The Messiah and His Miracles

The Sign of the Prophet Jonah (Continued)

The Burial of the Messiah

Events had reached their predicted end: “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him”.[1] It was Joseph of Arimathaea, who went to Pilate, and obtained the body of Jesus: “He took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before”.[2] Note the change of emphasis, “they crucified Him”, but “he took it down”, not ‘Him’ but ‘it’, the body of the Messiah.  The burial of Jesus was the burial of the body of the Messiah only. Jesus no longer occupied it.  He was away somewhere else. He had descended into Hades. Paul wrote, Jesus: “also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?”[3] And again: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)”.[4] Jesus had prophesied: “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”.  Jesus described his destination as “the heart of the earth”; Paul, the great expositor, calls it, “the lower parts of the earth” and “the abyss (the deep)”.  The garden tomb does not fit these descriptions.  The Bible tells of Jonah’s experience in these words: “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with its bars closed behind me forever”, and: “You cast me into the deep”.  In keeping with this context, an earthquake marked the descent of Christ into Hades.[5]

The descent of the Messiah into Hades is used to emphasise at least two important truths in Scripture.  (i) That total victory over Satan would not be accomplished until the kingdom of the dead was under the control of the Lord of life.  (ii) The second truth suggests the height of the exaltation of the Messiah was in direct contrast with the depth of His humiliation.   The Bible states, “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)[6]  William Kelly writes ‘He led those captive who had led the Church captive. We were led captive of the devil, and Christ going up on high passed triumphantly above the power of Satan’.^[7]  Paul also wrote, ‘And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to … death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’[8]

The Resurrection of the Messiah

The sign of Jonah required a resurrection from the grave. Jonah returned from the dead. “You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.”[9]  Therefore, Jesus must return from the dead.  A Messianic Psalm says, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption”.[10] Paul quoted it in Antioch, and applied it to the resurrection of the Messiah,[11] and had it in his mind’s eye when he wrote to the Church at Corinth, “Christ … rose again the third day according to the scriptures”.[12]

Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. A mighty movement in the earth’s crust attended the ascent of the Messiah from Hades: “Behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” [13] There were multiples of the sign of the prophet Jonah, i.e. saints returning from Hades (Abraham’s bosom): “Graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many”. [14]

The Sadducees who denied the doctrine of the resurrection[15] must have been much perplexed. In life, Jesus sent them multiples of the leprous ‘living dead’ who had been restored from their pitiable condition. Now in death He sent them multiples of those who had been actually dead but were now living again. Jesus, the Messiah, gave the Sadducees, who knew neither the power of God nor the Scriptures,[16] one unforgettable lesson.

The disciples, during their time with Jesus, struggled to understand the teaching of His personal resurrection. For example Mark tells us: “He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what was the rising from the dead”. [17] But it was clearly important that they should grasp it. On several other occasions He prophesied: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again”. [18]  In another place He speaks of His resurrection as taking up His life again; “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father”. [19]  Here He separated two of the aspects of His rising from the dead: (i) He had the freedom and the ability to return from Hades; (ii) He had a charge from the Father to make that choice: “This command I have received from My Father”. The harmony that is in the Godhead is emphasised here, and those Scriptures that state that God raised Him from the dead[20] are further illuminated by the Messiah’s own teaching. The Father gave the Son to death and the Son gave Himself.  The Father would raise the Son and the Son would raise Himself.

Next Time : More on the Resurrection of the Messiah.

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[1] Luke 23.33

[2] Luke 23.50-53

[3] Eph.4.8-10

[4] Rom.10.6,7

[5] Matt.27.51

[6] Eph.4.8-10

^[7]Kelly, W. ‘Lectures On The Epistle Of Paul, The Apostle, To The Ephesians’ (Page 168).

[8] Phil.2.8-11

[9] Jonah 2.6

[10] Psalm 16.10

[11] Acts 2.25-28

[12] 1 Cor.15.

[13] Matt.28.2

[14] Matt.27.52,53

[15] Luke 20.27; Acts 23.6-8

[16] Matt.22.29

[17] Mark 9.9,10 (NASB)

[18] Matt.20.18,19; cf 16.21; 17.22,23

[19] John 10.17,18

[20] Acts 3.15; 4.10; 13.30; 1 Cor.15.15; Gal.1.1; Col.2.12; etc