Three Days and Three Nights

Three Days and Three Nights

>Subject: Jesus was resurrected on Sunday?

I wonder if you could explain the logic for this? I have never understood this position, as it requires less than three full days, and the Scriptures clearly state 'three days AND three nights.'

If it could be proven that Jesus wasn't raised on Sunday, would you think the day on which He was raised should be considered holy?

Michael
1/23/05<

Jesus most definitely was raised on a Sunday. The text specifically says so:

And very early in the morning on the first [day between the] Sabbaths [fig., the first day of the week; i.e. early Sunday morning], they come [or, go] to the tomb, the sun having risen (Mark 16:2).

Note: The translation here is from the forthcoming Third Edition of the Analytical-Literal Translation. It is changed some from ALT2. For ALT3, I decided to go with a very literal translation for the main text, but then to give the generally accepted meaning of this somewhat awkward reading in brackets. And the meanings clear. The Sabbath was on Saturday, so the first day between two Sabbaths is a Sunday.

But getting back to the original question, the only issue is, was Jesus really crucified on a Friday? Many have thought that maybe it was a Thursday due to the "three days and three nights" statement of Matthew 12:40. But it is generally agreed that this was simply a poetic way of saying "three days." And the Jews counted it as a "day" if only a small part of a day was included. So being in the tomb Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning would qualify as three days.

Note: As a very contemporary example, when Paris Hilton went into prison on a Sunday, just before midnight, the few minutes she was actually in prison on that Sunday counted as one full day off of her sentence. And when she left prison about 2:00 am that Thursday morning, she was also again given a full day off of her sentence. So she was credited with having served five days, even though she was really only in prison for three full days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), plus just a few minutes on Sunday and a couple of hours on Thursday. So if legally, we today count a small part of a day as full day, it is not strange that the Jews in Jesus time did as well.

Whew, I never thought I'd be referring to Paris Hilton in this newsletter!

The above email was published in Darkness to Light newsletter
and posted on this Web site in June 21, 2007.

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