unless a seed dies

Tales of the Hasidim, Martin Buber

p. 104 

"The Between Stage 

The maggid of Mezritch said: 

Nothing in the world  can change from one reality into another, unless it first turns into nothing, that is, into the reality of the between-stage.  In that stage it is nothing and no one can grasp it, for it has reached the rung of nothingness, just as before creation. And then it is made into a new creature, from the egg to the chick. The moment when the egg is no more and the chick is not yet, is nothingness.  And philosophy terms this the primal state which no one can grasp because it is a force which precedes creation; it is called chaos.  It is the same with the sprouting seed.  It does does not begin to sprout until the seed disintegrates in the earth and the quality of seed-dom is destroyed in order that it may attain to nothingness which is the rung before creation.  And this rung is called wisdom, that is to say, a thought which cannot be made manifest. Then this thought gives rise to creation, as it is written:  'In wisdom hast Thou made them all.'" 

The Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern 

Yochanan (John) 12:24 

"I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest." 

Yochanan (John) 3:3 

"'Yes, indeed,' Yeshua answered him, 'I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.'" 

Mark 8:31 

"He began teaching them that the Son of Man had to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that after three days, he had to rise again."

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 53

"In fact, it was our diseases he bore, 

our pains from which he suffered; 

...

But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; 

the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed.

...

He was given a grave among the wicked; 

in his death he was with a rich man.

...

yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness, 

to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering." 

 

Tales of the Hasidim p. 123 

"On the Day of Destruction

They asked Rabbi Pinhas:  'Why should the Messiah be born on the anniversary of the Destruction of the Temple-- as the tradition has it?' 

'The kernel,' he replied, 'which is sown in earth, must fall to pieces so that the ear of grain may sprout from it.  Strength cannot be resurrected until it has dwelt in deep secrecy.  To doff a shape, to don a shape-- this is done in the instant of pure nothingness.  In the husk of forgetting, the power of memory grows.  That is the power of redemption.  On the day of destruction, power lies at the bottom of the depths, and grows. That is why, on this day, we sit on the ground. That is why, on this day, we visit graves. That is why, on this day, the Messiah is born.'" 

1 Corinthians 15:3 

"For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this:  the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says..."