In Accordance with the Scriptures

 Eighth Wednesday after Pentecost

Lectionary Texts:

Wednesday:

Ephesians 2:11-12

Mark 6:47-52

Thursday:

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Mark 6:53-56

Thanks to Frances for her comment. Back row is better than SRO.

Today we return to our study of things that are different in the Nicene Creed from the Apostles' Creed. Where the Nicene Creed says, "On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures," the Apostles' Creed leaves out "in accordance with the scriptures." My sense is that they left it out simply for the sake of brevity. Some believe that thy left out because they did not find OT support for the idea of the resurrection of the Messiah.

When I first started thinking about the Nicene Creed, when we were studying it in Divinity School back in the 60's, I asked myself that same question, "In accordance with what scriptures?" It is true that in none of the messianic prophecies of the OT is there any quotation or even suggestion that the messiah will rise from the dead. 

 

In the late 70's I read Thomas Merton's book The Sign of Jonas and remembered Jesus' reference--"Just as Jonah was in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40). 

Only with the advent of intertextuality in Biblical Studies coming to the fore in the 1980's did more methodology develop on this question. Intertextuality sees the importance of not just quotations but of clipped phrases, echoes, even single words in particular contexts, used in the NT as deriving from the OT. NT language is enormously imbued in OT thought. OT language is enormously rich in things that will reappear in the NT. For example in 1 Corinthians 15:45 Paul refers to Christ as the "last Adam" and "the second man." Scholars have expounded for whole books on the meaning of these OT derived phrases for Christ.

There is a Contemporary Christian Music group called "Third Day." Their name struck a chord in me to find "third day" references in the OT. I started a reading of the OT underlining all the times "third day" appeared. It was astonishing. They were all over the place. Then I looked through a couple of Greek tragedies from the fifth and fourth century BC. The phrase appeared hardly at all. Moreover, an astonishing number of the OT "third day" references referred in one way or another to being rescued or freed or saved or something of the like. Unfortunately I don't have my Bible here that has the "third day" underlines. (We're at our place in the OBX at the moment). I'll supply some evidence in  later blogs.

 

All this is to say that a careful Christian reading of the Bible will reveal much more than the casual quotation on a t-shirt or license plate. It is also to say that if you look for Jesus, you will find him, including in many places you would not expect.

 

Lord Jesus,

We are grateful for your being the Lord of the Bible and the Lord of our lives. Make us more thoughtful readers and hearers of your Holy Word. Amen.

 

Faithfully,

Christian