Easter in the Old Testament

 

Paul makes an interesting statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 with respect to the resurrection of Christ, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: 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.” Notice in that passage the phrase, “in accordance with the Scriptures” is mentioned twice. Obviously, when Paul mentions the “Scriptures” he had in mind there the Old Testament, as the New Testament canon wasn’t even complete at the time he wrote these words.

Of course, we can clearly see the death of Christ in prophetic places like Exodus 12, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, but the resurrection is not as overt. This begs the question – where would you go in the OT to find prophetic foreshadowings of Christ’s resurrection? Allow me to suggest four OT heroes that perhaps Paul had in mind.

·         Abraham – The Patriarch of Resurrection

In Genesis 22 we find Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah. This was undoubtedly the greatest test of Abraham’s life as God asked him to offer up His only son, Isaac. Of course, we know that before the Patriarch plunged the knife into Isaac’s heart that the Angel of Lord stopped the sacrifice and provided a ram caught in the thicket.

Now the question naturally arises, “How did Abraham have the faith, to offer up Isaac?”  By the way, didn’t God make an unconditional, unilateral covenant with Abraham back in Genesis 12 promising that from him God was going to produce a great nation and that through his descendants all the nations of the world would be blessed? How was God going to fulfill that promise by having Abraham kill off his seed?

The writer of Hebrews gives us a clue into what Abraham was thinking at that moment. Hebrews 11:17-19, states: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’  He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”   

In other words, the reason why Abraham had the incredible faith to bind Isaac on the altar was because He reasoned that God would be able to resurrect his son back to life. Raising Isaac, the Son of Promise, was the only way that God could keep His promises. Fast forward some nineteen centuries and what God didn’t do with Abraham’s son, He did with His Son. Jesus, unlike Isaac, was killed, and three days later was raised back to life. From afar, Abraham saw the Gospel through eyes of faith and that’s why Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).

·         Job: The Patient of Resurrection

Besides the Lord Jesus, there’s probably no other person who suffered as much as Job. In a single day he lost his finances, fitness, fame and family. But he did not lose his faith. Job became a pitiful patient who received discouraging council from his friends and who’s only relief came from scraping his sores with a potshard. In the depths of his despair, Job cried out “If a man dies will he live again?” (Job 14:14). Little did he know that Jesus would give the answer – a resounding “Yes!” - standing beside the tomb of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Moments after saying this, Jesus brought Lazarus from an early grave.

Later in his painful ordeal, Job had an epiphany. Listen to his amazing words in 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.”

Job believed in a mediator, someone who could bridge the gap between God and man. Job also voiced a resurrection hope to stand in a new body free from sickness and pain and with clearer eyes behold His God. Again this hope was later promised by Christ, "Because I live, you shall live also" (John 14:19). Job’s plight caused him to long for redemption and a sinless, deathless, ageless, painless body. And that’s what pain and loss does for us as well. The more heartache and suffering we face in this world, our desire for eternity grows stronger. Thank God, even in the distant past, Job had the hope of Easter.  

·         David: The Psalmist of Resurrection

In Psalm 16:10, David makes an amazing statement of prophetic significance, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.” “Sheol” was an OT reference to the underworld where the souls of the dead dwelled. The word “corruption” speaks of the decay which sets in on a corpse. Here David was looking down the tunnels of time uttering a resurrection reality about the coming Messiah. In other words, the Anointed One would die, but his body would not be dead long enough for the decomposition process to begin.

When we get to the book of Acts this Psalm shows up again in a famous sermon. In Acts 2 Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost and preaches his very first Gospel message. Like all good sermons, Jesus was the central theme. Peter preached on the ministry of Jesus’ life (2:22), the meaning of Jesus’ death (2:23), the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection (2:24-31) and the majesty of Jesus’ reign (2:32-36). When speaking about Jesus’ victory over death Peter quotes from Psalm 16:10, pointing out to his audience that they should not be surprised by the empty tomb because David predicted it 1,000 years earlier! Peter’s sermon hit like mighty hammer blows upon an anvil, as hearts were convicted and 3,000 souls were saved (2:41)!   

·         Jonah: The Prophet of Resurrection

At first Jonah ran from God, then he ran into God and then he ran with God. Our prodigal prophet was given a second chance to go to Nineveh and preach after he spent some time sloshing around the fish’s belly. Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish is a prefiguring of Jesus’ internment in the tomb.  In fact, Jesus preached on Jonah in Matt. 12:38-40: 

“But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’”

Jonah was a type of Christ. Just as Jonah was buried in the depths of the sea, Jesus was buried in the depths of the earth. Just as Jonah came out of the great fish after 3 days, so too Jesus would come out of his tomb after 3 days. 

I imagine that Jonah came out of the fish’s belly looking much different than when he went in. The whale’s gastric juices probably bleached his skin and did a number on his hair. Perhaps, Jonah looked like an albino from another planet. What a strange sight he must have been to the Ninevites as he preached on their streets. In the same way, the sight of Jesus to his followers inspired all manner of reactions – amazement, fear, joy and even doubt. What a strange sight it must have been to see the One who had suffered so much, now before them in a resurrection body complete with wounds. The disciples could not deny it – He had risen and that was no fish story! -DM