In a letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said that Jesus’s death fulfilled the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3). Jesus was the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 52–53. He was the afflicted king from the Psalms. He was the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 who would be wounded by the serpent’s bite. Indeed, Jesus’s death fulfilled the Scriptures.
Paul also said that Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4). What Old Testament text (or texts) does Paul have in mind? Perhaps Hosea 6:2, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” Or perhaps the story of Jonah, when the prophet was three days and three nights in the fish before being delivered (Jonah 1:17; 2:10).
Could it be, though, that the apostle Paul didn’t mean one or two particular passages but, rather, a matrix of texts, a pattern of third-day deliverances? Keep in mind that Jesus himself prophesied his resurrection on “the third day” (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; John 2:19).
Why the third day? If you look in the Old Testament, a series of occurrences on the “third day” are discernible, and the repetition of such third-day events form a pattern of expectation. This pattern begins in the first book of Scripture.
In Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac traveled to a mountain where Abraham was to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. But on “the third day,” when they arrived at the mountain, Isaac was delivered from death (Gen. 22:9, 12).
In Genesis 42, Joseph’s brothers had gone to see him in Egypt (to get food) without realizing he was their brother. At one point Joseph put his brothers in custody for three days and on the third day released them (Gen. 42:17-18)
In Exodus 19, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai, and God met Moses on the third day (Exod. 19:11). The danger of the Lord’s presence and the threat of death were clear: “Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death” (Exod. 19:12). On the “third day” the Lord descended upon Sinai in glory and power, and the people did not perish.
Getting ready for the conquest, Joshua told the officers, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess’” (Josh. 1:11). And after “three days” the officers went through the camp to rally the people (Josh. 3:2).
In the book of Hosea, the prophet reported the words of the people who spoke of what God would do: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up” (Hos. 6:2).
In the book of Jonah, the prophet was in the belly of the great fish for three days and nights before being delivered (Jonah 1:17; 2:10).
When King Hezekiah was sick, he asked the Lord to be spared from death. The word of the Lord came to him: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD” (2 Kgs. 20:5).
In the book of Esther, the queen needed to go before the king, but if someone was not summoned to the king’s presence, the arriver risked death. Esther knew she might perish in her task (Esth. 4:16). Yet on “the third day” Esther approached the king and was welcomed into his presence (Esth. 5:1–2).
This brief survey of some Old Testament passages serves to establish a pattern: there are encounters with God and deliverances by God that are connected to a “third day” or “three days” reference. When the apostle Paul said that Jesus was raised “on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” he need not mean just a couple passages. He probably means a whole matrix of texts. These texts create an expectation.
Jesus said he must be raised on the third day (Mark 8:31). But this third-day deliverance was not just prophesied by Jesus; it was patterned in the Old Testament. If readers knew this Old Testament pattern and then learned that Jesus was raised on the third day, they shouldn’t be surprised at all. Given the Old Testament accounts of third-day encounters and deliverances, a third-day resurrection of the Son of God makes perfect biblical sense.
The resurrection of Jesus was the ultimate biblical example of a third-day deliverance.
See an excellent article by Stephen Dempster titled “From Slight Peg to Cornerstone to Capstone: The Resurrection of Christ on ‘The Third Day’ According to the Scriptures” (Westminster Theological Journal 76.2 [2014]: 371-410).