ISB ~ Luke 24 v46

Christ should suffer:A mystery fore

told in the OT (Acts 3:18; 17:3).

• Jesus’ mockery and rejection recall Ps 31, 69, 118, and Is 50:6. His agony and Crucifixion are depicted in Ps 22 and Is 53. on the third day rise: An emphasis in Jesus’ own predictions (9:22; 18:33; 24:6-7).

• The OT background is diverse. (1) Isaac was for three days under a death sentence until God intervened to give him back alive to Abraham on the third day (Gen 22:4, 13). This was a historical preview of Jesus rising to new life after obeying his Father unto death (Heb 11:17-19). (2) The experience of Jonah coming forth from a whale after three days in its stomach foreshadows Christ emerging from the grave after three days in the earth (Jon 1:17; Mt 12:40). (3) Hosea depicts Israel’s restoration from exile as a third-day resurrection (Hos 6:2). Since the Messiah represents Israel in the fullest sense, embodying both its vocation and destiny, Christ’s own Resurrection initiates the resurrection of Israel from a state of spiritual death (Rom 11:15, 25-27). (4) More generally, the “three days” motif is linked with a prelude to divine liberation (Ex 10:21-23) and a period of preparation before meeting the Lord (Ex 19:10-11) (CCC 702, 1094).

• Allegorically (St. Bede, Homilies 2, 10): Christ lay two nights in the tomb to rescue man from the twofold death of sin. For souls die spiritually on account of sin, and bodies die physically as a penalty for sin. Victorious on the third day, Christ now raises our souls to new life in grace and will later raise our bodies in glory.