Saturday, January 02, 2010

According to the Scriptures?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

But which Scriptures? Initially I could only think of Jonah, but Craig Blomberg (p. 296, 1 Corinthians (NIVAC)) is helpful:

It is less clear which Scriptures point to the resurrection on the third day. Perhaps [although CK Barrett says the Greek does not suggest this] Paul meant only that the Scriptures testified to Christ's resurrection, with passages like Psalms 16:8-11 and 110:1-4 in view (cf. Acts 2:24-36). In that case, "according to the Scriptures" would modify only the verb "raised" and not the phrase "on the third day." But he may also have found some typological significance in the third-day references to God's vindication of his people in such texts as Genesis 42:18. Exodus 19:16, Joshua 2:22, Ezra 8:32, Esther 5:1, Jonah 1:17 (cf. Matt. 12:40), and especially Hosea 6:2.

In a footnote he says that B. de Margerie "demonstrates how the ancient rabbis linked such texts together in an early midrash on Genesis 22:4", which itself may also be a text that Paul had in mind.

I have also heard Mike Reeves mention Genesis 1:11-13 where on the third day the earth brings forth vegetation (life). That seems a plausible text given Jesus' own prediction of his death and resurrection in John 12:24 ("unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit").

UPDATE: As Dave Bish pointed out, Mike Reeves (and others, e.g. Barnabas Lindars), also see a convincing connection between 1 Corinthians 15 and Leviticus 23. In Leviticus 23:9-14 the Israelites are instructed to bring the firstfruits of the harvest to the priest to be waved "the day after the Sabbath", the same day as Jesus rose from the dead as the "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

2 comments:

  1. Yes, he talks about Lev 23. Forgot about that. Very helpful. Firstfruits in both. Will edit the post when I get round to it.

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