Fake Death vs. Real Resurrection

Hello, dear readers! For all you Christians out there, happy Easter! Today we celebrate Christ's resurrection after being nailed to the cross. I wanted to do a post that was somehow Easter related, so I thought about how Easter is the day Christ came back from the dead. I thought I'd talk about a few fictional faked deaths where the characters "miraculously" came back from the dead. Except unlike Jesus, they never actually died.

*spoiler alert: this post is full of spoilers, so if you aren't up to date on all the shows/movies/books I'm covering, you might want to stop reading now*

Doctor Who

Depending on how you count it, every time the Doctor regenerates, he fakes his death. Although you could argue this, most people (including myself) would say it doesn't count, because we know he'll regenerate. However, there is one time the Doctor actually faked his death. At Lake Silencio, River shot him, then shot him again before he could regenerate. He should have died, but he faked it. He got the tesselector to do him a favor; he was miniaturized and put inside a robot that can withstand almost anything. This apparently includes being shot twice and being drenched in gasoline and set on fire. It was a pretty impressive faked death, and we're all glad the Doctor survived, since that means the show goes on. 

Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective, was revealed to be a fake by "Richard Brooke" (aka Jim Moriarty). Except we know that this isn't true; we believe in Sherlock Holmes. All the same, Sherlock had to do something. So, he faked his suicide. He jumped off a building. There's a lot of controversy as to how he did it, especially since the writers haven't really cleared it up. But however he did it, the great Sherlock Holmes is off solving mysteries. 

Harry Potter

Now I'm sure some of you reading this will be confused. When did Harry fake his death? I'm not sure it actually shows up in the movies, so those of you who haven't read the books will be very confused. Read on, and I'll remind you of what happened. In book 7, Voldemort tries to kill Harry. (Actually, that happens throughout the series, but this is the only time when Harry fakes his death.) Except that, like all the other times, it doesn't work. It ends up killing the horcrux Voldemort accidentally put in Harry as a baby. Harry pretends to be dead for a short time so he has a better chance to get back at Voldemort. (Yes, I know it's "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", but he's dead now, so it really doesn't matter.) This isn't a full-fledged fake death, but it's still notable. 

And those are all the faked deaths I can think of. Let me know in the comments if you think of one I forgot. Now let's move on to the death that wasn't faked, and the resurrection that was just as real. 

Jesus Christ

Even if you aren't a Christian, you've probably heard the story of Jesus Christ. Here's the short version. God created us, but we are sinful and we all deserve to go to hell. But God didn't want us to go to hell, so needed someone to take the punishment. So, he sent his son Jesus Christ. He was born on earth, and as he grew up, he began to teach God's word. His life and teachings can be found in the Bible (specifically in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The government (i.e., the Romans) thought he was a threat and accused him of blasphemy for claiming to be the son of God. They crucified him with two real criminals next to him, one on his right and one on his left. He died and was buried. Then, 3 days later, when his friends came to visit him, the tomb was empty. His friends freaked out and thought someone had stolen the body until they learned the truth: God had raised him from the dead. Jesus stayed a little longer on Earth, then he ascended into heaven. Now I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty amazing story. And unlike the other stories, this one is true. Jesus really did exist. He really did die, and he really was resurrected. I serve a risen savior, and he's awesome!