Died, Buried, & Raised

I Corinthians 15:1-11

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, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

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, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.—I Corinthians 15:1-11

Why did Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) have to die according to the scriptures? More specifically why did He have to die for our sins according the scriptures? Jesus told those who were trying to stone Him because he said that was the Son of God and “the Scriptures cannot be broken.”

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’ ? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?—John 10:34-37

In the gospel of Matthew, when Peter tried with a sword to stop the Romans from taking Jesus, He told him to “put your sword back in its place”.

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” –Matthew 25:52-54

Even after His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus explained to the two travelers on the road to Emmaus about Himself and the Scriptures, and later on He did the same thing to the disciples.

He said to them, “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.—Luke 24:25-27

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem—Luke 24:45-47

Now God did not just make up the plan of Salvation as time went on.  He had a plan from the beginning for Salvation to come through Christ.  So today we will take a brief look at the scriptures related to God’s plan to bring salvation and the forgiveness of sin through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.  The rest of us are His adopted sons and daughters if we put our faith in His Son Jesus Christ.  Let us look at some questions and answers regarding the Lord’s plan of salvation as revealed in scripture:

What is the first reference of His coming?  Speaking to serpent who deceived Eve about her seed He says in Gen. 3:15: He will crush your head and you will strike His heel.

Who is the Serpent?  In Rev. 12 he is called the great dragon, the devil, Satan and also the accuser of our brothers.  I will not read the entire text here for the sake of time but this verse makes it pretty clear:

The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.—Revelation 12:9

What was the first reference of the shedding of blood for the covering of sin?  It is found in Gen. 3:21: The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

What was the first reference to offering the first born of the flock? It was Abel’s offering in Genesis 2:

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.—Genesis 2:1-5

What is the first reference to a burnt offering on an altar? It was after the flood when Noah came out of the Ark in Genesis 8:20-21:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

What is the next reference to a burnt offering on an altar? This is Abraham’s sacrifice

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”—Genesis 22:1-2

Did Abraham pass the test? Yes!

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” He said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.”—Genesis 22:12

Where did offering a bull for the forgiveness for sin come from? In Exodus 29 and 30 Aaron and his descendants are instructed to offer a bull daily as a sin offering.

Where did offering a lamb to redeem the firstborn sons come in? By the way, there was no exception to this command.

“The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. –Exodus 34:19-20

Where did offering an animal on the altar as a payment for sin come from and were there different animals for different groups of people? This is described in Leviticus 4:

The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’S commands—

“‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He is to present the bull at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the LORD. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and carry it into the Tent of Meeting. He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys—just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a fellowship offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, as well as the head and legs, the inner parts and offal—that is, all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp to a place ceremonially clean, where the ashes are thrown, and burn it in a wood fire on the ash heap.

“‘If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’S commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty. When they become aware of the sin they committed, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD. Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood into the Tent of Meeting. He shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it before the LORD seven times in front of the curtain. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the community.

“‘When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the LORD his God, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect. He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the fellowship offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

“‘If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’S commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect. He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. “‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect.  He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it for a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.—Leviticus 4:1-35

All of these sacrifices for sins were made on the altar in front of the Tent of Meeting where the burnt offerings were made daily. Note that an offering was on the altar continuously day and night, as described in Leviticus 6:

The LORD said to Moses: “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.—Leviticus 6:8-13

When I drive down Jones Mill Road early in the morning, I can smell bacon cooking in one of the houses along the way.  It is a sweet aroma.  When I drive by the Smoking Pig I smell a similar aroma of a pig being cooked.  The same thing happens when I drive by the Longhorn Steak house or one of the many other steak houses.  I imagine the whole camp of the Israelites smelled the fat burning on the altar in front of the Tent of Meeting.  It would be hard, if not nearly impossible, to forget the reason for the smell was because of the offering made for the covering of guilt or the forgiveness of sin.

Even though the lamb (a male sheep or male goat) was sacrificed during the original Passover where the blood on the door post of the Israelites stopped the angel of death from entering their house and killing their first born, it was not for a sin offering for each member of the community or for the community as a whole. It was for a reminder to future generations what the Lord did at the Passover.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household…The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.—Exodus 12:1-7

So the sacrificial offering of a year old male lamb taken from the sheep or the goats was required for the remembrance of the Passover and for the redemption of every one of the first born sons but what is the first reference of a male lamb taking away sin of the world?

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”—John 1:29-31

I imagine John the Baptist’s disciples were perplexed as to what this statement meant.  They knew that the lamb was sacrificed on the altar in front of the Tent of Meeting for a member of the community who had sinned, and because of the sacrifice God forgave the sin, but that was a female lamb. Male bulls and male goats were sacrificed on the altar for guilt offerings, burnt offerings, and ordination sacrifices, but that was for the priest and the community as a whole to cover their sins and had nothing to do with the sins of the whole world.

This phrase “takes away the sin of the world” what could that mean? Up to the point of Jesus’ death it was a mystery as to how he was going to accomplish taking away the sins of the world.  It appears in Matthew 11:2 that even to John the Baptist was having doubts.

After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”—Matthew 11:1-3

So then, let’s go back to the original question: Why did Christ have to die according to the scriptures?

By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was stricken.—Isaiah 53:8

So one reason was to pay the penalty of death for the sins of the people, but Hebrews 9 explains that there are two other reasons.

1. To cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

2. To do away with sin not just the sins of His chosen people but also to do away with the sins of many people by the sacrifice of Himself as the scriptures had foretold.

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!—Hebrews 9:11-14

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.—Hebrews 9:22-28

So Jesus had to die according to the scriptures to do away with sin and to do away with the daily sacrifices for all time.  Why did He have to be buried according to the scriptures?

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.—Isaiah 53:9-10

Why did He have to be raised according to the scriptures?

See, my servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him—His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness so will He sprinkle many nations—Isaiah 52:12-15

This should not have come to a surprise to the disciples, because Jesus had already told them many times what would happen.

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, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.—Matthew 16:21

When they came together in Galilee, He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.”—Matthew 17:22-23

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will turn Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life!”—Matthew 20:17-19

Who raised Jesus?

But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. –Acts 2:24

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”—John 2:19

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.—Romans 8:11

What does all of this mean to us? It means that we have a clear conscious to serve the living God. It means our sins are forgiven. It means we have eternal life and won’t be judged for our sins, and our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And according to Hebrews 10 it also means that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.

First He said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then He said, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.—Hebrews 10:8-10

So then, let us live our life without regret in such a way as to bring praise and honor and glory to the One who suffered and died that we might live forever. Let’s pray.