On the Words, And Rose Again from the Dead on the Third Day, and Ascended into the Heavens, and Sat on the Right Hand of the Father.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you… that He has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, etc.
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and keep high festival, all you that love Jesus; for He is risen. Rejoice, all you that mourned before, when you heard of the daring and wicked deeds of the Jews: for He who was spitefully entreated of them in this place is risen again. And as the discourse concerning the Cross was a sorrowful one, so let the good tidings of the Resurrection bring joy to the hearers. Let mourning be turned into gladness, and lamentation to joy: and let our mouth be filled with joy and gladness, because of Him, who after His resurrection, said Rejoice. For I know the sorrow of Christ’s friends in these past days; because, as our discourse stopped short at the Death and the Burial, and did not tell the good tidings of the Resurrection, your mind was in suspense, to hear what you were longing for.
Now, therefore, the Dead is risen, He who was free among the dead, and the deliverer of the dead. He who in dishonour wore patiently the crown of thorns, even He arose, and crowned Himself with the diadem of His victory over death.
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As then we set forth the testimonies concerning His Cross, so come let us now verify the proofs of His Resurrection also: since the Apostle before us affirms, He was buried, and has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. As an Apostle, therefore, has sent us back to the testimonies of the Scriptures, it is good that we should get full knowledge of the hope of our salvation; and that we should learn first whether the divine Scriptures tell us the season of His resurrection, whether it comes in summer or in autumn, or after winter; and from what kind of place the Saviour has risen, and what has been announced in the admirable Prophets as the name of the place of the Resurrection, and whether the women, who sought and found Him not, afterwards rejoice at finding Him; in order that when the Gospels are read, the narratives of these holy Scriptures may not be thought fables nor rhapsodies.
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That the Saviour then was buried, you have heard distinctly in the preceding discourse, as Isaiah says, His burial shall be in peace: for in His burial He made peace between heaven and earth, bringing sinners unto God: and, that the righteous is taken out of the way of unrighteousness: and, His burial shall be in peace: and, I will give the wicked for His burial. There is also the prophecy of Jacob saying in the Scriptures, He lay down and couched as a lion, and as a lion’s cub: who shall rouse Him up? And the similar passage in Numbers, He couched, He lay down as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp. The Psalm also you have often heard, which says, And You have brought me down into the dust of death. Moreover we took note of the spot, when we quoted the words, Look unto the rock, which you have hewn. But now let the testimonies concerning His resurrection itself go with us on our way.
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First, then, in the 11th Psalm He says, For the misery of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord. But this passage still remains doubtful with some: for He often rises up also in anger, to take vengeance upon His enemies.
Come then to the 15th Psalm, which says distinctly: Preserve Me, O Lord, for in You have I put my trust: and after this, their assemblies of blood will I not join, nor make mention of their names between my lips; since they have refused me, and chosen Cæsar as their king: and also the next words, I foresaw the Lord alway before Me, because He is at My right hand, that I may not be moved: and soon after Yea and even until night my reins chastened me. And after this He says most plainly, For You will not leave My soul in hell; neither will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. He said not, neither will You allow Your Holy One to see death, since then He would not have died; but corruption, says He, I see not, and shall not abide in death. You have made known to Me the ways of life. Behold here is plainly preached a life after death. Come also to the 29th Psalm, I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted Me up, and hast not made My foes to rejoice over Me. What is it that took place? Were you rescued from enemies, or were you released when about to be smitten? He says himself most plainly, O Lord, You have brought up My soul from hell. There he says, You will not leave, prophetically: and here he speaks of that which is to take place as having taken place, You have brought up. You have saved Me from them that go down into the pit. At what time shall the event occur? Weeping shall continue for the evening, and joy comes in the morning: for in the evening was the sorrow of the disciplines, and in the morning the joy of the resurrection.