Why did Jesus rise from the dead after three days?

To come back to save his people.

AnswerTo answer this question we have to consider a number of things:

• The timing of the crucifixion
• The nature of the resurrection
• Prophesies made by Christ himself

The Resurrection of Jesus was not simply a resuscitation of a corpse, into a zombie-like state. It was the inevitable event that followed the crucifixion in order that Christ's glory, as God the Son, would be revealed to the world in a dramatic way. In other Words, he would be revealed to his followers first, and then to others (such as Paul) and eventually to all people who put their trust in him through the power of his Holy Spirit, as prophesised by Joel (2:28). Christ's resurrection was into a glorified physical and spiritual state. His resurrection body was material - flesh and blood. It bore the scars of the crucifixion; Christ ate and drank. Yet this same body materialised and dematerialised at will. This glorified body of Christ was revealed for one special purpose; that all who believe in him will also resurrect in the same way, because of his opening the 'gate of heaven to all believers' and restoring the broken relationship between God and humanity.

Christ prophesised many times when his resurrection would be. He claimed that after his death 'on the third day I will rise again'. On another occasion, he prophesised that he would destroy the Temple at Jerusalem and in three days rebuild it. Of course the religious leaders thought him mad as the physical Temple was a gigantic structure. Yet here Jesus was referring to the removal of the old values and replacing them with God's values - which he had authority to do so.

So, as to the timing of the crucifixion, this took place on the Friday morning, engineered by Jesus' own hand, no doubt. His arrest was on Thursday, the trials happened throughout the night, and we are told that the crucifixion occurred at 9am on the Friday morning, Jesus dying at around 3pm. This means that his body had to be hastily buried, as, by sunset on Friday the Sabbath would officially start. This would mean that his body had to rest in the tomb throughout the rest of the Friday (day 1) and right through the Saturday - the Sabbath (day 2), and it would not be possible for anyone to visit the tomb to anoint the body with preserving spices until early on the Sunday morning (day 3).

We do not know exactly when the resurrection occurred. But we do know when the resurrected Christ was first seen. This was by Mary Magdalene at the tomb early on the Sunday morning. Therefore, to her, Jesus rose on the third day. Whether or not he rose at another time we don't know, but it would be very likely that the resurrection occurred on the Sunday and not before, both so that Jesus could reveal his resurrection body to her with the greatest impact, and also that his own prophesies might be fulfilled.