Read the Word
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Open your Bible and read 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Prophecies for this step
See all 300 prophecies- Wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities
Isa 53:5 Rom 4:25; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Cor 15:3
Read Isaiah 53:5 and ask: who is the prophet talking about? Then make it personal: "He was wounded for my transgressions."
- His hands and feet pierced
Ps 22:16 John 19:18; John 20:25-27; Luke 24:39-40
"They pierced my hands and my feet" – written about a thousand years before Jesus' crucifixion.
- Sold for thirty pieces of silver
Zech 11:12 Matt 26:15
Thirty pieces of silver – a detail no one could arrange in advance. God's Word comes true down to the smallest detail.
- His body will not see corruption
Ps 16:10 Acts 2:25-32; Acts 13:35-37
Peter used this verse in the very first Gospel sermon (Acts 2:25-32): Jesus did not stay in the grave – He is alive.
- The sign of Jonah: three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish
Jonah 1:17 Matt 12:39-40; Matt 16:4
Jesus Himself gave this sign (Matthew 12:39-40): as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish – the Bible says a great fish, not a whale (Jonah 1:17) – so He would be three days in the heart of the earth and rise again. Ask: who else predicted their own resurrection – and fulfilled it?
The heart of the Gospel
Paul summarises the Gospel in a few words: “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ 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 the words “according to the scriptures”. The cross was not an accident. Seven hundred years before, Isaiah wrote: “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities… All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
He died in our place
On the cross Jesus took the punishment that we deserved:
- “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).
- “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
His blood is the price of our redemption: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). On the cross He cried: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
He rose again
The tomb was empty. The angel said: “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6). The risen Jesus was seen by Peter, by the twelve, and by more than five hundred brethren at once (1 Corinthians 15:5-6).
The sign of Jonah
Jesus Himself announced His resurrection in advance. When the religious leaders asked Him for a sign, He answered that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah: as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39-40). The book of Jonah speaks of a “great fish” that the LORD prepared (Jonah 1:17) – not a whale. And as Jonah came out alive on the third day, Jesus came out of the grave alive on the third day.
In the original languages
Hebrew – Jonah 2:1 (in English Bibles 1:17)
וַיְמַן יְהוָה דָּג גָּדוֹל לִבְלֹעַ אֶת־יוֹנָה וַיְהִי יוֹנָה בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת
“And the LORD appointed a great fish (dag gadol) to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) – Jonah 2:1
Καὶ προσέταξε κύριος κήτει μεγάλῳ καταπιεῖν τὸν Ἰωνᾶν· καὶ ἦν Ἰωνᾶς ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας.
“And the Lord commanded a great sea creature (kētos) to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the kētos three days and three nights.”
Greek New Testament – Matthew 12:40
ὥσπερ γὰρ ἦν Ἰωνᾶς ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας, οὕτως ἔσται ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας.
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the kētos, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Dag gadol (Hebrew) means simply “a great fish”. Kētos (Greek) means “a great sea creature” – Jesus uses the very word of the Greek Old Testament, pointing straight to Jonah 2:1. Neither original says “whale”: that word came from later translations (Latin cetus → English “whale”, Polish Gdańsk Bible “wieloryb”).
The resurrection is not an extra. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Because He lives, He can give life to all who come to Him.
How to say it
“1 Corinthians 15 says that Christ died for our sins – for my sins and yours – was buried, and rose again on the third day. Isaiah 53 says He was wounded for our transgressions. He took our place. And He is alive today.”
Then the question naturally comes: “What should I do?” – which is step 4.
Check yourself
Practise
Write a short explanation of the cross and the resurrection using 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and Isaiah 53:5-6. Explain the words "for our sins".
Tips
- Point out "according to the scriptures" – it was prophesied long before.
- Explain substitution simply – He took our place.
- Do not stop at the cross – Jesus is alive.
✓ Saved on this device