Who resurrected Jesus?

Answer  
  

In Acts 2:24, Peter says that “God raised \[Jesus] from the dead.” So that’s the basic answer. God resurrected Jesus. As we read more Scripture, that basic answer becomes more nuanced.  
  

The Bible indicates that all three Persons of [the Trinity](Trinity-Bible.html) were involved in Jesus’ resurrection. Galatians 1:1 says that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. First Peter 3:18 says that the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead (see also Romans 1:4, and note that Romans 8:11 clearly says that God will resurrect believers “through His Spirit”). And in John 2:19 Jesus predicts that He will raise Himself from the dead (see also John 10:18\). So, when we answer the question of who resurrected Jesus, we can say God did. And by that we can mean it was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  
  

It may seem puzzling how Jesus could be said to raise Himself. How can a dead man have any say in his own resurrection? The answer is that Jesus was more than a man who died; He was the eternal Son of God incarnate. Wicked men could kill His body, but they could not change His eternal nature or diminish His divine power. In John 10:17–18 Jesus says something that no mere mortal could ever say: “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” No one else in the history of the world has ever had the authority both to lay down his life *and* to raise it up again.  
  

Furthermore, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25\). He claimed to be the resurrection Himself; He has absolute authority over life and death (Revelation 1:18\). Jesus is God. He could say He would raise up His body on the third day because He, being God, has power over death.  
  

Who resurrected Jesus from the dead? God did, and by that we mean all three Persons of the Trinity were involved. All three Persons of the Trinity participated in creation (1 Corinthians 8:6; Genesis 1:1–2\). All three are involved in salvation (John 3:6, 16\). And all three are responsible for the [resurrection of Christ](resurrection-Christ-important.html) Jesus.  
  

