By Herbert W. Armstrong
Was
Jesus three days and three nights in the grave, as He said in Matthew 12:40?
Can you figure three days three nights between sunset “Good Friday” and sunrise
Easter Sunday?
It is commonly supposed
today that Jesus was crucified on Friday, and that the resurrection occurred
about sunrise on Easter Sunday morning.
Few professing
Christians have ever thought to question or to prove this “Good-Friday-Easter”
tradition. Yet the Bible tells us to prove (test) all things. And you will be
literally astounded by this proof.
For proof there is but
one dependable authority, a sole historical record—the Bible.
There
we no eyewitnesses to the resurrection. Even so-called “apostolic fathers” had
no source of information save that record which is today available to us—the
biblical revelation. Any tradition, then, which conflicts with God’s revelation
must be dismissed.
What are the recorded
facts?
The doubting Pharisees
were asking Jesus for a sign—supernatural evidence—in proof of His Messiahship.
Jesus answered: “An
evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall be 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).
Now consider, please,
the tremendous import—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 should
be just three days and three nights in the rock-hewn sepulcher in “the heart of
the earth.”
These Christ-rejecting
Pharisees demanded proof. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not
the fact of the resurrection itself. It was the length of time He would repose
in His grave, before being resurrected.
Think what this means!
Jesus staked His claim to being your Saviour and mine upon remaining exactly
three days and three nights in the tomb. If He remained just three days and
three nights inside the earth, He would prove Himself the Saviour—if He failed
in this sign, He must be rejected as an imposter!
No wonder Satan has
caused unbelievers to scoff at the story of Jonah and the “whale”! No wonder
the devil has set up a tradition that denies Jesus is the Messiah!
This one and only
supernatural PROOF ever given by Jesus for His Messiahship has greatly bothered
the commentators and the higher critics. Their attempts to explain away this
sole proof for Christ’s Divinity (deity) are ludicrous in the extreme. 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 expositors impose upon our credulity to the extent
of asking us to believe that “in the Greek language, in which the New Testament
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.
But the Bible
definition of the duration of “nights and days” is simple.
Even these same higher
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.” This,
they admit, 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 His grave.
As Jonah was in the
“grave” (see marginal reference, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was
supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a saviour to
the people of Nineveh upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be
72 hours in His grave, thereupon being resurrected by God to become the saviour
of the world.
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
11:910).
Notice 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 “the third day.”
In Genesis 1:4 God
“divided the light from darkness. And called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night. And the evening [darkness] and the
morning [light] were the first day… And the evening [darkness] and the
morning [light] were the second day … And the evening [now three periods
of darkness called night—three nights] and the morning [now three
periods of light called day—three days] were the third day” (Gen.
1:4-13).
Here we have the only
Bible definition which explains and counts up the amount of time involved in
the expression “the third day.” It includes three dark periods called “night,”
and three light periods called “day”—three days and three nights, and Jesus
said they contained twelve hours for each period—a total of 72 hours.
That ought to be conclusive!
Any seven-year-old, near the end of the second grade, could figure it easily.
What is wrong with
these plain, simple words of Jesus? How do these wise and prudent theologians know
Jesus was crucified “Good Friday” and rose “Easter Sunday”?
The simple answer is,
they do not know it—for it is not true! It is merely tradition, a tradition we
have been taught from childhood and carelessly assumed! Jesus warns against
“making the word of God of none effect through your tradition” (Mark 7:13).
We have examined two
scriptural witnesses, in Matthew and in Jonah, both setting the duration of the
body of Jesus in the tomb as three days and three nights, which the Scriptures
plainly define as 72 hours of time. Now let us examine four other scriptural
witnesses that prove the same thing.
Notice Mark 8:31. “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.”
(Any young second
grader can figure this.) 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, by any process of arithmetic, figure any less than a
full 72 hours—three days and three nights—in a resurrection which occurred
three days after the crucifixion. If Jesus was in the grave only from
Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, then this text too must be torn out of your
Bible or else you must reject Jesus Christ as an imposter! If He rose after
three days, it might have been more than 72 hours, but it could have not been a
second less.
Notice now Mark 9:31.
“… They shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the
third day.” The duration expressed here must be between 48 and 72 hours.
And it could not be Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise because its only 36 hours,
carrying us into the middle of the second day, after He was killed.
In Matthew 27:63 Jesus
is quoted as saying, “After three days I will rise again.” This cannot be
possible figured as less than 72 full hours.
And in John 2:19-21,
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN three days I
will raise it … But he spake of the temple of his body.” To be raised up IN
three days after being destroyed, or crucified and buried, could not be more
than 72 hours [or less].
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, or the
only supernatural proof He gave must fail [or has failed].
Now notice carefully
this fact: In order to be three days and three nights—72 hours—in the tomb, our
Lord had to be resurrected at exactly the same time of day that His body was
buried in the tomb.
Let us realize that
very vital fact.
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, were at sunrise, then for the body
to be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection
likewise has to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon,
the resurrection was at noon. If the burial were at sunset, the resurrection
was at sunset, three days later.
The crucifixion day
was called “the preparation,” or day before “the Sabbath” (Matt. 27:62; Mark
15:42; Luke 23:54). This day ended at sunset, according to Bible reckoning
(Lev. 23:32).
Jesus cried out soon
after “the ninth hour” or three o’clock in the afternoon (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
19:42). 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. Hence Jesus was
buried before sunset on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3 p.m.
Therefore—notice
carefully—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. Startling as this fact may be, it is the plain Bible truth!
If Jesus rose at any
other time of day, He could not have been three days and three nights in His
grave. If He rose at any other time of day, He failed to prove, by the only
sign He gave that He was the true Messiah, the Son of the living Creator.
Either He rose near the END of a day near sunset, or else He is not the Christ!
He staked His claim on that one and only sign.
So a time-honored
tradition must be shattered.
Now we come to an
objection some may raise, yet the very point, which proves this truth. Perhaps
you have noticed that the Scriptures say the day after the crucifixion was a
Sabbath. Hence, for centuries, people have blindly assumed the crucifixion was
on Friday.
Now we have shown by
all four gospels that the crucifixion day was called “the preparation.” The
Preparation day for the Sabbath. But for what Sabbath?
John’s Gospel gives
the definite answer: “It was the preparation of the Passover.”
“For that Sabbath day
was an high day” (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 observed seven of these every year—every one called a
Sabbath! Annual Sabbaths fall on certain annual calendar dates, and on
different days of the week in different years, just like the Roman holidays now
observed. These Sabbaths might fall on Monday, on Thursday, or on Sunday.
If you will notice the
following texts, you will see these annual holy days were all called Sabbath
days: Leviticus 16:31; 23:24, 26-32, 39.
Notice Matthew 26:2:
“Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man
is betrayed to be crucified.” And 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. The children of Israel killed the lambs, and struck the
blood over the doorposts and on the side posts of their houses, and wherever
the blood had thus been applied the death angel passed over that house,
sparing it from death. Following the Passover was a holy convocation or annual
Sabbath.
Observe the dates:
“And in the fourteenth day of the first month is THE PASSOVER of the
Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the FEAST” (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 in 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.
And the Hebrew
calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of
Abib, Passover day, [31 A.D.] 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!
Now which day of the
week was the resurrection day?
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).
Now here are the texts
most people have supposed stated the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday
morning. But they do not say that!
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” (see Mark
16:6; Luke 24:6; Matt. 28:5-6).
Jesus was already
risen at sunrise Sunday morning! Of course he was. He rose from the grave
in late afternoon, near sunset of [Saturday]!
And since we know
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.
The Sabbath day ended
at sunset. It was late on that day, before the beginning of the first day of
the week. It was not, then, a Sunday resurrection at all. It was a Sabbath
resurrection!
Now all this is based
on the supposition that Jesus did fulfill His only sign of being three days and
three nights in the grave. All our evidence is based on the claims of Jesus
before His crucifixion. But some of the higher critics and doctors of divinity
tell us that Jesus made a mistake—that He was only in the tomb half as long as
He expected to be. Let us have proof as to whether He did spend the exact
amount of time in the grave He said he would.
Notice that in Matthew
28:6, the angel of the Lord gives this testimony, which we now present as
evidence. “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” And He
certainly did not rise AS He said unless He rose at the precise TIME that He
had said! So we have the proof of the angel of the Lord, recorded in the sacred
Word of God that Jesus did fulfill His sign – He was three days and three
nights in the earth – He did rise Sabbath afternoon, and not on Sunday morning.
Another proof that
Christ was in the grave the full length of time He expected to be is found in I
Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to
the scriptures.”
His death, burial and
resurrection were according to the Scriptures – not contrary to them.
The third day
following His Wednesday burial was the Sabbath; three full days spent in the
grave ended Saturday afternoon just prior to sunset, not Sunday morning.
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.” While this prophecy has the application of a
day for a year, so that this 70th week became a literal seven years,
Christ being “cut off” after three-and-a-half years’ ministry, as He was, yet
it is significant that He was also “cut off” on the middle day of a literal
week.
Someone is sure to
notice Mark 16:9, thinking this text says the resurrection was upon Sunday. But
if you read the whole sentence, it does not say that at all. The expression
“was risen” is in the perfect tense. What was Jesus’ condition early the first
day of the week? Does it say He “was rising” or that He “did rise” from the
grave? No, early the first day of the week, at the time He appeared to Mary
Magdalene, He was risen. Of course He was! He had risen the late afternoon
before, so naturally He was risen Sunday morning. The text does not in any way
refute the other texts we have given.
Another passage that
might confuse is Luke 24:21: “…And besides all this, today is the third day
since these things were done.” “These things” included all the events
pertaining to the resurrection – the seizing of Jesus, delivering Him to be
tried, the actual crucifixion, and, finally, the setting of the seal and the
watch over the tomb the following day, or Thursday. Study verses 18-20, telling
of “these things” and also Matthew 27:62-66. “These things” were not completed
until the watch was set, Thursday. And the text says Sunday was the third day
since these things were done. Sunday truly was the third day since Thursday.
But it was not the third day since Friday, so this text could not prove a
Friday crucifixion.
There is yet one final
clinching proof of this truth.
A vital text proving
that there were two Sabbaths in that week has been obscured by almost every
translation into English. Only Ferrar Fenton’s version has this point correct.
Turn to Matthew 28:1.
In the common versions it says, “In the end of the Sabbath.” Or more correctly,
“after the Sabbath.” Notice that both of these renderings use the singular –
Sabbath. But in the original Greek the word is in the plural. Fenton renders it
correctly by saying. “After the SABBATHS,” although the remaining part of the
verse he has not translated quite correctly. In a footnote to this text, he
says, “The Greek original is in the plural, ‘Sabbaths.’”
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.
For proof of the pagan
origin of such long-cherished days as Easter and Christmas, request for our
free booklets on those two subjects. The shocking truth is that nowhere can you
find sanctions for those two holidays in the Bible. It is time we discovered
the source of our religious beliefs and found out whether we ought to
observe them 1
The Church of God
International (Philippines)
E-mail: info@cgiphils.org
Website: www.cgiphils.org