The American Wisdom Series

Presents #7082

Do you attend a church that teaches, Christ having been crucified on Friday [Good Friday] and arising from the dead on Sunday [Easter Sunday]?

I also believed that to be true until I read the following and counted the days:
Matthew 12:38  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39  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:
40  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.
41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
42  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

When you point out that Jesus said "three days and three nights" to most every one who claims to be a Christian, you will get an answer something like this; They will say, "The Lord did arise on the third day".

Then they'll quote Matthew 17:22-23   [22] And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: [23] And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. or they'll quote Mark 9:31  [31]For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. or they'll quote Luke 24:46  [46] And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

"See, I told you so!", they will tell you and add with sarcasm, "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the third day! Easter Sunday!"

Now, I agree, Sunday is the third day after Friday,But, It is not three days and three nights like Jesus plainly told us in Matthew 12:40 and we were plainly told in Jonah 1:17 [17] Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

My question to you is, Since it is clear that Jesus was to be buried for  "Three Full Days and Three Full Nights", Why do you still attend that church? My prayer is, that you allow the Holy Spirit to be your guiding light when you read the following:

My Bible says: Jonah 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

It is commonly taught that Jesus was crucified on what the churches call "Good Friday".
It is commonly taught that Jesus rose at "sunrise" on Easter Sunday morning,

My Bible says: John 20:1  The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,

We are furnished by Scripture with certain facts and fixed points which, taken together, enable us (1) to determine the events which filled up the days of "the last week" of our Lord's life on earth; (2) to fix the day of His crucifixion; and (3) to ascertain the duration of the time He remained in the tomb.

The difficulties connected with these three have arisen (1) from not having noted these fixed points; (2) from the fact of Gentiles' not having been conversant with the law concerning the three great feasts of the Lord; and (3) from not having reckoned the days as commencing (some six hours before our own) and running from sunset to sunset, instead of midnight to midnight.

To remove these difficulties, we must note:---

I. That the first day of each of the three feasts. Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, was "a holy convocation", a "sabbath" on which no servile work was to be done.  See Lev. 23:7, 24, 35. compare Ex. 12:16. "That sabbath" and the "high day" of John 19:31, was the "holy convocation", the first day of the feast, which quite overshadowed the ordinary weekly sabbath.

It was called by the Jews Yom tov (= Good day), and this is the greeting on that day throughout Jewry down to the present time. This great sabbath, having been mistaken from the earliest times for the weekly sabbath, has led to the confusion.

II. This has naturally caused the further difficulty as to the Lord's statement that "even as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights" (Matt. 12:40).  Now, while it is quite correct to speak according to Hebrew idiom of "three days" or "three years", while they are only parts of three days or three years, yet that idiom does not apply in a case like this, where "three nights" are mentioned in addition to "three days".  It will be noted that the Lord not only definitely states this, but repeats the full phraseology, so that we may not mistake it. (see Ap. 144, Companion Bible)

III.  We have therefore the following facts furnished for our sure guidance:

1. 1. The "high day" of John 19:31 was the first day of the feast. {translated high day in King James version - special  Sabbath in New International Version, but definitely not Saturday or the weekly Sabbath}
2. 2. The "first day of the feast" was on the 15th day of Nisan.
3. 3. The 15th day of Nisan, commenced at sunset on what we call the 14th.
4. 4. "Six days before the passover" (John 12:1) takes us back to the 9th day of Nisan.
5. 5. "After two days is the passover" (Matt. 26:2, Mark 14:1) takes us to the 13th day of Nisan.
6. 6. "The first day of the week", the day of the resurrection (Matt. 28:1, &c.) was from our Saturday sunset to our Sunday sunset.  This fixes the days of the week, just as the above fix the days of the month, for:
7. 7.  Reckoning back from this, "three days and three nights" (Matt. 12:40), we arrive at the day of the burial, which must have been before sunset, on the 14th of Nisan; i.e before our Wednesday sunset.
8. 8.  This makes the sixth day before the passover (the 9th Day of Nisan) to be our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset

IV. It follows, therefore, that the Lord being crucified on "the preparation day" could not have eaten of the Passover lamb, which was not slain until the evening of the 14th of Nisan (i.e. afternoon).  On that day the daily sacrifice was killed at the 6th hour (noon) and offered about the 7th hour (1 p.m.).  The killing of the Passover lambs began directly afterwards.  Thus it is clear, that if the killing of the Passover lambs did not commence until about four hours after our Lord had been hanging upon the Cross, and would not have been concluded at the ninth hour (3 p.m.) when "He gave up the ghost;" --no "Passover lamb" could have been eaten at the "last supper" on the previous evening.

V.  With these facts before us, we are now in a position to fill in the several days of the Lord's last week with the events recorded in the Gospels.  By noting that the Lord returned to Bethany (or to the Mount of Olives) each night of the week, we are able to determine both the several days and the events that took place in them.

THE SIXTH DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 9TH DAY OF NISAN.
(Our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset)
Events: See Matthew 21:1-17 and Luke 19:1-28

THE FIFTH DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 10TH DAY OF NISAN
(Our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset)
Events: See John 12:2-11

THE FOURTH DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 11TH DAY OF NISAN
(Our Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset), the Gentile "Palm Sunday"
Events: See Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, and John 12:12-19

THE THIRD DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 12TH DAY OF NISAN
(Our Sunday sunset to Monday sunset)
Events: See Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 12:20-50

THE SECOND DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 13TH DAY OF NISAN
(Our Monday sunset to Tuesday sunset)
Events: See Matthew 21:23 - 26:13,  Mark 11:20 - 14:9, and Luke 20:1 - 21:38

THE DAY BEFORE THE PASSOVER, THE 14TH DAY OF NISAN---"THE PREPARATION DAY"---THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION.
(Our Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset)
Events: See Matthew 26:14 - 27:66, Mark 14:10 - 15:47*, Luke 22:1 - 23:56*, and John 13:1 - 19:42
*The words in Mark 14:12 and Luke 22:7 refer to "the first day of unleavend bread", which was the 14th day of Nisan, and therefore "the preparation day". That is why the Lord goes on to tell the two disciples to go and make preparation for the Passover.

"THE FIRST DAY OF THE FEAST"---"THE HIGH DAY" (Yom tov)---THE 15TH DAY OF NISAN.
(Our Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset)
THE FIRST NIGHT and FIRST DAY IN THE TOMB.

"THE SECOND DAY OF THE FEAST"---THE 16TH DAY OF NISAN.
(Our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset)
THE SECOND NIGHT and SECOND DAY IN THE TOMB.

"THE THIRD DAY OF THE FEAST"---"THE (WEEKLY) SABBATH"---THE 17TH DAY OF NISAN.
(Our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset)
THE THIRD NIGHT and THIRD DAY IN THE TOMB.

"THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK"---THE 18TH DAY OF NISAN.
(Our Saturday sunset: "the third day" of Matt. 16:21, &c; not the third day of the Feast)

Thus, the Resurrection of the Lord took place at Saturday sunset, or thereabouts, on "the third day"; "after three days" (Matt.27:63, Mark 8:31)
See Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-49 and John 20:1-23

It will be seen from the above that we have neither power nor authority to alter or shift any day or date; or to change the order or position of any of the events recorded in Holy Writ.

Each day is marked by a return to Bethany during the last week (up to the Preparation Day); and each day is filed with recorded events.

It follows therefore, that the Lord was crucified on our Wednesday; was buried on that day before sunset; and remained "three days and three nights" in the tomb, as foretold by Him in Matt. 12:40; rising from the dead on "the third day", "the first day of the week".  Saturday not Sunday

The fixed days and dates, at either end, hold the whole period as in a vice, and place the whole subject on a sure foundation.