Paul says Christianity lives or dies on the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:14,17). Yet, why would it be of any consequence
since the Widow at Nain's son, Jairus's daughter, Lazarus, and many others rose before Jesus? By the time he
rose this was a rather common occurrence. I would think it would have been met by a resounding yawn rather than surprise
followed by: So what else can you do? Adam's act of coming into the world as a full grown adult is more spectacular.
While this scripture reference is not from the Gospels, it is intricately tied to the Gospel message.
What is the difference in the resurrections of these others and of Jesus?
First is the death of Jesus was a murder. It was preceded by an illegal trial
on several counts (as depicted in the Gospels) and then he was led to be crucified. The others had died a natural death,
albeit it may have been untimely.
Second
aspect is that the raising of the other individuals, while absolutely miraculous in the context of the text, was done through
a human agent. Jesus' resurrection was not by any such means. It is recorded to have been directly from God.
In fact, a couple of these were done by Jesus.
Third,
to pick three resurrections, some 800 years apart according to biblical timelines does not constitute a common occurrence.
But I admittedly had to address the seeming sarcasm of the letter writer.
Fourth is the death of Jesus in his context of being sinless. He was killed by
a society (and we would have done no differently) being a "verified, certified) if you will, sinless person, and forgave
us for that magnitude of sin. Jesus is cast as the literal Son for God, with God as his literal birth father.
The circumstances of his death dictate the special-ness of his resurrection.
Last would be to mention that simply because something is done in history, and recorded
for people to read or know about, doesn't mean it isn't believed or accepted with the power of the original event.
People have short memories. Generations lose their focus and sense of events very easily.
People are horrified at films of the atomic bomb blasts, but let another
one be implemented and you shall see reactions like no movie could engender. And the fact that two were already dropped
would not lessen the impact.
As for
Adam being brought into the world, it was incredible. The difference: there was no one around to appreciate it.