In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul reminds us of the gospel, that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Jesus himself says this in Luke 24:46: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” Paul says in Romans 1:2-4 that the gospel of God’s Son, who came as David’s descendant and was then appointed Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead, was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.” In 1 Peter 1:10-11, speaking about the blessings of our salvation, given to us by the grace of God and made possible by the resurrection of Jesus, Peter writes: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets . . . searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”
In other words, both Jesus and the Apostles who penned the Scriptures of the NT present the death and resurrection of the Christ as more than just the fulfillment of a few isolated prophecies and types in the OT; They are the satisfying fulfillment and climax of Israel’s Scriptures as a whole. This is what it was all leading to, and the NT claims the signs were there all along.
“Raised…in Accordance with the Scriptures”
The OT still speaks about the resurrection even without a direct prophecy. “Raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” means it is the fulfillment of a pattern found throughout the Scriptures. Remember, Jesus himself said, “Thus it is written”, or “Scripture speaks in this way.” So, what is the OT all about? “that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46).
Resurrection Promises
Though references to “resurrection” are infrequent, there was an emerging belief in Judaism that Yahweh’s relationship with his people was not only unbreakable by death but that Yahweh would eventually raise the dead. As Wright notes, resurrection “involves, not a reconstrual of life after death, but the reversal of death itself…It is a way of saying that a time will come when sleepers will sleep no more. Creation itself, celebrated throughout the Hebrew scriptures, will be reaffirmed, remade.”1N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2003), 127–128. Emphasis original.
- Job 19:25-27: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”
- Psalm 16:10: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Peter says in Acts 2:31 that in this psalm, the prophet David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption”
- Isaiah 26:19:”Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”
- Hosea 13:14 “I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?”
- Daniel 12:2: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
In other words, the promise of resurrection was present from beginning in “seed form,” as it were, gradually unfolding and maturing throughout the Scriptures until it’s full revelation in Jesus Christ (cf. Gen. 3:15). And when Christ returns, the promise of resurrection will flower fully, with the final harvest being the new creation.
Resurrection Patterns
Consider the pattern of resurrection in the OT. Abram’s body “was as good as dead,” and Sarah’s womb was “dead” (Rom. 4:19), but he believed in the God “who gives life to the dead” (4:17). So, when Isaac was born, life came from death. Abraham’s promised offspring would be a son of resurrection (Heb 11:17-19). This is just one of the many “resurrection birth” stories in the OT. Rebekah and Rachel both were barren (the wives of all three patriarchs!), as were the mother of Samson and Hannah.
Noah and his family went through the waters of the flood and came out standing on new creation ground (cf. 1 Pet. 3:20). Moses was drawn out of the deadly waters of the Nile, and Israel’s defining moment was when they passed through the waters of the Red Sea and came out on the other side. All of these are patterns of being raised up from the waters of death. Then there is Joseph, who descends into the depths of prison to then be exalted to Pharaoh’s right hand. The entire story of Israel has a “trajectory” that leads to resurrection. They go out of the land, down to Egypt, and then are delivered out and brought back into the land. They go out of the land into exile, but then are brought back again. The OT portrays Israel’s exile and restoration like a death and resurrection.
The prophets describe Israel’s future hope with life-from-death imagery: the barren will become fruitful, streams will burst forth in the wilderness, gardens will blossom in desert places, etc. The prophets themselves often represented Israel’s exile and restoration (death and resurrection)! Like Jonah, Israel would swallowed by Assyria for their disobedience, but would then be restored to be a light to the nations. Like Daniel, Israel would go down into the lion’s den of exile, but a remnant would come out unscathed and “resurrected.”
And all these hopes for Israel came to be bound up with the Messiah. Isaiah describes Israel as a tree that was cut down, with only a stump remaining (Isa. 6), but then a branch/stem shoots up from the stump of Jesse (Isa. 11). Ezekiel describes Israel as a valley of dry bones whom God resurrects by his Spirit and places under the rule of a Davidic king (Ezek. 37). Even the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, who would pour out his soul to death and go into the grave, would one day “see his offspring,” enjoy a prolonged life, and receive the spoils of his victory precisely because he had died!
Even the Psalms contain this pattern of resurrection! In Pss. 22-24 (psalms of David), one forsaken by God, who trusts in the Lord his Shepherd even unto death, is the King who ascends the hill of the Lord. In Pss. 88-89 (psalms of Ezrahites), one who cries out to God from the darkness of the grave, despairing that the dead can’t praise God, then sings of Yahweh’s steadfast love to Israel’s king.
On the first Easter morning, a day of resurrection, God did for Jesus what he promised to do for his people (and even the whole creation) at the end of the age. In John 2, when Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” John explains what the Jews—and even the disciples—failed to understand: “But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:21-22). After his resurrection, and Jesus had “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45), the Apostles and the early church began to “read backwards” and they saw that the all the OT promises and patterns of resurrection were bound up with and fulfilled in the risen Lord Jesus.
“On the Third Day in Accordance with the Scriptures”
Look again at 1 Cor. 15:4: “he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” And Luke 24:46: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” Both Jesus and Paul mention that Israel’s Messiah would not only rise again, but do so specifically “on the third day.” In other words, the OT doesn’t just tell us that the Christ must die and rise again, but that it would happen on the “third day.” The victory of God’s king and the resurrection of his people would happen on the “third day.” But where do we find any prophecy this specific in the OT? The answer is you don’t. You won’t find any verse that says this explicitly. But Jesus didn’t say you would; he said the OT is written “in this way.” Resurrection, a transition from death to life, on the “third day” is a theme found in all Scripture. It’s a pattern, a motif.
- In creation, plant life sprang up from the ground on the third day (Gen. 1:11–12).
- Abraham received Isaac back “from the dead” on Mt Moriah on the third day (Gen. 22).
- Pharoah’s baker died but his cupbearer was restored on the third day (Gen. 40).
- Yahweh made Marah’s bitter water sweet on the third day (Ex. 15).
- Yahweh met Israel on Sinai on the third day (Ex. 19).
- Joshua led Israel through the Jordan river on the third day (Josh. 3).
- The events of Saul’s death, David’s victory over the Amalekites, and the crown being placed before him all take place on third days (1 Sam. 30–2 Sam. 1).
- Jonah was resurrected from the belly of the fish on the third day (Jon. 1; cf. Matt 12:40).
- Hezekiah was healed when he went up to the temple on the third day (2 Kgs. 20).
- Esther, after fasting, approached the king on the third day (Est. 5).
- Hosea wrote that “after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hosea 6:2).
Reading Rightly and Holding Tightly
We need to follow the teaching of the Apostles, and heed the words of Jesus himself, in order that we might read Scripture rightly. The Bible reveals the glory of God, and the glory of God shines brightest in the face of Jesus Christ. We need to behold the glory of Christ shining in the letter of the inspired text. This is what the book of Hebrews is all about. Reading rightly, seeing Jesus in all of Scripture, actually leads to holding tightly, confessing Jesus unto the end.
It is this gospel that we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are being saved—if we hold fast to the word preached to us, unless we have believed in vain. The good news is that Jesus died and rose again. God has made him both Lord and Christ. He lives forever; he reigns in victory. This means he is the only Savior and the only hope for the world. He is the only one who has defeated Death and has done so for those who deserve it for our sin.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!
Because He lives, All fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
