March 25, 2005
ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES
I Corinthians 15:3-4 and Isaiah 53
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, we read these words, so beloved and well-known to Christians around the world: 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.
I have known, memorized, and quoted that passage for as long as I can remember. But for a long time, I must confess to you, I misunderstood one particular phrase in the text. It is the phrase “according to the Scriptures”. If I had paraphrased my understanding of the passage, it would have gone like this: Christ died for our sins, just like it says in the Bible, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, just like it says in the Bible.
And if you had asked me, “What part of the Bible are we talking about?” I would have answered, “Why, the gospels of course: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. After all, those are the parts of the Bible that describe the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.”
It wasn’t until I had been in ministry for quite a number of years that a rather simple fact dawned on me. Paul wasn’t talking about the gospels at all. Why not? For the simple fact that they weren’t written yet. Most scholars agree that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in about A.D. 55. The earliest dates for any of the gospels range from A.D. 55 to 65.
So what Scriptures was Paul talking about? Other epistles? Only four epistles have dates earlier than 1 Corinthians: James, Galatians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. None of them would have been in wide circulation by this time, plus the fact that none of them describe the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
So, what Scriptures was Paul referring to? He can only be referring to the Old Testament, and the prophetic Scriptures which foretold the coming of the Messiah. I believe an accurate paraphrase of the passage in 1 Corinthians might read: “Christ died for our sins, just the like the prophets said he would. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, just like the prophets prophesied.”
The fulfillment of prophecy in the death and resurrection of Christ is one of the key proofs for the identity of Jesus as Messiah.
It started on Easter Sunday, when Jesus appeared to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. The risen Lord appeared to these two men “incognito” so to speak. They didn’t know who he was. He asked them what they were discussing. When they told him and confessed to him their confusion at what had happened, this is what he said to them in Luke 24:25-27: “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
This insight into the Old Testament Scriptures, and the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled became part of the gospel preaching of the early church. In Acts 8, there is a very interesting story about the evangelist Philip and his divine appointment with a court official from Ethiopia. The Holy Spirit led Philip out into the desert where he met this man being driven along in his chariot. The man was reading from the writings of Isaiah the prophet. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. He replied: “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” Then he invited Philip to come and sit in his chariot, and he read this passage of Scripture from Isaiah 53:7-8: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
The man then asked Philip: “Is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
I love what comes next: Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Scattered throughout the Old Testament Scriptures are numerous prophecies of the coming and the ministry of “the anointed one”, the Messiah, the Christ. It was the fulfillment of those prophecies in the life of Jesus that the apostles used to convince people that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. The passage that Philip found the Ethiopian reading is one of the richest of those prophetic passages. I want to highlight some of those prophecies. We find 8 of them in this single chapter. As I point them out, remember that Isaiah was preaching and writing some 700 years before the birth of Christ. That’s like you and me going back to something written in the 1300’s.
Isaiah 53:3: He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
The very rejection that Jesus experienced at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the majority of the Jewish people was not evidence that he was not the Messiah. It was in fact a fulfillment of prophecy demonstrating that he was the Messiah.
Isaiah 53:8: By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Or as another rendering has it: In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
The secret arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, the long, illegal, night time trials of Jesus and the trumped up charges of the false witnesses were all a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
Isaiah 53:7: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Jesus’ refusal to speak out in his own defense, and to counter the charges made against him were all written down 700 years before they happened.
Isaiah 53:12c: He was numbered with the transgressors.
This was so literally fulfilled in Luke 23:32: Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed…and there they crucified him along with the criminals – one on his right and one on his left.
Isaiah 53:8c: He was cut off from the land of the living.
Isaiah 53:12c: Because he poured out his life unto death.
At the heart of our message, the gospel, Paul says is the fact that Christ died according to the Scripture. Messiah died, just like the prophets foretold. No wonder Jesus could say to the men on the road to Emmaus: How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?
The death of the Messiah was the one great prophecy that the Jews just could not lay hold on. They couldn’t reconcile the prophecies of suffering and death with the prophecies of glory and sovereignty. But both were written down by the prophets. The Christ must die.
Isaiah 53:5a: But he was pierced for our transgressions.
The thrust of the Roman soldier’s spear, used to ensure his death, was clearly foretold by the prophet.
Isaiah 53:9a: He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death.
And so following his death, one of his wealthy followers by the name of Joseph from Arimathea, came and requested his body and then laid him in the tomb he had prepared for himself.
Down to the very details of his burial, the prophet foretold the story.
Of course, the story doesn’t end with the burial, does it? As Paul continues in I Corinthians 15:4: that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day and then he adds those words again: according to the Scriptures.
This too was foretold in the Old Testament writings, in fact, right here in our passage in Isaiah 53, among other places.
Isaiah 53:11: After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
Just as the prophets foretold, Jesus rose from the dead.
But what’s the point of it all, other than a massive testimony to the sovereignty and omniscience of God and his ability to foretell the future?
Well, here’s another remarkable thing. Not only did the prophets foretell the details. They also announced the purpose of it all.
Remember Paul’s words: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He didn’t just say: Christ died according to the Scriptures. He also includes the purpose: Christ died for our sins.
This too was clearly stated in the writings of Isaiah, in fact in this very chapter, Isaiah 53:
Isaiah 53:6: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
You can’t say it any more clearly than that: Christ died for our sins, just like the prophets said he would.
It was all part of the eternal master plan of God to provide salvation and forgiveness for sins. And the implications are incredible.
I Corinthians 15:1-2: Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved.
My challenge to you this morning is simple. Have you received the gospel? Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ? Do you believe that he died for your sins? Have you received this gospel and taken your stand on it?
If not, wouldn’t this Good Friday/Easter season be a good time to take another look at Jesus and what his death and resurrection means to you?