Why was Jesus in the tomb for three days and three nights?
Jesus remained in the tomb three days and three nights to prove He was genuinely dead, not merely unconscious or in a trance-like state. It was not a staged illusion like Houdini. His death was real, and the duration confirmed it before His resurrection.
Les teaches that the three days and three nights in the tomb were necessary to prove that Christ was really dead—not merely unconscious or putting on a Houdini-like act. This connects to verse 4, where being buried with Him by baptism into death means that just as Christ truly died and was buried, so old Adam must die in us, and we must be sure he is dead. As Christ was buried, we were buried in the mind of Christ. The three-day tomb experience represents our death with Him, and we will be resurrected out of it just as He was.