The news about Messiah actually is not any new information. It was information given to us by God, through the prophets, and then coming to a point in time where these words came true. In his letter to the Corinthians, Sha’ul (Paul) clarifies this point:

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Yeshua (Messiah) died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4)

Notice how Sha’ul place special emphasis on the words “according to the Scriptures”. The word “Scriptures” simply means writings. Since the New Testament was not written at the time, Sha’ul is referring to the Tenach (Old Testament). By using these word without being specific about which written part of the Tenach he is speaking of, Paul let’s us (the reader) know that the people he intended the letter for were very familiar with the scriptures he was speaking of.

According to what Scriptures?

Let’s break Paul’s statement down into two parts: Yeshua died for our sins according to the scriptures; He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

First, Yeshua died for our sins according to the scriptures. The writings they were familiar with are Psalm 22 as well as Isaiah chapter 52 verse 12 through chapter 53, some of which are listed below:

My God, My God Why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1)

But I am a worm … a reproach of men, and despised by the people. (Psalm 22:6)

They Shake their head saying, “He trusted in the Lord, Let Him rescue him, Let Him deliver him, since he delights in Him! (Psalm 22:7-8)

I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint… (Psalm 14)

He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid our faces from Him, He was despised and we did not esteem Him. (Isaiah 53: 3)

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquity, The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. By His Stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Christ died according to the Tenach’s scripture. Next, Paul stated that Yeshua was buried and rose again on the third day. Two stories would come to mind after Sha’ul mentioned this to the Corinthians. First, when Abraham was to offer his son Isaiah, on Mount Mariah (where Yeshua died), and the book of Jonah.

In Genesis chapter 22 verse 2 Abraham is instructed to “Take your son, your only son who you love… and offer him there…” Abraham follows God’s command, travels three days (verse 4) and then take his son Isaac up to offer him as a sacrifice (verse 9). God stops Abraham and provides a ram to sacrifice instead of his only son, in God’s eyes, Isaac (verses 11-13). The place becomes know as “In the Mount of the Lord, it shall be provided” or “The-Lord-Will-Provide” (Verse 14).

Next, in the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 17, Jonah spends three days and nights in the belly of the whale and then is resurrected in Chapter 2 verse 10 by the fish vomiting Jonah onto dryland. The story of Jonah also provides additional information that is similar to the death and rising of Yeshua:

I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction (Jonah 2:2) similar Psalm 22:1 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.

“I went down to the mooring and the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet you have brought me up from the pit O Lord, my God” (Jonah 2:6). Similar to Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, so will the son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”

The Jewish people were very familiar with these stories. They were told over and over again for hundreds of years as a way to communicate about the Messiah. These ancient stories served as way to point them as well as you and I to the promised Messiah when he came. And He did come, as stated in the scriptures, so that everyone who believes in Him, the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) will have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The News is the Messiah Yeshua has come, died and rose again on the third day, so that you and I by accepting Him as our Messiah will have everlasting life!!

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