There are two major prophecies that we must relate to the burial of Christ. The first was found in Isaiah 53:9 “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” The second is found in Matthew 12:40 and is the response of Jesus to a question by the Scribes and Pharisees, in verse 38, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” His response was, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah,” not only must he be buried with the rich in his death, He would also be buried for a period of three days. Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9 am and was dead by three in the afternoon. The three days, were to be a sign to the Jews, who were always looking for a sign. According to their reckoning, any portion of a day was equal to an entire day. So Jesus had to be buried on Friday, so that Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at least a portion of each of those days, He would spend in the earth as He had prophesied that He would. In Matthew 27:62-64, The religious leaders remembered this saying, and wanted Pilate to take action so that the disciples would not steal the body away and continue Jesus’ deception. After the resurrection of Jesus, the religious leaders bribed the guards to say that the disciples stole the body away, to perpetuate the lie, that He did not raise from the dead. A fact that has to be considered in relationship to this is that the disciples did not believe that Jesus raised from the dead, until after Jesus appears to them in John 19. So this theory that Jesus’ body was stolen by the disciples is not realistic. What is the importance of this prophecy? Jesus said, in John 10:18 “I have the power to lay down [my life], and I have power to take [my life] up again.” If Jesus has the power and authority to give His life for us, and to take it up again, then that resurrection power is able to transform even the vilest sinner out of darkness and into light. We are redeemed not because of our good works, but because of the work of Christ! This Work enables us to serve Him and to grow in our knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a child of God. This Easter season, come to understand the salvation that is offered to you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
