Who Raised Jesus From the Dead?

The claim is that there are three different "persons" who raised Jesus from the dead, and from this it imagined and assumed to be a fact that all three of these persons are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The claim usually goes something like this:

The Father (Galatians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10);

Jesus Himself (John 2:19; 10:17-18);

The Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11;1 Peter 3:18).

There is no dispute that Jehovah, the God and Father of Jesus (Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:3), raised Jesus from the dead. 

However, did Jesus raise himself from the dead?

John 2:19

John 2:18 - The Jews therefore answered him, "What sign do you show to us, seeing that you do these things?"
John 2:19 - Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 

Jesus certainly speaks of his raising his body. He does not say, however, that he would raise himself from the dead.

By comparing scripture with scripture, we are able to ascertain that Jesus was not here speaking of his being raised from the dead, but of his raising his body, which he did when he made his appearance in the closed/locked room. (Luke 24:36-39; John 20:19,20) Nevertheless, before Jesus could raise his body, his God and Father had to first raise Jesus' soul out of the oblivious condition of sheol/hades, in the spirit, not in the flesh. -- Psalm 16:10; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Acts 2:24,32,32,26; 3:15; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30,33,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; Hebrews 5:7; 1 Peter 1:21; 3:18.

John 10:17,18

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take [Strong's 2983, receive] it again. No man taketh [not 2983, but Strong's #142, take] it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take [Strong's #2983] it again. This commandment have I received [Strong's #2983] from my Father."

The King James rendering of John 10:17,18 (as well as most translations) is not consistent in rendering forms of the Greek word often transliterated as "lambono." The rendering given could lead the reader to wrong conclusions. The Weymouth translation is more consistent with the Greek:

John 10:17 - For this reason my Father loves me, because I am laying down my life in order to receive it back again.
John 10:18 - No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my Father. 

Also:

John 10:17 - Therefore, doth the Father, love, me, because, I, lay down my life, that, again, I may receive it: -
John 10:18 - No one, forced it from me, but, I, lay it down, of myself, - Authority, have I, to lay it down, and, authority, have I, again, to receive it: This commandment, received I, from my Father. -- Emphasized Bible.

Jesus surely spoke of his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4) as being his Father. (Ephesians 1:3) It is his God, Jehovah, who gave Jesus the authority to receive his life back again. Nothing in the scripture says that Jesus raised himself from the dead, it only speaks of receiving his life back, which life he received from his God. -- Acts 2:24,32,36; 3:15; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30,33,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 1 Peter 1:21; 3:18.

Nothing in these scriptures means that we need to imagine and assume that Jesus raised himself from the dead. We go into much more detail regarding this in our studies related to Jesus' resurrection body:

While we do not know of any scripture that specifically states that God used his Holy Spirit to raise Jesus, we do believe that it is possible did make use of His Holy Spirit in Jesus' resurrection. God's use of His Holy Spirit to raise Jesus, however, does not necessitate that we imagine, assume, add to and read into the scriptures that God is more than one person, and that His Holy Spirit is a person of Himself.

See also our study: Did Jesus Raise Himself From the Dead?

Romans 8:11

But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. -- World English.

Evidently, many wish to misread this as saying "the Spirit ... raised up Jesus", but that is not what it says. "Him" in "him who raised up Jesus" refers to the God and Father of Jesus, to whom "the Spirit" belongs. The spirit, however, is connected with living in the saints:"If the Spirit ... is living in you." Romans 8:11 agrees with the testimony of the rest of the scriptures, that is, that it was the God and Father of Jesus who raised Jesus from the oblivious condition of death. -- Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; Micah 5:4; Acts 2:24; 3:13,15,26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:34,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 6:10; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 13:4; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:2,20; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 5:7; 1 Peter 1:21.

Nevertheless, even if Paul was saying that God's spirit raised up Jesus, it would not mean that we need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into what is stated that God's spirit is a person of God, and further imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture that God is three persons, and God's Spirit is the "third" person of God, etc.

See also our study: Spirit of Him Who Raised Jesus

1 Peter 3:18

Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. -- World English.

Peter presents an antithesis here regarding Jesus' death in contrast with his resurrection. Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but he was not raised in the flesh, but rather he was raised in the spirit. Some translators may like to supply the preposition "by" related to Jesus' resurrection, but to do so would loose the contrast. To be consistent, if "by" is supplied regarding Jesus' resurrection, it should also be supplied regarding Jesus' death, making it, "put to death by the flesh, but made alive by the spirit." The reality is that Peter was indeed showing that Jesus' resurrection was the antithesis of Jesus' death, that Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but that he was not raised in the flesh, but in the spirit.

Nevertheless, while we do not have any reason to think that this scripture is speaking of God's Holy Spirit as being a person of God who raised Jesus from the dead, we do believe that God made use of his Holy Spirit in raised Jesus from the dead, although we know of no scripture that specifically states such. However, if God did use his Holy Spirit in raising Jesus, it does not mean that we need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into such that this means that God is three persons, and it was three persons of tha triune God that raised Jesus from the dead, etc.

In reality, the Scriptures consistently show that only one person raised Jesus from the dead, and that one person was Jehovah, the God and Father of Jesus. -- Isaiah 61:1,2; Micah 5:4; Acts 2:24,32,36; 3:15; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30,33,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 1 Peter 1:21; 3:18

See our Links to Studies Related to 1 Peter 3:18.