Muslim - Part 2: Did Yeshua Predict His Resurrection?

Some "scholars" doubt that Yeshua actually predicted his resurrection. However, there are at least four reasons for holding that the claims are authentic:

[1]  They deny the resurrection itself as an historical event.  If one can rationally come to a conclusion that the resurrection did indeed historically occur, then their reasoning for reject Yeshua's predictions are ineffective.

[2]  Early on, when Yeshua predicted His resurrection, yet even the disciples had no clue as to what He was talking about.

[Mar 8:31-33 LSB]  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. [32]  And He was stating the matter openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. [33]  But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

[Mar 9:31-32 LSB]  For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.” [32]  But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

Peter's denial before the crowing of the rooster:

[Mar 14:27-28 LSB]  And Yeshua *said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ [28]  “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

Even after the tomb was found empty, they doubted.  Their first assumption was that someone had stolen His body:

[Joh 20:1-2 LSB]  Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. [2]  So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Yeshua loved, and *said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

[Joh 20:13-15 LSB]  And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” [14]  When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Yeshua standing there, and did not know that it was Yeshua. [15]  Yeshua *said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

See Luke 24:13-31 and the road to Emmaus account.

After the women had reported as to seeing Yeshua risen, they still doubted!

[Luk 24:10-12 LSB]  Now Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the rest of the women with them were there; they were telling these things to the apostles. [11]  But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they were not believing them. [12]  But Peter stood up and ran to the tomb; and stooping to look in, he *saw the linen wrappings only. And he went away by himself, marveling at what had happened.

[Joh 20:9 LSB]  For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

And of course, there's "doubting Thomas" who simply refused to believe:

[Joh 20:24-25 LSB]  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. [25]  So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Why bring all of this up?

It seems very unlikely that the disciples or early Christians who highly respected them would invent sayings of Jesus that would place them in such a bad light.  This is what is referred to as the "principle of embarrassment", and argues strongly in favor of the authenticity of the predictions of Jesus concerning his resurrection.  More on this "principle" later.

[3]  There's another principle that we'll discuss.  The principle of dissimilarity.

Yeshua refers to Himself as the Son of Man which weighs in favor of authenticity.

This criterion "focuses on words or deeds of Yeshua cannot be derived either from Judaism at the time of Yeshua or from the early Church after him" (John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, vol. 1 [New York: Doubleday, 1991], 171).

The Jews of Yeshua's day did not recognize Yeshua by the title of the Son of Man [Dan 7:13-14], in the sense of a suffering Messiah, and the early Church (NT writers) did not use that title to refer to Yeshua.

For these reasons, Yeshua's predictions concerning his resurrection, especially when connected to the "Son of Man," look quite authentic.

[4]  The Gospel accounts record multiple occasions when Yeshua explicitly predicted both His death and His resurrection, often specifying the third day.

Clear predictions:

John 2:18–22 (early in His ministry, after cleansing the temple):

[Joh 2:18-22 LSB]  The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” [19]  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” [20]  The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and will You raise it up in three days?” [21]  But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. [22]  So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Matthew 12:38–40 (the sign of Jonah):

[Mat 12:38-40 LSB]  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered and said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” [39]  But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; [40]  for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Additional references include Matthew 26:32 (after being raised He would go ahead of them to Galilee) and the later recollection by His opponents that He had said, “After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63).

Matthew 16:21 (and parallels in Mark 8:31 and Luke 9:22):

[Mat 16:21 LSB]  From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Matthew 17:22–23:

[Mat 17:22-23 LSB]  And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; [23]  and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The predictions were clear and repeated, yet the disciples frequently did not grasp them until after the events (see above). Even so, the statements were public enough that opponents later sought to secure the tomb because of them.

These predictions form part of the foundation Paul stresses in 1 Corinthians 15: the death, burial, and resurrection "according to the Scriptures".  Yeshua announced beforehand what would happen, and the fulfillment of those words is central to the apostolic witness.

Which "Scriptures" was Paul referring to?

Yeshua's death for our sin:

Isaiah 53 is the clearest. The Suffering Servant is "pierced for our transgressions… crushed for our iniquities", the Lord lays on Him the iniquity of us all, and He is "cut off from the land of the living" as a guilt offering [Isa 53:5–6, 8–10]. This is the strongest background for "died for our sins according to the Scriptures".

The resurrection (and the third day):

[Psa 16:10 LSB]  For You will not forsake my soul to Sheol; You will not give Your Holy One over to see corruption.

Peter explicitly applies this to Yeshua’s resurrection in Acts 2:25–31.

[Hos 6:2 LSB]  He will make us alive after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.

This is the text most often linked to the specific "third day" timing.

Isaiah 53:10–11 — After the Servant is crushed and made an offering for guilt, "He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days", and the will of the Lord prospers in His hand—implying life beyond death.

Typological patterns also contribute: the sign of Jonah (three days and three nights; Matt 12:40), and the broader OT pattern of decisive divine acts or deliverances occurring “on the third day” (e.g., Genesis 22, Exodus 19).

By having said all of the above, if we can reasonably show evidence to a historical resurrection then we also give credence to the authenticity and authority of the historical records found in Scripture.

The next question we will look at is:  What constitutes "PROOF"?