In this lesson we will see how the prophets in the Old Testament prophesied concerning Christ’s resurrection.
Hosea 6:2 prophesied that Christ would be raised from the dead on the third day. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul speaks of the fulfillment of this prophecy: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” When the Lord was carrying out His ministry on the earth, He repeatedly revealed to His disciples that He would be killed and on the third day He would be raised (John 2:19; Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:63; Mark 8:31; Luke 18:33). Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John testify concerning the fulfillment of this prophecy (Matt. 27:62—28:6; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-9). Christ being raised from the dead was not an accident; rather, it was planned by God in His economy for the accomplishing of His eternal purpose.
In Psalm 16:9-11 we have a prophecy concerning Christ as the Holy One of Jehovah whose soul Jehovah would not leave in Hades and whom He would not permit to see corruption (cf. Acts 2:27). Therefore, His heart was made glad, His soul exulted, and His flesh rested in hope while He was in Hades (v. 26). Hades is the place for keeping the spirit and soul of the dead (Luke 16:22-23). Corruption in Acts 2:27 refers to the corruption of the body in the tomb. The Greek word translated “rest” in verse 26 can also be rendered “dwell,” “reside,” and “pitch its tent.” After Christ died on the cross, His soul exulted in Hades, and His flesh, His body, was in a tomb, resting in hope because He trusted in God. Acts 2:24-31 and 13:35 speak of the fulfillment of this prophecy. Not only so, Jehovah also made known to Christ the ways of life (Psa. 16:11; Acts 2:28). The ways of life are the ways to come out of death into resurrection. God raised Christ up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Christ to be held by death (v. 24). Christ is both God and resurrection (John 1:1; 11:25), possessing the indestructible life (Heb. 7:16); hence, death is not able to hold Him. Rather, death was defeated by Him, and He rose up from it.
Psalm 2:7 prophesied that Christ in resurrection would be born as God’s firstborn Son: “He said to Me: You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You.” This corresponds with the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7:14a: “I will be his Father, and he will be My son.” Both verses are quoted in Hebrews 1:5: “To which of the angels has He ever said, ‘You are My Son; this day have I begotten You’? And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me’?” This day refers to the day of Christ’s resurrection (Acts 13:33). Through resurrection, Christ was begotten as God’s Firstborn. Christ is already the only begotten Son of God in eternity (John 1:18; Rom. 8:3). By incarnation, He was born of a human virgin and put on humanity, an element which had nothing to do with divinity. His humanity needed to be sanctified and uplifted by passing through death and resurrection. Through resurrection, His human nature was uplifted into the divine sonship so that He was designated the Son of God with His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son (Rom. 1:4; 8:29; Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5). In resurrection the only begotten Son of God was made the firstborn Son, possessing both divinity and an uplifted humanity, and His believers were also born with Him on the day of His resurrection to be His many brothers and the many sons of God.