According to the Scriptures

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

In Paul’s classic exposition of the gospel as found in this text, he repeats the phrase “according to the Scriptures” twice. Once after saying that Christ died for our sins and then after saying that he was buried and raised on the third day. What Scriptures is Paul referring to?

It seems unlikely that he was thinking about any of the books we have in the New Testament. That was an ongoing project and what was in existence would not have been widely circulated. Most likely, Paul was thinking about the Old Testament. If that is so, and it seems the most reasonable interpretation, what Old Testament Scriptures did Paul have in mind?

He doesn’t tell us. What he is clearly stating is that the Old Testament testifies to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We shouldn’t be surprised at that. Jesus himself said that He is the person to whom the Old Testament pointed.

Since Paul didn’t quote any specific passage, he was likely thinking more broadly. He was thinking of the types and shadows of Christ, the prophecies of His incarnation, death, and resurrection, and all the other ways that the Old Testament ultimately leads us to see that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and Savior.

Why does he emphasize that Old Testament connection here? Why not just say “Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day?” I think he does so because he wanted to demonstrate that the gospel was not something made up contemporaneously to his time. The facts of Christ’s death and resurrection were not dependent solely on the testimony of the apostles. Certainly, their eyewitness testimony was invaluable, but it wasn’t the only witness to the truth of the gospel.

God had been laying the groundwork for the gospel since the story of the Fall was penned in the book of Genesis. And the point is that faith in the gospel is a reasonable faith. It is built upon the centuries of divine revelation handed down from generation to generation in the Scriptures. Christ’s death and resurrection were repeatedly revealed and proclaimed throughout the Old Testament.

There is every reason to believe it. I hope you do.