Could your Jesus be the Messiah?

[rcjones]

Maybe the answer to this question is. When did Jesus start His progression into the heart of the earth? Could it be when He was given or officially betrayed in to the hands of man (sinners). Wasn’t He to receive or suffer at the hand of man (sinners) that which man (sinners) are to receive without Him?

This is a most excellent observation DP.

God says things in a double entendre. One way so that the unbeliever will continue in unbelief and another so the believer is strengthened in his. It is the method for sorting sheep and goats, wheat and tares.

As an example:
God told Adam that the day he ate the fruit he would die. The unbeliever says God lied because he lived 900 years. The believer understands that Adam died spiritually, and brought death to all men that very day.

So ask… what is the heart of the earth?
Mt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

The heart of the earth is the heart of wicked man, certainly even a literalist would not insist that Jesus went to the center of the earth. Jesus submitted himself to the heart of wicked men on Thursday night when he was taken at Gethsemane.

Thurs night to Fri eve Night and day
Friday night to Sat eve Night and day
Sat night to Sun day Night and day

Three nights and three days.

He gave only one sign to the wicked generation, in such a way that they would harden themselves in their wickedness.

He gave many signs for believers, including this one.

Thanks DP for your insight.

 

[DPMartin]

This is a most excellent observation DP.

God says things in a double entendre. One way so that the unbeliever will continue in unbelief and another so the believer is strengthened in his. It is the method for sorting sheep and goats, wheat and tares.

As an example:
God told Adam that the day he ate the fruit he would die. The unbeliever says God lied because he lived 900 years. The believer understands that Adam died spiritually, and brought death to all men that very day.

So ask… what is the heart of the earth?
Mt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

The heart of the earth is the heart of wicked man, certainly even a literalist would not insist that Jesus went to the center of the earth. Jesus submitted himself to the heart of wicked men on Thursday night when he was taken at Gethsemane.

Thurs night to Fri eve Night and day
Friday night to Sat eve Night and day
Sat night to Sun day Night and day

Three nights and three days.

He gave only one sign to the wicked generation, in such a way that they would harden themselves in their wickedness.

He gave many signs for believers, including this one.

Thanks DP for your insight.

RCJones

thanks for the reply

In respect to your mention of the heart of man. Resistance (hardness of heart) is failure to receive (of God, His Presence.) In that man insists that man is his own light, seeing himself, as a man. But it is the Word of God (Son of God) revealed in the flesh, Son of man, (Jesus Christ) that is the Light of men. If a man insist that what is in his own heart, be his light, without the Light of men that is of God, how can man receive of God?

 

[rcjones]

In respect to your mention of the heart of man. Resistance (hardness of heart) is failure to receive (of God, His Presence.) In that man insists that man is his own light, seeing himself, as a man. But it is the Word of God (Son of God) revealed in the flesh, Son of man, (Jesus Christ) that is the Light of men. If a man insist that what is in his own heart, be his light, without the Light of men that is of God, how can man receive of God?

You are correct… I am referring to the heart of mankind at the time. The heart of the earthly system. Jesus submitted himself to the brutality of mankind Thursday night.

 

[DPMartin]

You are correct… I am referring to the heart of mankind at the time. The heart of the earthly system. Jesus submitted himself to the brutality of mankind Thursday night.

RCJones

thanks for the reply

Sorry if it seemed I was pressing the issue, I presumed that was what you were referring to.

I was wondering what you might understand about why it was to the Father’s satisfaction that “Jesus submitted himself to the brutality of mankind’, I mean surly Jesus wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t required. It had to be just and righteous, if it satisfied the Father. Why the brutality of mankind?

 

[rcjones]

I was wondering what you might understand about why it was to the Father’s satisfaction that “Jesus submitted himself to the brutality of mankind’, I mean surly Jesus wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t required. It had to be just and righteous, if it satisfied the Father. Why the brutality of mankind?

You ask deep questions.

In what way did Jesus fulfill the law? The common answer is that he satisfied it in some way such that it isn’t gone but it doesn’t apply.

Let me give you an uncommon answer. The law has a shadow… it is attached to the law, yet it is not the law. The shadow is a prophetic picture of Christ. And Christ fulfills it.

I have shown elsewhere that he fulfills the Nazarite law. He also fulfills the Leverate law, the laws of the sacrifices, feasts, of the Leper… all of them.

Lets take a simple one.
Ex 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The law is plain. We should not use the Lord’s name unless we are speaking with or about Him.

So what is the shadow? It is a dark saying or riddle. The name of the Lord is “I am”. Jesus claimed the name for himself. ‘Vain’ also means empty. Jesus emptied himself (kenosis) . And Christ was made to be sin for us, so it might be said he was not held guiltless, but bore the guilt of us all.

Jesus took the name of the Lord in vain and was not held guiltless.
This simple law paints a picture of Christ. Christ fulfills it, without being culpable of sin.

Paul explains the nature of law in how God performs against sinful men. In Romans 1, Paul explains that the consequence of sin is that God gives you over to it to wallow in the natural consequences of it. He gives you what you want, and you generate your own horrible consequences.

In order for Jesus to fulfill the law, he had to face the consequences of the law. The sin nature of man is to live instinctively, putting oneself first, rather than responding to the word of God.

For Jesus to bear the sin and consequence of sin for mankind, he had to face the consequence of everyone thinking of himself first.

The Jewish leaders didn’t want to lose their power and influence so they did not respond to the Word of God, Christ himself.
Pilate, Herod, the Jewish crowd, the Roman soldiers, all thought of themselves first.
Through the midst of it, Christ put us first.

The ‘heart of the earth’, being the selfish desires of all men, had the consequences of torturing and murdering an innocent Christ. Even in this, Jesus forgave them and did not allow them to murder him, but laid down his life so they… so we… would be guiltless.

We think of the wrath of God being expressed by being hit by lightning or some other God initiated act. Bit the reality, according to Paul, is that He just removes His protection as we sink into the ‘heart of the earth’.

But that’s basically what you said.

 

[bdelykleon]

You don’t need to hassle with this nonquestion. To say “three days and three nights” is a common semitic parlance to say “three days” (because Yom originally only meant daylight), you find it in genesis, but you find it also in the Psalms and in even in the Quran. What Jesus meant to say is that he would die and 3 days later would rise again.

Actually, this way of counting days is pretty widespread in ancient world. To the Ancient Greeks also, two days later meant tomorrow.

 

[DPMartin]

RCJones

Thanks for the reply, Awesome, just an awesome posting, my friend in Christ.

You ask deep questions.

In what way did Jesus fulfill the law? The common answer is that he satisfied it in some way such that it isn’t gone but it doesn’t apply.

Let me give you an uncommon answer. The law has a shadow… it is attached to the law, yet it is not the law. The shadow is a prophetic picture of Christ. And Christ fulfills it.

I have shown elsewhere that he fulfills the Nazarite law. He also fulfills the Leverate law, the laws of the sacrifices, feasts, of the Leper… all of them.

Lets take a simple one.
Ex 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The law is plain. We should not use the Lord’s name unless we are speaking with or about Him.

So what is the shadow? It is a dark saying or riddle. The name of the Lord is “I am”. Jesus claimed the name for himself. ‘Vain’ also means empty. Jesus emptied himself (kenosis) . And Christ was made to be sin for us, so it might be said he was not held guiltless, but bore the guilt of us all.

Jesus took the name of the Lord in vain and was not held guiltless.
This simple law paints a picture of Christ. Christ fulfills it, without being culpable of sin.

Paul explains the nature of law in how God performs against sinful men. In Romans 1, Paul explains that the consequence of sin is that God gives you over to it to wallow in the natural consequences of it. He gives you what you want, and you generate your own horrible consequences.

In order for Jesus to fulfill the law, he had to face the consequences of the law. The sin nature of man is to live instinctively, putting oneself first, rather than responding to the word of God.

For Jesus to bear the sin and consequence of sin for mankind, he had to face the consequence of everyone thinking of himself first.

The Jewish leaders didn’t want to lose their power and influence so they did not respond to the Word of God, Christ himself.
Pilate, Herod, the Jewish crowd, the Roman soldiers, all thought of themselves first.
Through the midst of it, Christ put us first.

The ‘heart of the earth’, being the selfish desires of all men, had the consequences of torturing and murdering an innocent Christ. Even in this, Jesus forgave them and did not allow them to murder him, but laid down his life so they… so we… would be guiltless.

We think of the wrath of God being expressed by being hit by lightning or some other God initiated act. Bit the reality, according to Paul, is that He just removes His protection as we sink into the ‘heart of the earth’.

But that’s basically what you said.

If I may share in your posting…

This shows that only the Grace of His Holy Presence with us, in Truth, is our only Hope. For if you look at it, He, Jesus received, or suffered, that which Adam had coming to him (so to speak) for the sins of the world.

Note what Adam had given to him freely, before the sins of the world, and now restored, freely, in Christ Jesus. Unto God, and man.

Bless the Holy Jesus for His Freedom and Grace

 

[Mailman]

I typically don’t like to direct people to CARM — really just Catholics — but the people at CARM put together a convincing argument if you want to check it out: carm.org/bible-difficulties/matthew-mark/how-long-was-jesus-dead-tomb

Essentially what it says is that “three days and three nights” is idiomatic rather than literal which is what most of the people here have been telling you. The idea of parts of days being equal to an entire day is exemplified in the Bible best by Esther:

Esther 4:16
Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.

So what we see here is that Esther is going to fast for three days and nights before going to the King, good.

Esther 5:1
On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace.

You can see that instead of waiting “three days, night or day,” Esther goes on the third day. This thought is shown in the New Testament as well:

Mark 8:31
And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Luke 24:7
[T]hat the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.

1 Corinthians 15:4
[T]hat he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

It is pretty clear that on the third day is roughly equivalent to after three days.

You can say Jesus’ “three days and three nights” is an idiomatic expression that does not mean what it says because your story will not fit the facts. If it had fit nicely, I’m sure you wouldn’t be saying such a thing.

The passage in Esther does not support the idea that Jesus’ “three days and three nights” does not mean what it says. Here’s why.

Notice the passage does not say that “on the third day” Esther broke her fast. It only says that on the third day Esther appeared to the king. For all we know, she could have appeared to the king in the afternoon of the third day, still fasting, and then asked the king to invite Haman to attend the banquet she had prepared for that night. Since days start at sundown for them, the night of the banquet would be the fourth day since her fast. So, she breaks her fast at the banquet.

If there is any one place in the Bible that defines the time required to fulfill “the third day” it is found in the first book of Genesis.

In Gen. 1:4 God “divided the light from the darkness. And God 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.

Here we have the only Bible definition which explains and counts to us 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. That’s the expression Jesus used and if we go by Bible definition it would involve the passing of three dark periods called “night” and three light periods called “day.”

You know, it would have been good if Jesus were here today to clarify things for us. But, really, that is not at all necessary because His written Word is as good as His spoken Word. And the gospel records show that when Jesus answers questions which have already been addressed in Scripture, He would always quote Scripture as His answer. He would say, “It is written…” or “Have you not read…’ and then quote the relevant Scripture.

For example, if Jesus can answer this question for us now, “What is the duration of your three days and three nights?” He would have answered in this way: “Have you not read in the Scriptures [in John 11:9] that I said, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day?’”

 

[Mailman]

Jesus died on the first day, Friday. Saturday (Sabbath) was the second day. Sunday, Resurrection day. The scripture does not say Jesus was entombed for three 24 hr periods. It says 3 days and 3 nights.

Is “3 days and 3 nights” not three 24-hr periods (or six 12-hr periods for a total of 72 hours)?

But the scripture also says that Jesus rose on the third day. Since Friday is counted as a day, Jesus could only have rose on the 3rd day which was Sunday. The 3 nights can be explained by Jewish custom of associating a partial day as a full day (and night). So Friday included the night and day which would be by our thinking Thursday night and Friday day. Saturday includes Friday night and Saturday day. Sunday includes Saturday night and Sunday day.

But the Scriptures also say in Matthew 27:63 and Mark 8:31 that “after three days” He will rise again. Are you going to ignore that?

By including the preceding night as part of the day is actually what we do when we celebrate mass. We celebrate Sunday Mass on Saturday night and Sunday day because at Sundown is the start of the next day in Jewish custom. So Friday, the crucifixion would include Thursday night as part of the ‘day’.

I don’t think Saturday night mass have anything to do with sundown being the start of the day in Jewish custom.

Note, Jesus died at 3 pm during the day, when the Jews were told to sacrifice the lamb. It was during the day that Jesus died so Friday was indeed counted.

The count for the 3 days and 3 nights does not start until Jesus’ entombment as Jesus said He will be that length of time “in the heart of the earth.”

 

[Mailman]

It’s silly to take Jesus statement of 3 days and 3 nights as 3 literal 24 hour periods that he would have to be entombed. In order for Jesus to fulfill that he would have had to have died exactly on the start of the day on Thursday morning in order to be resurrected on Sunday morning as scripture tells us. That would be 3, 24hr periods.

You are right. If Jesus rose Sunday morning, say 6 AM, He would have to be entombed about 6 AM also, Thursday morning. But the gospels are clear that Jesus was entombed late in the afternoon.

But we know that Jesus was discovered as risen from the dead on Sunday morning. And we know that Jesus as Lamb of God died at 3 pm in the afternoon (at the same time of the Jewish sacrificing of the lamb). So he did not die in the morning. If he was sacrificed at 3 pm in the afternoon then he would have to rise at 3pm on Sunday but we know that he was already risen in the morning of Sunday. So no matter how you look at it you can not take a literal translation of 3 days and 3 nights as 3, 24 hr periods.

Here is what you are missing. No one witnessed the actual resurrection. When the women arrived at the tomb “very early in the morning” on Sunday (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1) “when it was yet dark” (John 20:1), Jesus had ALREADY risen. He was not then rising. “They found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher” (Luke 24:2) and “found not the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:3).

 

[Mailman]

Zerilos;6481979:

John’s not contradicting the synoptics - the time of Jesus’ appearance to the discples says nothing about the time of the Resurrection.

Exactly, just as the time of the women’s discovery of the empty tomb says nothing about the time of the Resurrection.

 

[Mailman]

The Church teaches us that He was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday, and the Church teaches truths. But let’s assume we’re wrong on this one (which we aren’t), just for the sake of argument. Even if He died on Tuesday and came back the following Monday what matters is that “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”

The TRUE Church teaches truths.

What matters MOST is that Christ’s only sign, or proof, of His Messiahship is fulfilled.

 

[NHInsider]

The TRUE Church teaches truths.

What matters MOST is that Christ’s only sign, or proof, of His Messiahship is fulfilled.

And your entire purpose in this thread is to “prove” that some other church is the true church - on the basis of this one point of interpretation.

why don’t you tell us what church it is? I’m sure we’re all just dying to know.

 

[DPMartin]

The TRUE Church teaches truths.

What matters MOST is that Christ’s only sign, or proof, of His Messiahship is fulfilled.

The Sword of Truth is to be against the enemy of God’s People, for the sake of God’s People (Grace), not against God ‘s People, in whom He Loves dearly.

No matter how scripturally sound they may or may not be. If the Lord God has given you the Wisdom and Understanding, then in Grace it must be, otherwise it’s no Wisdom of God at all. Wouldn’t that be true there Mailman?

 

[Mailman]

And your entire purpose in this thread is to “prove” that some other church is the true church - on the basis of this one point of interpretation.

My purpose in this thread is merely to tell the facts – to inform the unknowing that there is something seriously wrong with the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition. And to those who are already aware of the problem, I am curious to know how they can explain away the sole proof of Christ’s divinity.

And you have misjudged me my friend. I am not a foolish person. One truth embraced by a professing Christian church would not make that church God’s true Church. If such is the case, then there would be many true churches. In fact, ALL professing Christian churches in this world would all be true churches.

why don’t you tell us what church it is? I’m sure we’re all just dying to know.

Frankly, I won’t tell you even if you had asked nicely. I’m not here to convert anyone. I’m speaking out as a witness to the truth – a witness for the Word of God.

 

[Mailman]

The Sword of Truth is to be against the enemy of God’s People, for the sake of God’s People (Grace), not against God ‘s People, in whom He Loves dearly.

No matter how scripturally sound they may or may not be. If the Lord God has given you the Wisdom and Understanding, then in Grace it must be, otherwise it’s no Wisdom of God at all. Wouldn’t that be true there Mailman?

I would say the Sword of Truth is to be against those who profess to follow the God of the Bible but stumble along the way, failing to live by His [every] Word. The Sword of Truth pierces soul and spirit to reveal the real intents and thoughts of the heart of the professing believer, laying this bare before God. The true believer (the man of God) is the one who, when confronted with the truth, humbly admits his failings, is willing to be reproved, and immediately takes action to correct his error.

 

[Flame4]

You don’t need to hassle with this nonquestion. To say “three days and three nights” is a common semitic parlance to say “three days” (because Yom originally only meant daylight), you find it in genesis, but you find it also in the Psalms and in even in the Quran. What Jesus meant to say is that he would die and 3 days later would rise again.

Actually, this way of counting days is pretty widespread in ancient world. To the Ancient Greeks also, two days later meant tomorrow.

Nicely put. To the OP, I don’t understand what you are saying. You said you are hear to tell us the truth, so what is it? Whats the point if you don’t tell us?
Please explain, thank you

 

[Mailman]

Nicely put. To the OP, I don’t understand what you are saying. You said you are hear to tell us the truth, so what is it? Whats the point if you don’t tell us?
Please explain, thank you

If you will notice no one asked. What this tells you is that no one is interested. When one is not interested, that person won’t hear you out. He won’t consider what you’re saying; it’s as if he’s not hearing your words. And Christ said that, “whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet” (Mat. 10:14). Christ does not want His people to proselytize. He only wants them to declare the truth, to those interested.

Now, since you asked, I will tell you what I know to be the truth.

The gospel accounts tell us that the crucifixion day was called “the preparation,” or “day before the sabbath” (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54). But what is this “preparation” day?

John gives the answer: “It was the preparation day OF THE PASSOVER” (John 19:14).

Jesus, then, was crucified on the day of the Passover [as the other gospel writers also show (Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22)]. That day was the preparation day for the next day, a Sabbath. But is this “Sabbath” the seventh day, thus placing the crucifixion day on Friday?

John’s testimony is revealing. John says: “For that Sabbath day was an high day” (John 19:31).

For a Jew, a “high day” is an annual holy day or feast day. The Israelites observed seven of these every year, every one called a Sabbath. Notice in the following texts all these annual holy days were all called Sabbath days: Leviticus 16:31; 23:24; 26-32, 39.

So, the crucifixion happened on Passover day. Now, notice when the crucifixion did not happen: “But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people” (Matt. 26:5; Mark 14:2). This shows the crucifixion did not happen on the feast day. Now, notice what the day AFTER the Passover is:

Numbers 28:16-18: “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. In the first day [the fifteenth] shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein [showing it is a Sabbath].”

The day after the Passover is a feast day. Christ was crucified on the Passover, “not on the feast day.” The Passover lamb, killed every year on the 14th of the first month called “Abib” was a type of Christ. 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 [or Nisan], 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.

Jesus was crucified in the year 31 AD. In that year, the 14th of Abib was a Wednesday. The annual Sabbath was Thursday. This was the Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus. There were therefore two separate Sabbaths that week – an annual Sabbath that fell on Thursday and the weekly Sabbath on Saturday.

Here is how the Ferrar Fenton translation renders Matthew 28:1 – “After the Sabbaths….” In a footnote to this text, Fenton says, “The Greek is in the plural, ‘Sabbaths’.” The Young’s Literal Translation also translates “Sabbath” in the plural: “And on the eve of the sabbaths….” The LITV likewise says, “But late in the sabbaths….” The Analytical Literal Translation: “Now after the Sabbaths….”

Now, notice two seemingly contradictory texts. In Matthew 16:1 the women prepared the spices AFTER the Sabbath day had passed. But in Luke 23:56 the spices were prepared BEFORE the Sabbath. How do you explain this? You can’t, if you’re looking at a Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection. However, with a Wednesday crucifixion, this seeming contradiction can be easily explained. Mark is talking about the annual high day Sabbath on Thursday while Luke is referring to the seventh day Sabbath (Notice Luke’s Sabbath is the Sabbath day “according to the commandment.”).

So, Jesus died Wednesday around 3 pm and was buried late that afternoon before the sun set. Since the next day (sunset of Wednesday) was an annual Sabbath, the women waited until Friday to prepare the spices. Then the following day, Saturday, because it was again a Sabbath, the women rested. Their first opportunity to visit the tomb and bring the spices they had prepared was not until Sunday morning when the Sabbath had passed and there was daylight. But we are told that when the women arrived at the tomb, they found it empty. Jesus had already risen.

Since Jesus said He will be three days and three nights in the grave, Jesus must have risen late Saturday afternoon near sunset, the same time of day He was buried. The resurrection therefore did not happen that Sunday morning when the women made the visit. It happened on the seventh day. It was a Sabbath resurrection!

 

[frindro]

Jesus was crucified in the year 31 AD.

That’s a pretty big assumption you are making, and it seems that your whole argument relies on this. I have also heard the year 33 AD used for the Crucifixion. I am not willing to accept your argument based on the assumption that Jesus died on that one particular year.

As for the original question, while I am not a linguist, bdelykleon’s answer sounds pretty good to me:

To say “three days and three nights” is a common semitic parlance to say “three days” (because Yom originally only meant daylight), you find it in genesis, but you find it also in the Psalms and in even in the Quran. What Jesus meant to say is that he would die and 3 days later would rise again.

 

[Murphs10]

Not sure if this will help
From Jimmy Akin

When Scripture indicates that Jesus rose on the first day of the week, therefore, it means that he rose on the day that began at sunset on Saturday and lasted until sunset on Sunday. Since we are told his tomb was found empty “after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week” (Matt. 28:1), he must have risen between sunset Saturday and dawn Sunday. Whether this was before or after midnight Scripture does not say. He might have risen either Saturday night or Sunday morning before dawn, though, for purposes of determining when he was crucified, it doesn’t matter.

In the Bible, parts of time units were frequently counted as wholes. Thus a king might be said to have reigned for two years, even if he reigned for only fourteen months. In the same way, a day and a night does not mean a period of twenty-four hours. It can refer to any portion of a day coupled with any portion of a night. The expression “three days and three nights” could be used as simply a slightly hyperbolic way of referring to “three days.”

As Protestant Bible scholar R. T. France notes: “Three days and three nights was a Jewish idiom to a period covering only two nights” (Matthew, 213).

Similarly, D. A. Carson, regarded as one of the deans of conservative Protestant Bible exegesis, explains: “In rabbinical thought a day and a night make an onah, and a part of an onah is as the whole. . . . Thus according to Jewish tradition, ‘three days and three nights’ need mean no more than ‘three days’ or the combination of any part of three separate days” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 8:296).

If Jesus was crucified and died Friday afternoon, that would be the first day; at sundown on Friday the second day would begin; then at sundown on Saturday the third day would begin. So Jesus was indeed “raised on the third day” (Matt. 20:19).

Scripture repeatedly tells us that Jesus was crucified on “the day of preparation,” which was the first-century Jewish way of referring to Friday, the day of preparation for the Sabbath. This is why the women were not able to anoint his body before he was buried—because Jesus was hurriedly buried late in the afternoon, just as the Sabbath was beginning. The women thus had to rest until the Sabbath was over (Luke 23:56).

We are also told that the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to order the legs of the crucifixion victims broken so they would die faster (from.asphyxiation due to an inability to push themselves up on their crosses and take a breath), “in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath” (John 19:31).

Some advocates of a Wednesday crucifixion concede that Jesus was crucified on the day before a Sabbath, but deny that this was the regular, weekly Sabbath. In later times, the phrase “day of preparation” came to be used to refer to the day before Passover and, this argument goes, Passover counted as a Sabbath in the sense that it was a day of rest, even though it usually did not fall on the weekly Sabbath. Thus Jesus was crucified on the day before Passover and had to be buried hurriedly on that account.

But this explanation will not do. In the first century, “the day of preparation” referred to Friday, not the day before Passover. Further, we know from Scripture that the Sabbath following Jesus’ crucifixion was the regular, weekly Sabbath, the seventh day of the week: “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher” (Matt. 28:1).

We can thus reconstruct the chronology of the crucifixion, death, and Resurrection of Christ as follows:

Friday, the Day of Preparation: Jesus is crucified with two thieves. From noon to three in the afternoon, a darkness covers the land (Matt. 27:45). Then, “ince it was the Day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath . . . the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31). Then Joseph of Arimathea obtains Jesus’ body and buries it: “It was Preparation Day [that is, the day before the Sabbath]. So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body” (Mark 15:42-43, NIV).

Saturday, the Sabbath: “On the Sabbath they [the women] rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56b). Also on this day, “that is, after the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate” and asked for a guard to be placed on the tomb (Matt. 27:62).

Sunday, the first day of the week: “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher” and found that Jesus had risen from the dead (Matt. 28:1).

Those anti-Catholics who allege that the Church commemorates Christ’s death on the wrong day are themselves in the wrong. The appropriate time for Christians to gather to commemorate Christ’s death is indeed Good Friday, not a hypothetical Crucifixion Wednesday.

catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9903chap.asp