Question???

[nightingale]

I have a question? When Jesus died did HE spend three nights and days gone??? then arose from the grave...and if so, good friday wouldn't be good friday....if according to our calendar Jesus died on Friday and arose on Sunday, making that only two nights, I thougt it was like Jonah, three nights and days in the belly of the great fish?
Waiting to know
All for HIS Glory
Love sis Debbie

[prv31wife]

That's a good question. I would like to know that myself. Bro Ben, Bro George or anyone?

[wanda0]

Debbie,

I read an article written by a Jewish Christian man a while back which explained this from a Jewish perspective, as to how the Jews reckoned in counting a day. In their way of looking at it, anything that occurred within the confines of a single day caused that whole day to be counted. In other words, as touching Friday - Christ was in the grave on Friday, so Friday was counted; as touching Saturday - Christ was in the grave on Saturday, so Saturday was counted; as touching Sunday - Christ was in the grave on Sunday (although he was resurrected very early that morning), so Sunday is counted. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are counted as three days in Jewish reckoning as would have applied at that time.

There are false teachers who like to try to twist this scripture in order to recruit as many as possible into their control, but there are so many things we aren't aware of that existed in the Jewish culture of that time and that can cause us to get tripped up.

[Donna]

I read somewhere that the particular Sabbath that was being celebrated was a High Sabbath and the activities actually started a day earlier. I think that when we read that the Sabbath was nigh we just automatically assume that it would mean that the day was Friday. If I am way off on this....PLEASE correct me!!
Donna

[George]

Sister Debbie, it is important to understand the use of the word "sabbath" which is the Hebrew word, "shabbâth."

The sabbath was traditionally the seventh day of the week because God created the heavens and the earth and all things within them in six days and rested on the seventh. There are many false religions that have attempted to drag the Hebrew sabbath across dispensations (timelines,) thus creating false doctrine. In fact most of the false doctrine that exists today comes from this very same problem.

The discussion above showed the timeline for Christ's death, burial and ressurection. Because of the fact He arose on Sunday we celebrate and commemorate that arising on Sunday, which according to our calendar is the first day of the week and not the seventh. In fact in most Churches today it is referred to as "The Lord's Day" rather than the sabbath.

In Christ,
George

[Tammy]

"Good Friday" is a Catholic tradition, not based on Bible fact. There was indeed another sabbath day being prepared for on the day Jesus was crucified ... I'll have to ask Daniel what the scripture references are.

[Tammy]

Hello Debbie,

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to this.

Jesus definitely had to be in the grave (at least his body was) for three days and three nights, not parts of this day and that day. He said, "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 12:40 That would be three 24-hour days.

Your calculations are right - he could not have died on Friday and risen by dawn on Sunday, and fulfilled this prophecy. My husband says he must have died Wednesday as the Jewish sabbath was approaching. This was not the weekly sabbath that starts Friday at sunset, but rather a "high sabbath" - a Passover sabbath (Exodus 12:18) that fell on Thursday that week. Look at John 19:31, where the Jews ask Pilate to have the crucified men's legs broken so they would die quicker and could be taken down before the sabbath. It says, "that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,)..." This was not the regular Saturday sabbath, but a high sabbath.

What we call Thursday actually started at sunset on Wednesday for the Jew (their days go from sunset to sunset, not midnight to midnight like ours), and according to Jewish law his body had to be removed before the high sabbath began. So count from Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset (one 24-hr day), Thurs sunset to Fri sunset (two 24-hr days), Fri sunset to Sat sunset (three 24-hr days). So sometime after Saturday sunset, Jesus left the tomb (HALLELUJAH!). When the women arrived at the tomb early Sunday morning, "when it was yet dark" (John 20:1), they'd already missed the action - He was gone!

Hope that helps you. This was a great discussion for me and Daniel, and we enjoyed the Bible study!