From time to time on this web site I will write a Learning Activity because the motivation to do so originated from a web site visitor who writes me with a specific question or comment. This particular Learning Activity was written in response to the following question:

"Was Jesus Himself really dead during the three days He spent in the tomb, or did just His body die?"

Let's take a look at what the Scriptures might tell us to help answer the question above.

1. John 4:24 ___________________________________________________________________________
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2. What kind of a being does the verse above tell you that God is? ___________________________________________________________________________
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3. 1 John 5:11 ___________________________________________________________________________
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4. What does the verse above say is inherent in Jesus Christ? ___________________________________________________________________________

5. Hebrews 9:14 ____________________________________________________________
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6. In the verse above, what kind of a spirit is Jesus Christ said to have? ___________________________________________________________________________
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From one through six above we can conclude that Christ, who is Himself God, is a spirit and that He is furthermore an eternal spirit. So God will NEVER cease to exist because He is an eternal spirit!

7. Romans 5:6 ___________________________________________________________________________
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8. Romans 5:8 ___________________________________________________________________________
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9. 1 Corinthians 15:3 ___________________________________________________________________________
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10. What do the scriptures in #7, #8 and #9 above tell us? ___________________________________________________________________________

Because of the above we must now investigate how it is possible for the eternal God to die!

11. John 1:14 ___________________________________________________________________________
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12. We have already established in other Learning activities that the "Word" is one of the names for Jesus Christ. In the verse above, what does the verse say happened to Jesus Christ? ___________________________________________________________________________

13. 1 John 4:2 ___________________________________________________________________________
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14. What does the verse above tell us about Jesus Christ? ___________________________________________________________________________

The coming of Christ in the flesh can be seen in the following scriptures:

15. Matthew 1:23 ___________________________________________________________
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16. Luke 1:35 ___________________________________________________________________________
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We can now see that the eternal God, Jesus Christ, was given a fleshly, biological body like ours to live in for a period of time while He walked upon the surface of this earth for a period of approximately thirty-three and one-half years. This body is what was put to death on the cross of Calvary and is the "death" spoken of in the scriptures of #7, #8 and #9 above.

17. Hebrews 4:15 ___________________________________________________________
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18. Jesus is our high priest in the New Covenant (see verse fourteen preceding the verse above). Why does the verse above state that Jesus was able to "be touched" with our "feelings" and our "infirmities" and be "tempted in all points as we are?" ___________________________________________________________________________
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Yet, Hebrews 4:15 gives us a clue that Jesus was "without sin." Here it becomes necessary to show that the Scriptures teach that Jesus kept His body sinless here on earth as Jesus of Nazareth.

19. 1 Peter 2:22 ___________________________________________________________________________

20. Who is being spoken about in the verse above? (HINT: Read verse twenty-one). ___________________________________________________________________________

21. What does the verse in #19 above tell us about Jesus? ___________________________________________________________________________

22. Acts 2:27 ___________________________________________________________________________
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23. Who is being spoken about in the verse above? (HINT: Read verse twenty-two). ___________________________________________________________________________

24. Acts 2:31 ___________________________________________________________________________
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25. What do the verses in #22 and #24 above tell us about Jesus? ___________________________________________________________________________
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26. 1 Peter 3:18 _____________________________________________________________
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27. What does the verse above say about how Jesus was put to death? ________________
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28. John 10:15 ___________________________________________________________________________
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29. John 10:17 ___________________________________________________________________________
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30. John 10:18 ___________________________________________________________________________
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31. What do the verses in #28, #29 and #30 tell us about the body of Jesus? ___________________________________________________________________________
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32. John 2:19, 21 ____________________________________________________________
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33. How could Jesus have said that if His body was "destroyed" that He would raise (resurrect) it up again three days later? ________________________________________
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The scriptures in #28–30 show us that although the incarnate body of Jesus of Nazareth was like ours, yet He, unlike all of humanity, never sinned. The scripture in #32 above indicates that it was indeed the fleshly body of Jesus of Nazareth that died on the cross.

In addition, the body of Jesus of Nazareth was physically resurrected and ascended into heaven while our physical body will never be resurrected as it is incompatible with our eternal existence. For a more complete understanding of the topic of resurrection please refer to Learning Activities #51 and #52.

To check your answers click on Self-Check below.

Self-Check

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