“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. However, 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 eyewitnesses 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 was not 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.
The 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 the 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 will occur on
Thursday in 2029.
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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