The script that Jesus’ earthly life followed grew out of Yahweh’s desire to rescue humanity and redeem creation from slavery to sin and evil. To foster faith and trust in Him,Yahweh revealed beforehand many of the details that were included in the script that Jesus would live out. So we find in the Old Testament details disclosed about Jesus’ ethnicity, His family of origin, His place of birth, and much more. Some scholars have identified over 300 prophecies about the Christ in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled.

One of the most remarkable passages of Scripture in this regard is Isaiah 53. It projects much
about Jesus’ suffering and death. Mark speaks of Jesus beginning to teach the twelve about his impending rejection, death, and resurrection (Mk. 8:27-33). We suspect that Jesus based much of His instruction on Isaiah 53. Mark’s account even seems to follow Isaiah’s prophecy. He begins by saying that Jesus would suffer much, like Isaiah’s words read (Is. 53:1-3) Mark may have been following Isaiah’s order by speaking next of Jesus being rejected by his own people (Is. 53:3-4), and of being killed (Is 53:5-8). In addition, Isaiah’s text points to the necessity of these things if humanity was to be saved (Is. 53:4-6, 8). Interestingly, Mark represents Jesus as conveying the absolute necessity of the events that he began to teach the disciples about. Jesus’ teaching was that these things MUST happen (Mk. 8:31). Marks account of Jesus’ conversation with Peter gives this emphasis. At the very least we can say that Isaiah’s words would certainly have helped Jesus understand his own future.

There is a question that can be raised regarding the fact that Jesus repeatedly said that he would be raised from the dead on the third day (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46). Is there an Old Testament prophecy that specifically states that Jesus would be raised on the third day? Jesus repeated this prediction often enough that it was known even to His enemies (Matt. 27:64; Mk. 15:29). How did Jesus know this? Was this detail made known to Him through the Scripture or did He himself receive this additional detail from God the Father, since He himself was a prophet?

The answer to these questions is “Yes!” That is, both the Scripture and the activity of God in Him as a prophet were likely at work, so that He provided this detail that He would be raised on the third day. Before speculating as to how this may have all transpired, we must be clear that there is no Scripture in the Old Testament that clearly states that Christ would be raised from the dead on the third day. However having said that, it is likely that as Jesus interacted with the Scriptures under the influence of the Holy Spirit, He became aware of the significance that the third day was assigned in certain Scriptures. There are several significant passages in the Old Testament that illustrate this.

First, when Israel was preparing to enter into covenant with Yahweh, at His direction they were to prepare for the meeting with Him for three days. They were told that on the third day, Yahweh would come down on the mountain and meet them (Ex. 19:11-12). He did come down to the mountain as He has said, on the third day. Second, when the covenant was given and the laws initiated for fellowship with Yahweh, the offering given as a thank offering had to be eaten by the third day. On the third day, it lost its efficacy, and to eat it became at that point an offense to God (Lev. 19:6-7). So in the laws that shaped their culture we see an offering prescribed for fellowship with Yahweh, and the idea that by the third day it had accomplished what it was suppose to accomplish. The third day marked the time Yahweh was done. Third, Hosea makes an interesting statement that may have shaped Jesus’ thought when he speaks to Israel’s need for repentance and return to Yahweh. After saying to them, “Come, let us return to Yahweh,” he says, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hosea 6:1-2). Fourth, and perhaps with knowledge of these things, when Esther the Queen prepared to make a plea for the lives of the Jewish people, she asked them to pray and fast for three days. She said that on the third day she would make her appeal (Esther 4:15-5:1). She did so, and the appeal resulted in their rescue, one that is celebrated to this day.

It seems legitimate to say that in the Jewish culture, long before the time of Jesus, there was a custom of marking a three day time period, then seeking and expecting a special work of Yahweh on the third day. Though we don’t know the specific reason for this rhythm, it was affirmed at key points by Yahweh in His dealings with Israel. Jesus may have made this observation. As He pondered this, it may have been applied in His mind by the Holy Spirit to the timeframe of His own resurrection. The result was that He spoke of the sign of Jonah the prophet, appropriating the story of Jonah and the whale to the communicate the idea that He would be raised on the third day (Matt. 12:39-40). Though not messianic in intent, the story of Jonah certainly served well to speak of both the dramatic nature of Jesus’ resurrection and its timeframe.

What might we speculate then on this “third day” prediction?

1. That as Yahweh composed the sacred writings through human writers, the third of three days marked a rhythm He would observe when He visited His people in some special way.
2. That Jesus’ level of wisdom in the Scriptures allowed Him to note this rhythm, and to  project that Yahweh’s great sign that redemption had been accomplished would come on the third day, a rhythm that coincided with Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish.
3. That the Holy Spirit moved Jesus to firmly and plainly speak this as a prophetic word. he apostles, having been convinced by the empty tomb on the third day, reported it this as THE confirming sign of the gospel message as they proclaimed it (1 Cor. 15:4).

      The constructions is flying along and the building is really taking shape. 95% of the steel is up and they are beginning to frame the exterior walls. We have poured more of the interior concrete as well as put up the steel for the stage platform. They will continue to pour the raked floor in the sanctuary next week and finish the stage decking. Insulators will start adding the next layer of insulation next week and we are beginning to paint the ceiling. Be in prayer for the city to approve our last set of permits so we can get the mason's going with the brick portions of the walls.

2/14/2012 Update: I don't know about you, but I am excited for the life Center.  Even more so, I am excited to see how God is going to use this project to impact us, this community and the rest of the world. In case you don't know me, I am Tony Nave and I am the Administrative Pastor at Red Mountain.  One of my tasks is to oversee the construction of the Life Center and act as the church's construction rep.  I have a degree in Construction management from ASU and a Master of Arts degree from Phoenix Seminary, but enough about me, let me tell you about our progress thus far. 

Phase one of our project was the new East lot that added 197 paved parking spaces to our site.  Phase two is the Life Center.  We began construction back in October and have spent the better part of three months running underground power, conduit, footings and laying out the footprint so the steel would go up correctly.   It was critical for all the bolts to be placed correctly so that the steel would fit right and every single bolt lined up perfectly.  Months of preparation allowed the steel erectors to put up the main shell of the sanctuary in five days.

It strikes me that God does this with us sometimes.  We go through months of groundwork with very little change that we can see, but then when the time is right, we go through massive change.  I think about the last 15 years of my life.  God had me at ASU where I thought I was going to be a contractor only to move me into full time youth ministry at Red Mountain.  I spent 8 years as a Jr. high Pastor and pursued my seminary degree.   Then I made the shift to the Administrative Pastor position as we began to realize the vision for developing Red Mountain's property.   Now here is a guy with a construction degree, a seminary degree and a sudden realization of why God took me down the path that He did.  I think it's pretty cool.

This week we are pouring the concrete slab for the new cafe and southern bathrooms and hallway.  The steel that is currently up is only the first phase and it outlines the sanctuary.  The second phase will widen the footprint and provide structure to cover the cafe, foyer, and nursery.  The final phase is to add the steel that will support the canopy that runs down the entire south side of the building.  These 3 phases will take a total of 10 to 12 weeks to complete and include the roofing. After we install the roofing we will come back and pour the concrete slab in the sanctuary and eventually the new foyer.  We saved these pours until after the steel was up to protect the concrete from heavy equipment and weather.    We have a project finish date of sometime in August, which is firmly set in Jell-O.   I will post more updates throughout this project so stay tuned.

Tony Nave

Pastor of Aministration

Watch or download the rest of the Sermon here.

We broke ground this week on the Life Center and are excited to see what God is going to do through the people of Red Mountain as we embrace His word, embrace His church, and embrace the lost.  With every project comes challenges and opportunities to Trust God.  Our first challenge is going to be parking, so we included a little diagram above to show our plan for this building process.  Note the oneway entrances and exits, as well as the one access driveway for additional dirt parking.  We have been using 200 spots in our old dirt lot and upper paved lot and with our new layout we now have 306 open spaces, (197 in the East lot and 109 in the dirt)more than enough for now.