Foundation Text
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Greek Key Terms
- παρέδωκα (paredōka) - "Delivered/handed over" - transmission of gospel tradition, echoes "delivered Him up" (Romans 8:32)
- ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν (hyper tōn hamartiōn) - "For/instead of sins" - substitutionary atonement, in our place
- ἠγέρθη (ēgerthē) - "He was raised" - divine passive, God raised Him, resurrection accomplished
Context: Paul corrects the Corinthian church's denial of bodily resurrection. He begins by rehearsing the core gospel: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. This is the "gospel of first importance"—the foundation on which everything else stands.
Connections
- TO: Genesis 22:4 (on the third day Abraham saw the place afar off), Hosea 6:2 (on the third day He will raise us up), Jonah 1:17 (Jonah in the fish three days)
- FROM OT: Isaiah 53:5-6 (wounded for our transgressions, the LORD laid on Him our iniquity), Psalm 16:10 (You will not abandon my soul to Sheol), Daniel 9:26 (Messiah shall be cut off)
- FROM NT: Romans 8:32 (delivered Him up for us all), 2 Corinthians 5:21 (God made Him to be sin for us), 1 Peter 2:24 (He bore our sins in His body on the tree)
Connection Method(s): Typology (Providential, Forward-Looking), Promise-Fulfillment — Christ's death and resurrection fulfill the Isaac typology of near-death and figurative return from death (Hebrews 11:19); the third-day parallel with the journey to Moriah (Genesis 22:4) is a traditional inference, not an NT-drawn identification, while completing the prophetic promise of substitutionary atonement (Isaiah 53), the resurrection promise of Psalm 16:10 and the third-day hope of Hosea 6:2 (see TT 188).
Christological Connection: Paul presents Christ's death and resurrection as the reality to which Isaac's near-death and deliverance pointed. The Akedah raised the question: Can God deliver from death? Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). Christ's resurrection answers definitively: Yes. God not only can raise the dead—He did, in Christ. The escalation: Isaac's figurative resurrection (Hebrews 11:19) → Christ's actual resurrection → believers' future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Jewish and patristic tradition has also read the third day of the journey to Moriah (Genesis 22:4) alongside Christ's third-day resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:4) — a labelled inference, since no biblical author draws that parallel; the type lies in the central structure Hebrews names, not in every narrative detail. The ram substituted for Isaac died; Christ as our substitute died and rose. Isaac lived because a ram died; we live because Christ died and rose. The pattern climaxes here: miraculous birth → willing sacrifice → deliverance from death → life for many. What was rehearsed in Isaac is accomplished in Christ. We are "children of promise" (Galatians 4:28) because, like Isaac, we receive life through God's power over death—ultimately, through Christ's resurrection.
Trajectory Table: 077 - Isaac (Child of Promise)