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1Cor 15:4 . . He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

One of the primo scriptures related to Christ's recovery is located in the Psalms.

Ps 16:8-10 . . I have placed Jehovah in front of me constantly. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be made to totter. Therefore my heart does rejoice, and my glory is inclined to be joyful. Also, my own flesh will reside in security. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol. You will not allow your loyal one to see the pit.

According to Acts 2:25-31, that passage in the 16th Psalm speaks of Christ; particularly that his flesh (his crucified body) was not left to putrefaction.

Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)

Q: Was Jonah alive in the fish?

A: Yes (Jonah 2:1).

Q: The whole time?

A: No.

At some point in Jonah's nautical adventure he went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which he sited at the bottoms of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6)

The bottoms of the mountains aren't located in the tummies of fish, no; they're located down deep in the earth.

Matt 12:40 . . For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Now when you think about it, Christ's remains weren't interred in the heart of the earth. In point of fact his remains weren't even buried in the earth's soil. They were laid to rest on the surface of the earth in a rock-hewn tomb. So then, in order for Christ to be down in the heart of the earth while up on the surface too— literally two places at once —he and his body had to part company and go separate ways.

Just before being cast ashore, Jonah prayed thus:

Jonah 2:6 . .To the bottoms of the mountains I went down. As for the earth, its bars were upon me for time indefinite. But out of the pit you proceeded to bring up my life, O Jehovah my God.

The Hebrew word for "pit" in that verse is the very same word for "pit" in Ps 16:8-10; which Acts 2:25-31 verifies is speaking of putrefaction. In other words: Jonah 2:6 is the language of resurrection.

So then, just as Jonah's soul was not left at the bottoms of the mountains, Christ's soul was not left in the heart of the earth. And just as Jonah's body was not left to decompose in the fish, neither was Christ's left to decompose in the tomb. And just as Jonah came back from his grave within three days and nights as a human rather than a spirit, so Jesus came back from his grave within three days and nights as a human rather than a spirit. If none of this were so, then the story of Jonah's resurrection would be a pretty useless parallel to the story of Christ's resurrection.

FYI: Not only 1Cor 15:4, but also Matt 17:22-23, Mark 9:31, Luke 9:22, Luke 24:46, and Acts 10:40 verify that Christ's crucified body returned to life on the third day rather than on a fourth after the third was completely over and one with.

NOTE: The bars that Jonah spoke of in Jonah 2:6 are likely equivalent to the gates that Christ spoke of in Matt 16:18.

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