Was Jesus' Resurrection the Same as Lazarus?

Q. Was Jesus’ resurrection essentially the same as the raising of Lazarus from the dead?

A. Not at all. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) notes:

“Christ’s resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that He had performed before Easter: Jairus’ daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised were returned by Jesus’ power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again.

“Christ’s resurrection is essentially different. In His risen body He passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus’ resurrection, His body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: He shares the divine life in His glorious state” (no. 646).

Indications of this transformation are clear in the Gospel accounts. Christ’s resurrected body now has new capabilities: He can appear and reappear suddenly; He can pass through locked doors; He can conceal His identity even from those who know Him well (see Luke 24:13–37; John 20:11–19). Then, at the appointed time of His last appearance, He is able to ascend into heaven in this transformed body (see Luke 24:50–51), bringing about “the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory” (CCC, no. 659).