A Statement of Faith
and You are faithful to resuscitate the dead. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who resuscitates the dead. Shemoneh Esrei
Resuscitate – The footnote to this part of the morning prayer from the Siddur reads:
In the case of God’s promise to resuscitate the dead, we must make a special expression of confidence in God. First, because none of us has ever seen such a thing happen, and second, because it involves bringing back countless people whose remains have long since disintegrated.[1]
Do you find this troubling? Every day orthodox Jews offer a blessing to God about something they believe has never happened. Think about it. How would this blessing have been modified if Jewish orthodoxy embraced the message of those Galilean followers of Yeshua?
And you are faithful to resuscitate the dead because we have seen Your hand in the resurrection of Your Son, the first-fruits of our own resurrection. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who resuscitates the dead.
No footnote needed. The fact of the resurrection of Yeshua is enough for us to affirm with confidence, not a statement of faith awaiting an example, but a statement of a past action awaiting repetition. Is it any wonder that the disciples proclaimed the resurrection as the most central core of their trust in the Messiah? Is there any more powerful witness to God’s supremacy than this? Everything changes now. Every particle of trust, every hint of hope, every glimpse of the ‘olam ha’ba becomes more evidence of what we already know to be true. Resuscitation is not a wishful dream. It is a reality, knocking at the door.
Does that mean we can fathom how all those countless followers whose lives have disintegrated will suddenly be raised whole? I doubt it. But the inability to comprehend how God will perform such a feat does not diminish the evidence that He has already done such a thing. And if God can raise one, why not one hundred million? The confidence we have in a God who resuscitates is anchored in the continuing life of Yeshua.
We approach the end of a pagan cycle called “New Year.” It’s the replay of the myth of eternal return. In this cycle, nothing much ever changes. Another year will follow, with all its familiar routines. But this time, let’s consider the footnote—erased! The resurrection destroys the idea of eternal return. Nothing will ever be the same. Before we hoped. Now we wait.
Topical Index: resuscitation, resurrection, Siddur
[1]The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, translated by Rabbi Nosson Scherman (Mesorah Publications, Ltd.), p. 105.
Interestingly enough, this morning prayer uses the word “resuscitation” instead of “resurrection”…
That phrasing should be of big concern for Jewish people when they think and meditate about this event they are waiting for…
Will these “countless people whose remains have long since disintegrated” come back to life with the same body they had? Will they die back again having this “new body” that will still have a faulty DNA?
You are right, Alfredo: it is only this side of the Resurrection that we see the promises of immortality!
you’re going to need power and authority to raise the dead. And in who’s name will you attempt this?
Abigail, Luckily for us that power and authority is from God as Yeshau said out of himself he can do nothing and all the things he did and said was from God.
When the apostles referred to by his name they were not calling on Jesus Christ. They were confirming his teachings and way of living. A name has no power but a lifestyle of a person reveals the spirit that has made abode in that individual. And it was this the Apostles referred to. Never worship Yeshau as he is a fellow servant it is God that must be worshipped…
Yes trust Yeshau as you trust in God…
Just a different way of speaking.
You hear or read this a lot…
Remember what so and so said or done to address the problem let’s do the same. That is by His name we will be saved etc.
This is how I read the scriptures.
You call yourself “seeker”, but I can tell by your picture you are getting old, and I can tell by your words that you have never actually met Jesus, so who are you seeking?
Well done, you have identified me well. Any suggestion to overcome my shortfall? I am seeking the truth for only that will set me free. As Yeshau said He is the way, the life and the truth. So a third of him I am still seeking.
he that seeketh. findeth
Desire is of the Father-He wants you to meet His Son and become One. While playing the game of Life, holding the LOVE card, you get a free pass to break the rules-love never fails, He is the tree of Life.
Following the pattern is different than breaking the rules. It is firmly established in the scriptures that rules are meant to be broken-for Love-raise the high water mark!
Thank you Olga and Abigail.
The way has been opened,, the life needs to be manifested then the truth will be revealed. The process not the doctrine…
Excellent Skip! What a fantastic hope we have in Hashem!