specifying the time during which His body would be entombed.[1154]
23. Two General Resurrections are mentioned in the scriptures: these may be specified as first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; immediately following which, many of the departed Saints came forth from their graves; a continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation,[1155] and will be brought to pass in a general way in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory, and will be incident therefore to the beginning of the Millennium. The final resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and will be in connection with the last judgment.
24. The First Resurrection.—Christ's Resurrection, and that immediately following.—The facts of Christ's resurrection from the dead are attested by such an array of scriptural proofs that no doubt of the reality finds place in the mind of any believer in the inspired records. To the women who came early to the sepulchre, the angel, who had rolled the stone from the door of the tomb, spoke, saying:—"He is not here, for he is risen, as he said."[1156] Afterward the resurrected Lord showed Himself to many[1157] during the forty days' interval between His resurrection and ascension.[1158] Subsequent to the ascension He manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, as already noted in another connection.[1159] The apostles, as we shall see, ceased not to testify of the genuineness of their Lord's resurrection, nor did they fail to proclaim the resurrections of the future.
25. Christ, "the first-fruits of them that slept,"[1160] was the first among men to come forth from the grave in an immortalized body; but we read that, soon after His resurrection, many of the Saints were brought from their tombs:—"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."[1161]
26. Alma, the Nephite prophet, whose writings antedate by nearly a century the birth of Christ, clearly understood that there would be no resurrection prior to that of the Redeemer, for he said:—"Behold I say unto you, that there is no resurrection; or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality; this corruption does not put on incorruption, until after the coming of Christ."[1162] And furthermore, he foresaw a general resurrection in connection with Christ's coming forth from the dead, as the context of the foregoing quotation clearly proves.[1163] Inspired men among the Nephites spoke of the death and resurrection of Christ[1164] even during the time of His actual ministry in the flesh; and their teachings were speedily confirmed by the appearance of the risen Lord among them,[1165] as had been foretold by their earlier prophets.[1166]
27. In the latter-days, the Lord has again manifested Himself, declaring the facts of His death and resurrection:—"For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him on conditions of repentance."[1167]
28. Resurrection at the Time of Christ's Second Coming.—Immediately, after the departure of Christ from the earth, the apostles, upon whom then devolved the direct responsibility of the Church, were found preaching the doctrine of a future and universal resurrection. This teaching appears to have formed a very prominent feature of their instructions; for it was made a special cause of complaint by the Sadducees, who assailed the apostles, even within the sacred confines of the temple, the accusers "being grieved that they [the apostles] taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead."[1168] Paul gave offense by the zeal with which he preached the resurrection which was to come; as witness his contention with certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics; in the course of which some said:—"What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection."[1169] The discussion was continued at Areopagus, or Mars' Hill, where Paul preached the gospel of the true and living God, including the tenets of the resurrection. "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter."[1170] He declared the same truth to Felix, the governor of Judea;[1171] and when brought in bonds before Agrippa, the king, he asked, as if dealing with one of the principal accusations against him, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?"[1172]
29. The resurrection appears to have been a favorite theme with Paul; in his epistles to the Saints, he gives it a prominent place.[1173] From him, also, we learn that an order of precedence is to be observed in the resurrection:—"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits 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. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."[1174]