“But he answered and said unto them, An
evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be
given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:39-40
Many people, for the reason of the
tradition of "Good Friday and Easter Sunday" have assumed that Jesus
died on Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday. Few have ever thought to
question this. Because Jesus said that He would resurrect on the third day, some
people count part of Friday as one day, Saturday as the second and part of
Sunday, as the third day. But when we investigate the scriptures, we find that
Christ spoke about the period of time as three days and three nights. From
Friday evening until Sunday morning, are not three days and three nights! Which
then is the correct explanation?
There were no eye witnesses of the
resurrection. Even the so-called "Apostolic Fathers" did not have any
more sources and information then the records that are available to us today.
Tradition must be dismissed. It wasn’t until the death of the last of the
twelve apostles (John) that the tradition of "Good Friday and Easter
Sunday" started spreading in the churches. What are the recorded facts?
The Pharisees were asking Jesus for a sign;
evidence to prove that He was the true Messiah. Jesus answered: “An
evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be
given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was
three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39-40, 16:21).
Now consider the tremendous importance of the overwhelming significance of
Jesus’ statement. He expressly declared that the only sign He would give to
prove He was the Messiah was that He would be just three days and three nights
in the sepulcher.
These Pharisees who refused to admit the
investiture of Christ demanded proof, Jesus offered but one proof. That proof
was not the fact of the resurrection itself. It was the length of
time He would be in the grave, before resurrecting. Think what this means!
Jesus staked His claim to being the Saviour upon remaining exactly three days
and three nights in the grave, but if He failed in this sign, He must be
rejected as an impostor! No wonder Satan has caused unbelievers to scoff at the
story of Jonah and the Whale! This one and only supernatural proof ever given
by Jesus for His Mesiahship has bothered the commentators and critics. They
attempt to explain away this sole proof for Christ’s divinity. For explain this
away they must, or their “Good Friday-Easter” tradition
collapses!
One commentator says, “of course we know
that Jesus was actually in the tomb only half as long as He thought He would
be!” Some imposes on us to believe that in the Greek language, in which the
N.T. was written, the expression, three days and three nights, means three
periods, either of day or of night! Jesus, they say, was placed in the tomb
shortly before sunset Friday, and rose at sunrise Sunday morning, two nights
and one day.
The Bible definition of the duration of
nights and days is simple. Even the critics admit that in the Hebrew language,
in which the book of Jonah was written, the expression “three days and
three nights” means a period of 72 hours, three twelve hour days and
three twelve hour nights. Notice Jonah 1:17: “And Jonah was in the
belly of the fish three days and three nights!” They admit it was a
period of 72 hours, and Jesus distinctly said that as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the great fish’s belly, so He would be the same length of time
in the grave! Did Jesus know how much time was in a day and in a night? Jesus
answered, “are there not twelve hours in a day...but if a man walk in
the night, he stumbleth” (John 11:9-10).
The Bible definition of the
expression, “the third day” text after text tells us that
Jesus rose the third day. Notice how the Bible defines the time required to
fulfill, “the third day” (Gen. 1:4-13).
“And he began to teach them, that the Son
of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief
priests, and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). If Jesus had been killed on Friday and then after one day He
had risen, the resurrection would have occurred on Saturday evening. If after
two days it would have occurred Sunday evening and if after three days, it
would have occurred Monday evening. Examine this text carefully. You cannot
figure any less than a full 72 hours in a resurrection which occurred three
days after the crucifixion! (Mark 9:31; Matt. 27:63; John 2:19-21) If we are to
accept all the testimony of the Bible, we must conclude that Jesus was exactly
three days and three nights, three full 24 hour days, 72 hours in the grave.
Now notice carefully this fact: in order to
be three days and three nights in the tomb, Jesus had to be resurrected at
exactly the same time of day that His body was buried in the tomb! If we can
find the time of day of the burial, then we have found the time of day of the
resurrection! If the burial, for instance, was at sunrise, then for the body to
be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection
likewise had to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon,
the resurrection was at noon, etc.
The crucifixion day was called “the
preparation” or day before the Sabbath (Mat. 27:62; Mark 15:42;
Luke 23:54). This day ended at sunset, according to Lev. 23:32. Jesus cried out
soon after “the ninth hour” or 3:00 p.m. (Matt. 27:46-50; Mark
15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46). Yet Jesus was buried before this same day ended,
before sunset (Matt. 27:57; Luke 23:52-54). John adds, “There laid they
Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day.” According to
the laws observed by the Jews all dead bodies must be buried before the
beginning of a Sabbath or feast day. Therefore Jesus was buried before sunset
on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3:p.m. The burial of Christ’s
body was in the late afternoon! It was between 3 p.m. and sunset as these
scriptures prove. And since the resurrection had to occur at the same time of
day, three days later, the resurrection of Christ occurred, not at sunrise, but
in the late afternoon, near sunset.
The first investigators, Mary Magdalene and
her companions, came to the sepulcher on the first day of the week (Sunday)
very early, while it was yet dark, as the sun was beginning to rise, at dawn
(Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). These are the texts that most people have
supposed stated that the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday morning. When the
women arrived, the tomb was already open! At that time Sunday morning while it
was yet dark, Jesus was not there! Notice how the angel says, “He is
not here, but is risen” (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:6; Matt. 28:5-6). Jesus
was already risen at sunrise Sunday morning! He rose from the grave in the late
afternoon, near sunset! And since Christ was buried late Wednesday afternoon
and that the resurrection took place at the same time of day three days later,
we now know the resurrection of Christ occurred late Saturday afternoon.
Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, the
middle day of the week. He died shortly after 3 p.m. that afternoon; was buried
before sunset Wednesday evening. Now count the three days and three nights. His
body was Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights in the grave, three nights. It
also was there through the daylight part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
three days. He rose Saturday, the Sabbath, late afternoon, shortly before
sunset, at the same time of day that He was buried! It is significant that in
Daniel’s prophecy of the “seventy weeks” (Dan. 9:24-27), Jesus was to be cut
off “in the midst of the week.” It is significant that Jesus was also “cut off”
on the middle day of a literal week.
Now we come to an objection some may raise,
yet the very pint which proves this truth. Perhaps you have noticed that the
Bible say the day after the crucifixion was a Sabbath. Hence, for centuries,
people have assumed the crucifixion was on Friday. We have seen by all four
Gospels that the crucifixion day was called “the preparation.” The preparation
day for the Sabbath. But for what Sabbath? It was the preparation of the
Passover (John 19:14, 31).
Just what is a “high day”? Ask any Jew! He
will tell you it is one of the annual holy days, or feast days. The Israelites
observe seven of these every year, every one called a Sabbath! Annual Sabbaths
fall on certain annual calendar dates and on different day of the week in
different years, just like the Roman holidays now observed. These Sabbaths
might fall on Monday, on Thursday, or on Sunday (Leviticus 16:31; 23:24, 26-32,
39). Notice Matthew 26:2, if you will follow through this chapter you will see
that Jesus was crucified on the Passover! And what was the Passover? In the
twelfth chapter of Exodus you will find the story of the original Passover.
Following the Passover was a holy convocation or annual Sabbath (Num.
28:16-17). The Passover lamb, killed every year on the 14th of the first month
called “Abib,” was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. Christ is our Passover, sacrificed for us (I Cor. 5:7).
Jesus was slain on the very same day the
Passover had been slain every year. He was crucified on the 14th of Abib, the
first Hebrew month of the year. And this day, the Passover, was the day before,
and the preparation for, the Feast day, or annual high day Sabbath, which
occurred on the 15th. of Abib. This Sabbath might occur on any day of the week.
Frequently it occurs, and is observed even today, on Thursday. For instance,
this “high-day” Sabbath came on Thursday in 1982, 1989, 1992, 2001, 2005 and
will occur on Thursday in 2013.
The Hebrew calendar shows that in the year
Jesus was crucified, the 14th of Abib, Passover day, the day Jesus was
crucified, was Wednesday. And the annual Sabbath was Thursday. This was the
Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus
late that Wednesday afternoon. There were two separate Sabbaths that week!
According to Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and
her companions did not buy their spices to anoint the body of Jesus until after
the Sabbath was past. They could not prepare them until after this, yet after
preparing the spices they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment!
(Luke 23:56).
Study these two texts carefully. There is
only one possible explanation: After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day
of the days of Unleavened Bread, which was Thursday, these women purchased and
prepared their spices on Friday, and then they rested on the weekly Sabbath,
Saturday, according to the commandment (Ex. 20:8-11). A comparison of these two
texts proves there were two Sabbaths that week, with a day in between. Otherwise,
these texts contradict themselves.
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