“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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