Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matt. 12:39–40)
In the New Testament, we find that Jesus used different time expressions when speaking about His resurrection: “three days and three nights” (Mt 12:40), “after three days” (Mk 8:31), “in three days” (Jn 2:19), and “on the third day” (Lk 9:22). Peter and Paul also refer to Christ's resurrection “on the third day” in Acts 10:40 and 1 Corinthians 15:3–4.
What is the significance of the third day resurrection? The Matthew 12 phrase "three days and three nights” isn't simply a Jewish idiom. It refers to the fulfillment of one of the earliest known Messianic prophesies.
Jesus Christ fulfilled all that was expected and anticipated by his early Hebrew ancestors (4400-2000 BC) to whom the Messianic Faith was first delivered: including his virginal conception as the Son of God (Gen. 3:15) by divine overshadowing (Luke 1:35), his sacrificial death, his third day resurrection, and his opening of the way to eternal life or immortality as a King who leads his people in a royal procession (Eph. 4:8). Among the early Hebrew, the Son of God was regarded as co-equal with his Father, and they believed that there were no gods above Him. Utterance 573 in the Pyramid Texts is addressed to the Son of God: "For you are he who oversees the gods, there is no god who oversees you!"
Christians believe that by his death Christ trampled down death, and while his body was still in the tomb, he declared good news to those in the place of the dead. A
Horite Hebrew song found at the royal complex at Ugarit, speaks of the Son's descent to the place of the dead "to announce good tidings." The text reads:
Hr ešeni timerri duri - "Horus below in the dark netherworld" and has the phrase
Šanizzin ḫalukan ḫalzi - "to announce good tidings." (See Note 2 on page 2012.)
In the Ancient Pyramid Texts, a priest prays for the King, saying, "Horus is a soul and he recognizes his Father in you..." (Utterance 423)
In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Horus is called the "advocate of his Father" (cf. 1 John 2:1), and all the gods are said to be "in the train of Horus." Here we find the language of a royal procession such as this: "When He ascended on high, He led captives in his train, and gave gifts to men.” (Eph. 4:8).
Concerning the Son, the early Hebrew wrote, "Horus has shattered the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot."
(Utterance 388 of the Pyramid Texts)
All of this is known from reading the
prayers and sacred texts of the early Hebrew royal priests. Descriptions of the Horite and Sethite Hebrew are plentiful in ancient texts such as the Pyramid Texts (2400-2200 BC). These descriptions indicate that the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew maintained
separate settlements and sacred sites (mounds). Utterance 308 addresses them as separate entities: "Hail to you, Horus in the Horite Mounds! Hail to you, Horus in the Sethite Mounds!"
The more prestigious Horite Hebrew settlements were usually at a higher elevation than those of the Sethite Hebrew. Utterance 470 contrasts the Horite and Sethite mounds, designating the Horite mounds "the High Mounds.”
Utterance 413 of the Pyramid Texts states that the deceased king is to become one with the
sacred bull (a Messianic symbol) by eating the sacrificed bull. The king is urged to rise, to "gather his bones together, shake off your dust" and enter immortality.
Utterance 214 of the Pyramid texts bids the deceased king to "ascend to the place where your father is."
The third day resurrection of the Son of God is expressed in the Pyramid Texts: "Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the Imperishable Stars" (Utterance 667).
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