Matthew 12:38-40
The Sign of Jonah
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 16:21
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
1 Corinthians 15:12-22
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Luke 24:45-49
Jesus on His Death and His Resurrection
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 17:24-31
God Raised Jesus from the Dead
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Mark 13:32-33
The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
Jesus is the most fascinating Man, I have ever read about...He has three very important and distinct things about Him that make Him completely unique from any other man...The three things are the way He lived, the way He died, and the way He was raised back to life three days after His death...All three of these things make for a fascinating and divine story...
During His life, He was a Traveling Teacher, a Traveling Rabbi...He taught about God...He could do miracles and He did many miracles, especially miracles of the healing nature...And He went around forgiving others of their sins, and by doing that it got Him in trouble, because it made Him look like He was God or the Son of God or the Messiah, and at the very least a Proxy for God to the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin...He lived a most interesting life in the three years the four gospels write about Him...The second part of His life is equally as fascinating...He would be tried and crucified on a cross, for really no particular crime...Blasphemy of God, is given as the most notable reason for His crucifixion...But if one believes He is the Son of God, then really He has committed no crime...But His death would be on a cross...The cross was the most painful of deaths...On the cross one is alive and then slowly dies of one of many slow and painful causes of death, as the body wears out hanging on the cross for hours and hours...Sometimes the criminal's legs are broken to speed up the death process, for the much suffering victim...The cross was (and still is) a most painful and slow death...Jesus would go to the cross and slowly die and suffer for mankind's sins...To pay for each and everyone of our sin's...When I think of the cross, I think and picture Him on it, I think this is what my sins did to Him...He is my Savior...Then the third fascinating part about His life, if it is fair to call the afterlife life, is that He resurrected three days after He died...God raised Him...
Jesus spoke a few times, in His life, that He would die and on the third day and that He would resurrect and rise from the dead...Jesus life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection are all important for His followers...We sometimes speak about His miracles and teachings in life, then we speak about His death on the cross for our sins, and often we speak on His resurrection and the importance of it...In fact, even St. Paul tells us the importance of the resurrection...Without the resurrection of Jesus, then death is final...If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Jesus has been raised...And if Jesus has not been raised, our preaching and listening and reading about Him is useless and so is our faith...More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Jesus from the dead...But He did not raise Jesus in fact, then the dead are not raised...For if the dead are not raised, then Jesus has not been raised either...And there will be a sting of death for each and every one of us, because death will then be final event for mankind...
Jesus told His Disciples after His death that the Messiah did have to live, suffer on the cross, and rise from the dead on the third day...The cross is where we connect to Jesus, where we very much relate to Him, because we seem naturally to suffer on earth...And He suffered for us on the cross and died for us on His cross for our sins...And as He told His two followers and us that repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem...He had witnesses to His life, His death on the cross, and even to His resurrection...He would later clothe His first followers with the Holy Spirit as His Father had promised...And the Holy Spirit would guide us to the Truth and to Him, as we search and seek the answers of life...And this has happened all nations know of His name...
His life and His life's teachings give us the example how to live our lives...To believe in His Father should be a central part of our lives...We are to love one another as He loves each one of us...And when the time is necessary, we are to forgive others, even our enemies (and to love them as well)...Love, forgiveness, mercy, and helping others is at His forefront in His teachings...Believing and praying to God was a part of His everyday and really an every minute lifestyle...He does teach us how to live...
His death saves us...It saves us from the sins we do each and everyday...Man has a sinful nature, and the world is broke from our sins...But Jesus came for sinners and when He died on the cross for us sinners, He saved mankind from the sting of death...Jesus is our Savior and we can have eternal life through Him and His Father, when we believe in Them...
His resurrection proves that He is divine and the Son of God...God created the world and He created us...We are His children...We are children of God...He wants us to repent from our sins through His Son Jesus...He has set an appointed time at the end of times for Jesus to return...And no one knows the day or the hour of His return...God has not even told Jesus of the exact time for the end of times -God alone knows...But we know that God has set the appointed time and will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed...The proof is not only in how His Son lived and died, but also something else very special...He has given us proof of this, and given it to everyone by raising Him from the dead...