Because Jesus rose, those who believe on Him will also rise. Believers today experience the hope of Job and the joy of David because of the promise of God repeated throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus Himself guaranteed: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). The believer’s future resurrection is inevitable.

Jesus’ tomb was empty. But why? How? Who? So many questions filled the mind of Cleopas and his friend as they slowly walked the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. In the aftermath of their Savior’s crucifixion, they could not fathom the inevitability of the resurrection.

Encounter with a Stranger

Just that morning, a normally reliable group women—dedicated followers of Jesus—had reported seeing a vision of angels at the empty tomb (Luke 24:23). They said that the angels asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” (Luke 24:5–7).

Neither Cleopas nor his friend knew what to make of the women’s report until they met a stranger on the road to Emmaus. That stranger—Jesus Himself—gently chided them for their unbelief: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25–26). Jesus answered their questions by taking them through the Old Testament Scriptures. Then, He revealed that He was their risen Savior.

Revelation in the Upper Room

Later that evening, after Cleopas and his friend had raced back to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared in the upper room where His followers had gathered. Once again, Jesus emphasized what He had already told them and what the Old Testament had previously revealed: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44–45).

The Necessity of the Resurrection

Then Jesus spoke these amazing words: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46–48). Not only did Jesus say He would rise from the dead, but He also echoed the unbreakable words of the Old Testament Scriptures. “Thus it is written.” and so, He must rise. “It was necessary for the Christ . . . to rise,” and so, His resurrection was inevitable.

But what Old Testament passages did Jesus quote foretelling His resurrection? Luke 24 does not reveal those details, but here are four passages Jesus may have referenced as He convinced His disciples of the inevitability of the resurrection.

~2000 B.C.: Job’s Hope

In arguably the first book of the Bible ever written, the prophet Job finds hope in a future resurrection. He writes, “I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26). The foundation for Job’s hope of resurrection lies in his Redeemer’s resurrection.

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