In Luke 24:46, Jesus tells the disciples that it is written that 'The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.' The only OT scripture I can find that comes close to saying that is Hosea 6:2. Can you explain to me what Jesus meant?—‚Tina Jones, Manhattan, New York

Yes, I would guess that passages like Hosea 6:2 and Jonah 1:17 are what Jesus has in mind. As you detect, this is not exactly "prophecy" in the usual sense, but rather foreshadowing. Often the Old Testament foreshadows New Testament or Messianic events. One fabulous example of foreshadowing is the "sacrifice" of Isaac in Genesis 22, which contains at least 10 parallels to the sacrifice of Christ. In addition, the Messianic Psalm 16 indicates that the Christ would soon rise from the dead.

There is an interesting and ancient Jewish text on the resurrection of the dead: "Another explanation for 'I kill and bring to life' [Deut. 32:39]: This is one of the four promises given to them [the Israelites] as a hint concerning the resurrection of the dead. 'I kill and bring to life'; 'Let my soul die the death of the righteous' [Num. 23:10]; 'Let Reuben live and not die' [Deut. 33:6]; and "after two days he revives us' [Hos. 6:23]'" (Sifrei Deuteronomy 329, probably written 200-300 AD).

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