PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

What story is this?

• It is a beginning and an end.
• Emphasis on 3^rd day.
• Appearance of God on 3^rd day.
• Appearance on the morning of the 3^rd day.
• The scene is closely guarded.
• No touching allowed.
• The Lord descended.
• Earth quake
• Lightening
• God speaks

If you said God’s appearance on Mt. Sinai, you would be correct (Exodus 19). Most likely you were thinking of another scene, but maybe not quite sure. Yes, this is the story of Jesus’ resurrection too (Matthew 27-28; John 20). The tomb scene is the new Sinai; and both are temple narratives.

• Both are beginnings – Mt. Sinai is the beginning of the Law and fulfilment of 2 Abrahamic promises; and the resurrection (and ascension) is part of the beginning of the reign of Christ and the completion of the 3^rd – seed promise.
• Emphasis on 3^rd day – The third day is a day of promise in both scenes.
• Appearance of God on 3^rd day – At Mt. Sinai we have a theophany; and at the tomb there is the physical resurrection of Jesus, and therefore His second incarnation in the same body.
• Both God and the Son of God appear in the morning.
• The scene is closely guarded – God ordered boundaries around the mountain; and Pilate allowed the Jews to post guards.
• The command was if anyone touched the mountain they would die; Jesus tells Mary to stop touching Him.
• The Lord descended – This is what the text says in Exodus 19, but Jesus also descended back into His body.
• Earth quake – This happened at both scenes.
• Lightening – While actual lightening is recorded at Mt. Sinai, the appearance of the angel was like lightening.
• God speaks – God speaks to Moses and Jesus speaks to Mary.

The similarities are striking and purposeful. Overall both are temple motifs in various forms. The tomb is not just a grave to fulfill messianic prophecy (Isaiah 53). The tomb becomes another apologetic for the acknowledgement Jesus in the NT is Yahweh in the OT. The tomb is the new Mt. Sinai.

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This entry was posted by PHall on Friday, April 5th, 2019 at 5:05 am and is filed under Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Exodus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.