“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
My Notes
What Does 1 Corinthians 15:4 Mean?
"And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." The creed continues: buried AND rose. The burial confirms the death (he was really dead — not unconscious, not in a coma, buried). The resurrection confirms the life (he really rose — not a vision, not a memory, rose). "According to the scriptures" means the resurrection wasn't a surprise — it was prophesied. Psalm 16:10 ("thou wilt not leave my soul in hell"), Hosea 6:2 ("after two days... in the third day he will raise us up"), and the typology of Jonah (Matthew 12:40) all pointed to what happened on the third day.
The four verbs of the creed — died, buried, rose, appeared (v. 5) — are the irreducible core of the gospel: death, burial, resurrection, witness. Remove any one and the gospel collapses.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Why does Paul include 'buried' in the creed — what does it confirm that 'died' alone doesn't?
- 2.What does 'according to the scriptures' add to the resurrection — and what happens if you remove it?
- 3.How does the perfect tense ('has been raised and remains raised') change how you understand the resurrection?
- 4.Which of the four verbs (died, buried, rose, appeared) is most central to your personal faith — and why?
Devotional
Buried. Rose. Third day. According to the scriptures. Four facts. The irreducible minimum of the gospel in its most compressed form.
He was buried. The burial is the proof of death. You don't bury someone who's alive. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, the stone rolled against the entrance, the guard posted — all confirm what the burial declares: Jesus was genuinely, biologically, irreversibly dead. The burial eliminates the swoon theory (he just fainted) before the theory is invented. Dead. Buried. Confirmed.
He rose again the third day. Rose — egēgertai — perfect passive: he has been raised and remains raised. Not: he rose momentarily. He was raised and stays raised. The resurrection isn't a temporary event. It's a permanent state. Jesus entered death through the burial. He exited death through the resurrection. And the exit is permanent. He's not going back.
The third day. Specific. Datable. Historical. Not 'eventually' or 'spiritually.' The third day — a number you can count on a calendar. Friday: death. Saturday: tomb. Sunday: resurrection. Three days. The specificity anchors the event in history and connects it to prophecy.
According to the scriptures. The resurrection was predicted. Not just vaguely anticipated. Scriptured — written in advance, prophesied through multiple texts, embedded in the Hebrew Bible before it happened. The third-day rising wasn't God improvising in response to the crucifixion. It was God executing a plan the scriptures had described centuries in advance.
The four-verb creed (died, buried, rose, appeared) is the gospel's structural skeleton. Every theological development in the New Testament — justification, sanctification, glorification, the church, the future — is built on these four verbs. Remove 'died' and there's no atonement. Remove 'buried' and the death isn't confirmed. Remove 'rose' and the faith is vain (v. 17). Remove 'appeared' (v. 5) and there are no witnesses.
The gospel isn't complicated. It's four verbs. And the third one — rose — is the one that changed everything.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And that he was buried,.... That is, according to the Scriptures; for as he died and rose again according to the…
And that he was buried - That is, evidently according to the Scriptures; see Isa 53:9. And that he rose again the third…
It is the apostle's business in this chapter to assert and establish the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which…
was buried, and that he rose again Literally, was buried and hath risen again, the aorist referring to the single act,…
Cross References
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