"Good Friday" and Matthew 12:40

[NedFlanders]

It does bring another question…

Where does the scripture say Pentecost was fifty days after Christ’s resurrection?
That might help clear things?

[Neto]

Christ said:



If Christ died and was buried on Friday evening, and then rose on Sunday morning, how is that 3 days and 3 nights?

John

It is an old argument, one with all sorts of explanations on both sides. A fellow translator of ours believed that the Passover meal with his disciples was on Wednesday, and that his death was on Thursday. Special days in the Jewish religious calendar were also called "Sabbaths', so it is very difficult to exactly pinpoint the exact timing. What we CAN know, is that it was God's timing in his over-all plan of salvation. It is more important for us to recall what he did for each of us, than to be fixated on the exact human time table. (Just my opinion, of course.)

If Christ was killed on Thursday, and buried Thursday evening, and arose Sunday morning, that is 3 nights and only 2 days. It still does not fit.

What we all believe to be the truth will not ever fit Christ's prophecy, because our belief could be based on the wrong assumptions, namely that Christ arose on Sunday morning.

If you open your mind to discover the truth of what Christ said in Matthew 12:40, and read the Resurrection passages in Matt 28 and elsewhere, then you will understand that the tomb was empty on Sunday morning, and Christ had already arisen the Saturday evening before.

It is very plain if you read the texts with an open mind, and listen to what they said, namely "He is not here, for He is risen" Mt 28:6.

If Christ was buried in the evening, then He had to arise in the evening, 3 days and 3 nights later, just like He said.

If He was buried on Wednesday at evening, then He arose on Saturday at evening.

But here is why our minds are closed:

If Christ really arose on Saturday evening, then there is no valid reason for worshiping Christ on Sunday. And there is no valid reason for the celebration of Easter on Sunday, which was established by the First Council of Nicaea.

That is why Matthew 12:40 is ignored, and we are asked to concentrate on what He did for us, and not to worry about the details of His Doctrines. We have all made the mistake of worshipping Christ, without listening to what He actually said or told us to do. Luke 6:46.

Thank you for your response. If you can come up with any scenario that puts Christ "3 days and 3 nights" in the heart of the earth, I am interested. It is something I struggled with for a very long time, and it finally opened my eyes.

John

In your reckoning, when did "Saturday" end? Are you using Western, or Jewish definitions for "day"? If one uses the Jewish reckoning, then anytime after sun-down on the Sabbath was the first day of the week. The other part of the puzzle is how do you define a day to start with? From what I've heard, the Jewish reckoning counts a part of a day as a day. The most exact they got was if a certain "watch of the night" was referred to, which is a period of hours, and it wasn't even a consistent period of time according to our 60 seconds & 60 minutes. The amount of daylight vs night in that area of the world varies by only about a half an hour, with roughly half light and half dark. In the part of the year when there was more dark than night, the 'night watches' were longer than those of the day time, and also longer than the watches of the night during the other part of the year.

Even if Christ died and was put in the tomb only shortly before sun down on Friday, he was there part of that day, all of the Sabbath (Jewish reckoning), and part of "the first day of the week" - Sunday.

I personally think that the question of which day should be observed is a separate question, and I'm not convinced that we should not be continuing to worship on the Sabbath, as the Congregation of God was instructed from the beginning. However, that's perhaps too focused on the technical details, and we already do too much of that. As Josh has said in the past, How does anyone really know what day it is? How do you know that today is Friday, and that this evening, as dusk comes, that it will be the Sabbath? (I hope I'm not attributing these questions to the wrong person, so this is just to the best of my memory.)

[Neto]

I messed that up. I intended to say "more dark than LIGHT".

[JohnHurt]

In your reckoning, when did "Saturday" end? Are you using Western, or Jewish definitions for "day"? If one uses the Jewish reckoning, then anytime after sun-down on the Sabbath was the first day of the week. The other part of the puzzle is how do you define a day to start with? From what I've heard, the Jewish reckoning counts a part of a day as a day. The most exact they got was if a certain "watch of the night" was referred to, which is a period of hours, and it wasn't even a consistent period of time according to our 60 seconds & 60 minutes. The amount of daylight vs night in that area of the world varies by only about a half an hour, with roughly half light and half dark. In the part of the year when there was more dark than night, the 'night watches' were longer than those of the day time, and also longer than the watches of the night during the other part of the year.

Even if Christ died and was put in the tomb only shortly before sun down on Friday, he was there part of that day, all of the Sabbath (Jewish reckoning), and part of "the first day of the week" - Sunday.

Neto,

I understand that the Hebrew day ended at sundown.

John 19:(31) The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Passover is not a sabbath, but the 1st day of Unleavened Bread is this "high day" or yearly sabbath:

Leviticus 23:(5) In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.
(6) And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
(7) In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

John 19:(42) There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

So they buried Christ before sundown, what I would understand to be Wednesday just before 6:00 pm.

For 3 days and 3 nights, Christ would have to arise on Saturday, just before sundown.

Thursday would have been a yearly sabbath, and the followers of Christ rested on this day.

Luke 23:(52) This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
(53) And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
(54) And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
(55) And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
(56) And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Between the yearly Sabbath on Thursday and the weekly Sabbath on Saturday, the women had Friday to prepare the spices and ointments for burial. But the tomb was guarded by the soldiers, until the earthquake and angel in Matthew 28:

Matthew 28:(1) In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
(2) And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
(3) His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
(4) And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
(5) And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
(6) He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

I understand that as the 7th day, or Saturday sabbath ended, it did so at twilight, or 6:00 pm on Saturday. I understand that the word "dawn" in Matt 28:1 means "twilight".

The stone was rolled back not to let Christ out, but to let other people in to see the empty tomb. Christ had already left, even at this time.

The same account in Mark is different:

Mark 16:(1) And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
(2) And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
(3) And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
(4) And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
(5) And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
(6) And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

In this account, the angel has already rolled back the stone, and the two Marys seem to not be witnesses of the stone being taken away as in Matthew.

Perhaps Matthew 28:2-4 is inserted in the timeline of the Mary's visit to explain what happened previously.

This statement in Mark that Ned Flanders noted is interesting and throws a "kink" in Christ being risen on Saturday at sunset:

Mark 16:(9) Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

"Risen" or "anistemi" means "standing up". Does it mean that Christ "was risen" on the 1st day of the week, or that He was already "standing" on the 1st day of the week?
A Greek scholar can answer this, and he will also need to answer the logic of "3 days and 3 nights" as well.
One answer for both problems is that Christ arose on Saturday evening, just at sunset, just as it began to twilight to the "first day of the week", or the "first of Sabbaths".

I personally think that the question of which day should be observed is a separate question, and I'm not convinced that we should not be continuing to worship on the Sabbath, as the Congregation of God was instructed from the beginning. However, that's perhaps too focused on the technical details, and we already do too much of that. As Josh has said in the past, How does anyone really know what day it is? How do you know that today is Friday, and that this evening, as dusk comes, that it will be the Sabbath? (I hope I'm not attributing these questions to the wrong person, so this is just to the best of my memory.)

I am with you on this one. Loving our brothers is more important than haggling over a day. Let God open our eyes to what He wants us to do.

Almost every civilization uses a 7 day week. I asked a friend of mine from Nepal (Hindu/Buddhist), and they use a 7 day calendar, with the 7th day (what we call Saturday) being the day of various celebrations:
https://nepalicalendar.rat32.com/

The Spanish Calendar is also interesting, as the days of the week are:

el lunes – Monday
el martes – Tuesday
el miércoles – Wednesday
el jueves – Thursday
el viernes – Friday
el sábado – Saturday
el domingo – Sunday

During the French Revolution, they tried a 10 day week, and it did not work. The 7 day week has been constant since the creation. If the 7 day week had changed, then there would be different sects of Jews celebrating the Sabbath on different days.

[RZehr]

At least one point, there was 11 days removed from the calendar. Not sure what that did to the days of the week.

[Neto]

At least one point, there was 11 days removed from the calendar. Not sure what that did to the days of the week.

What I've heard is that during the devastation of the Black Plague and other events that resulted in great population loss or times of extreme struggle for survival, life simply became a day to day existence, and the exact day of the week may have been forgotten. According to this theory, someone (probably some monks) did some study on it, and decided what day it was, and now we've just carried on since then. That's the way life was in the Banawa tribe - they had little idea of what day was what - they have no names for the days of the week, nor did they even have a 'week'. They would often come and ask us what day came after which - the Portuguese names for the days of the week. They went by moons, and they knew that very well. They only had to notice the relative times of sun-down and moon-up to know what phase of the moon it was. While we lived there with them, I developed a pretty fair control of this as well, but have now largely forgotten all of that.

[JohnHurt]

It does bring another question…

Where does the scripture say Pentecost was fifty days after Christ’s resurrection?
That might help clear things?

Ned,

The Feast of First Fruits, or the "Wave Offering" began on the day after the first weekly sabbath that followed Passover, which would be our Sunday.

Lev 23:(10) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
(11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Paul said that Christ was the firstfruits of the Resurrection. 1 Cor 15:20,23

Christ would not let His disciples touch him on this day, as He had not ascended. John 20:17. Yet later, they could touch Him. John 20:20,27. So apparently Christ was the "wave offering" of the firstfruits and so He appeared to YHVH on the Feast of Firstfruits.

Sunday is the first day of the week, and the Sunday of Firstfruits after the Sabbath starts the 7 weeks (49 days) before Pentecost:

Leviticus 23:(15) And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
(16) Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

The "first of Sabbaths" (mistranslated as "first day of the week") was the beginning of the first week of these 7 weeks. It happened only one time a year. It was not a weekly event. The next Sabbath day after the first of Sabbaths is recorded in Luke 6:1

(1) And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

The "first day of the week" always occurs just before Pentecost, 50 days prior to be exact:

Acts 20:(7) And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Acts 20:(16) For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

1 Cor 16:(2) Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
1 Cor 16:(8) But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.

Paul is taking up a collection for the poor that live "in the place where the Lord has placed His Name", that is, Jerusalem. Paul is following the instructions to take up a collection in Deuteronomy 16. In this passage, the 7 weeks prior to Pentecost is called "the feast of weeks".

Deuteronomy 16:(9) Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
(10) And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
(11) And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

That Paul preached until midnight:

Acts 20:(7) And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

If you believe that Paul started on Sunday morning, that would be quite a long winded preacher sermon.

But if the "first of Sabbaths", or the new week started at sundown on Saturday, then Paul preaching 6 hours until midnight is still a long sermon, and yes, I would fall asleep and fall out of the loft too, but a 6 hour sermon makes more sense than an 18 hour sermon that started on Sunday morning.

Christ arising from the dead Saturday evening at sunset fulfills the 3 days and 3 nights, and maybe if it was exactly at sunset, then He fulfilled the "first of weeks" and the wave offering too. But I don't see that He arose on Sunday morning.

[NedFlanders]

So, if I understand correctly we do agree? The Jews viewed the start of a new day as soon as the sun went down so Sunday morning to them would have been what we call Saturday evening. I don’t see us disagreeing with you if this is what you mean?

[JohnHurt]

So, if I understand correctly we do agree? The Jews viewed the start of a new day as soon as the sun went down so Sunday morning to them would have been what we call Saturday evening. I don’t see us disagreeing with you if this is what you mean?

Probably so. Or close enough for us to all be friends. Or, "I don't know" is a good answer too.

It looks like Christ either arose at the end of the 7th day Sabbath, or the beginning of the Feast of First Fruits, which would be the evening of the 1st day of the week. Or right at sundown, and fulfill both.

To "split hairs", the account in John is that they got His body off the cross and buried before the yearly sabbath began on Wednesday just before sundown, so "if it was precisely 72 hours", then he would have arisen just before sundown on Saturday. I think that is more precision than needed.

I will say that Christ performed a lot of His miracles on the 7th day sabbath, for which the Pharisees condemned Him, and He answered that He was the Lord of the Sabbath day. So His resurrection "to me" would make more sense to fall just before sunset on Saturday.

But He is also the "firstfruits from the dead", and just a few minutes after sunset, that is all it would take.

So Christ can fulfill God's Plan however it really works, and I certainly don't know all the answers.

How the Sabbath was moved from the 7th day to the 1st day of the week is another topic. Trying to understand three days and three nights is enough.

Here is how I understand that the start of the days were figured:

Gen 1:(5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The very first day started out with darkness then light. I think that is why they start the new day at sunset, and count from the evening to the morning.

It was great talking to you.

John

[JayP]

You are all kidding right?

Friday = day 1
Saturday = day 2
Sunday = day 3

This is complex?

Since 325AD They have been saying this in the Nicene Creded, but a couple of dudes on an internet site have more insight?