According to this view, Wednesday of that week was the High Sabbath, the first day of the passover. Can this be refuted from scripture?The bible says that the burial of Jesus was the day before the Sabbath. Because Saturday is the regular Sabbath of the week, many assume that Christ had to be crucified on Friday. However, John 19:31 explains that this was not the regular, weekly Sabbath on Saturday, saying, “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,) …” In other words, Jesus was crucified and buried the day before a High Sabbath not a regular Saturday Sabbath.
In Jewish tradition, any part of a day counts as an entire day and night. This is why there is no contradiction between the three days and three nights quote in your post and the several other verses in Matthew and elsehwere that talk only about after 3 days. Thus, Jesus was buried on Friday night (before sabbath) - so Friday is day 1, saturday is day 2, and sunday is day 3.Kind of early for an Easter discussion but:
On the contrary, Scripture confirms that it had to be on Wednesday evening in order to fulfill Jesus’ words.
Remember he was asked by the scribes and pharisees for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah. Christ gave them one:
Matt 12:40 “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.”
This could not be fulfilled by a Friday to Saturday night dating. Christ was entombed on Wednesday night(or Thursday early according to the Jewish calendar) and arose Saturday night right after the weekly Sabbath. There was an annual Sabbath that week, the Passover.
To accept that theory would be to say that Jesus did not tell the truth. You can’t get three days and three nights out of Friday night to Saturday night.In Jewish tradition, any part of a day counts as an entire day and night. This is why there is no contradiction between the three days and three nights quote in your post and the several other verses in Matthew and elsehwere that talk only about after 3 days. Thus, Jesus was buried on Friday night (before sabbath) - so Friday is day 1, saturday is day 2, and sunday is day 3.
As the very earliest christians celebrated the lord’s day sunday as the day of the resurrection - you think they would know (e.g., taught by the apostles themselves). So re-reading scripture today with today’s cultural lense and ignoring the jewish thinking of the “days” and the apostolic tradition (teachings by those who witnessed the events) is dangerous and leads to odd conclusions (like a wednesday crucifiction).
Blessings,
Brian
You apparently read right through my post as I addressed this. Jesus spoke as a Jew to Jews and knew well what he meant by 3 days and 3 nights. Any part of a day to a Jew would be considered an entire day (day and night). Do you think Jesus was then inconsistent (with your way of thinking) when he said “3 days and 3 nights” but else where says after 3 days (not 3 days and 3 nights?)To accept that theory would be to say that Jesus did not tell the truth. You can’t get three days and three nights out of Friday night to Saturday night.
Christ was crucified on Wednesday evening about the 9th hour of the day I believe and that would have been 3 PM. He was placed in the tomb after the Sabbath started on Wednesday after 6 pm and that was the beginning of the first night. 6 pm Wednesday to 6 pm Thursday was the first night and the first day. Then from 6 pm Thursday to 6 pm Friday was the second night and the second day. The third night started at 6 pm on Friday and the third day ended at 6 pm on Saturday. Sometime between then and daylight he was gone from the tomb as Scripture tells us it was still dark when the women arrived to find him gone.
That is three nights and three days in the tomb. He arose the first day of the week which started at 6 pm on Saturday evening as we would count it.
To say he was crucified on Friday evening before the Sabbath started at 6 pm and then arose before daylight on Sunday would be only a little more than one day in the tomb and two nights. That won’t do it…
You’re apparently reading Jesus’ words with a 21st century western mindset (which is a great no-no when reading the Bible, which is written in another time and culture).To accept that theory would be to say that Jesus did not tell the truth. You can’t get three days and three nights out of Friday night to Saturday night.
Matthew 12:39-40 are very important verses. Jesus had to prove to the Jews that He was really the Messiah. He gave the story of Jonah for a very good reason. He knew He would be in the earth for three days and three nights. This would prove Him being the true Messiah.So is it actually plausible that the reference to the “sabbath” starting the evening Jesus was crucified could actually have been any day of the week? Was the first day of unleavened bread really called a High Sabbath? And could it fall on a Thursday?
Your profile says “non-catholic, non-protestant”. Well can you tell us what you are so we know who we are debating with.Matthew 12:39-40 are very important verses. Jesus had to prove to the Jews that He was really the Messiah. He gave the story of Jonah for a very good reason. He knew He would be in the earth for three days and three nights. This would prove Him being the true Messiah.
Jesus didn’t do anything half-way. He always completed His promises in such a way that there could be no doubt of them. If He was not in the ground for a full three days and three nights, then the only sign of His authority as Messiah would have failed miserably. You just can’t fit three days and three nights into the Friday evening to Saturday night time period.
Mark 8:31 tells us He would be raised “after three days He would rise again.” Now this means that He had to rise at the end of the third day and that would have ended at 6 pm on Saturday evening. He had to rise at the end of the third day or after the third day. We know He was not in the tomb when the women went before dawn on Sunday which would probably have occurred about 5 am. So He could have arisen anytime between 6 pm Saturday night(or actually the end of Saturday day—we must remember that Saturday started at 6 pm on Friday and ended at 6 pm on Saturday as we count the days) and dawn on Sunday morning.
It doesn’t matter what someone wrote in the Old Testament about whether we counted the seventh day of camping as the same seventh day someone went to war, that’s just a Hebrew idiom. The important point is that Prophecy has to be consistent. If the Prophecies are not consistent, then the Bible is worthless.
Matthew 28:6 tells us, **“He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.” **In Acts 10:37-40, Peter added **“the third day” **confirming that Jesus indeed had fulfilled the sign of Jonah. Paul, years later, also confirmed that the resurrection of Jesus was on the third day. Read 1 Cor 15:3-5 “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: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.”
You can’t say that “three days” or the “third day” meant parts of three days. That doesn’t mean Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. It was a Hebrew idiom to mean any part of three days, that’s true as a common way of reckoning, just as years are when you say how old you are. I could say that I will leave late this evening about 5 pm and arrive back the day after tomorrow at 8 am and be gone three days. But to the Jews, when the number of “nights” is stated in addition to the number of days, then the expression is no longer just an idiom. It is a literal statement of fact. Three days and three nights is three days and three nights. It is simply not possible to fit three days and three nights into Friday evening to Sunday morning. Jesus Christ Himself made the statement about how long He would be in the tomb, and He is the correct one, not us.
Col 2:8 teaches us that ***“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” ***Why do most churches assume and teach that Jesus died and was buried on Good Friday? Tradition of men! That’s simply what most people have always been taught and we need to be careful of that, especially when it is laid out for us Scripturally.
The Scriptures do say that He was buried on the preparation day, which was the day before a Sabbath. It is true the weekly Sabbath falls on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. But we have to remember that we are also told that there was a special Sabbath, not just a regular weekly Sabbath during that week. It fell on Thursday, The First Day of Unleavened Bread.
John 19:31 tells us specifically that that Sabbath was a special “High Day” and not just a regular weekly Sabbath.
Jesus Christ, like the Passover lamb that was killed to spare the ancient Israelites from the angel of death, was slain on the preparation day for the Passover. The Passover is observed on the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. That year it fell on Thursday.
There is much more that proves Jesus was telling the truth as it was stated but most churches, as I said before, have done it that way for so long and made Good Friday a holiday, they are not likely to change their minds. Some churches know the truth and teach it. Others would rather not rock the boat.
John 19:31 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down.The Scriptures do say that He was buried on the preparation day, which was the day before a Sabbath. It is true the weekly Sabbath falls on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. But we have to remember that we are also told that there was a special Sabbath, not just a regular weekly Sabbath during that week. It fell on Thursday, The First Day of Unleavened Bread.
John 19:31 tells us specifically that that Sabbath was a special “High Day” and not just a regular weekly Sabbath.
Ah, but here is one thing you need to consider:You can’t say that “three days” or the “third day” meant parts of three days. That doesn’t mean Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. It was a Hebrew idiom to mean any part of three days, that’s true as a common way of reckoning, just as years are when you say how old you are. I could say that I will leave late this evening about 5 pm and arrive back the day after tomorrow at 8 am and be gone three days. But to the Jews, when the number of “nights” is stated in addition to the number of days, then the expression is no longer just an idiom. It is a literal statement of fact. Three days and three nights is three days and three nights. It is simply not possible to fit three days and three nights into Friday evening to Sunday morning. Jesus Christ Himself made the statement about how long He would be in the tomb, and He is the correct one, not us.
Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn’t think of the words to say on this one. I truly believe Jesus died on Friday and rose on SundayIn Jewish tradition, any part of a day counts as an entire day and night. This is why there is no contradiction between the three days and three nights quote in your post and the several other verses in Matthew and elsehwere that talk only about after 3 days. Thus, Jesus was buried on Friday night (before sabbath) - so Friday is day 1, saturday is day 2, and sunday is day 3.
As the very earliest christians celebrated the lord’s day sunday as the day of the resurrection - you think they would know (e.g., taught by the apostles themselves). So re-reading scripture today with today’s cultural lense and ignoring the jewish thinking of the “days” and the apostolic tradition (teachings by those who witnessed the events) is dangerous and leads to odd conclusions (like a wednesday crucifiction).
Blessings,
Brian
Thank you.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). "
Its a fair question - and you are right to ask. I’m looking myself.Thank you.
Just to convince me 100%, do you (or does anyone else) know how Catholic Answers came to the conclusion that in the first centuty, the term “day of preparation” wasn’t used to refer to the day before a high sabbath? It’s unfortunate that they don’t give a reference for that claim.
Thank you for those greek words… I found something contradictory in the Catholic encyclopedia:"and that their sacred money be not touched, but be sent to Jerusalem, and that it be committed to the care of the receivers at Jerusalem; and that they be not obliged to go before any judge on the Sabbath day, nor on the day of the paraskeue (preparation) to it, after the ninth hour
- The day of “preparation” uses the greek word “paraskeue”. Josephus’ Antiquities 16. 163-64 states:
Apparently - many greek/hebrew scholars have looked to Josephus for support to the proposition that the word paraskeu implies prepartion for the weekly sabbath with no evidence of usage in other historical records of being used to refer to preparation for another feast day. ** (Again - I haven’t run the greek translation myself yet). **
To futher butress this argument, apparently paraskeu is frequently found in ancient (pre-Christ) literatue in each case referrring to preparation for the weekly Sabbath - I haven’t found an article yet (doesnt mean it doesnt exist) uncovering a use of this term to refer to preparation for another feast day - would welcome another poster’s finding of such an example.
Blessings,
Brian
newadvent.org/cathen/11476a.htm**Parasceve seems to have been applied also to the eve of certain festival days of a sabbatic character. Foremost among these was the first day of the unleavened bread, Nisan 15. **We learn from the Mishna (Pesach., iv, 1, 5) that the Parasceve of the Pasch, whatever day of the week it fell on, was kept even more religiously than the ordinary Friday, in Judæa work ceasing at noon, and in Galilee the whole day being free. In the schools the only question discussed regarding this particular Parasceve was when should the rest commence: Shammai said from the very beginning of the day (evening of Nisan 13); Hillel said only from after sunrise (morning of Nisan 14).
Thanks for sharing that - I’ll dig into myself next week as well.Thank you for those greek words… I found something contradictory in the Catholic encyclopedia:
newadvent.org/cathen/11476a.htm
You are debating with a Christian. I cannot say Catholic because that today reflects Roman Catholic and I definitely am not that. I do not care for the label of Protestant because I haven’t protested anything but instead believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and I believe it is complete in all things necessary for salvation.Your profile says “non-catholic, non-protestant”. Well can you tell us what you are so we know who we are debating with.
Just like Friday, you can’t get three nights and three days that way either…Jesus had to be entombed Thursday night in order to have everything fit.Hi OldScholar,
According to this, Nisan 15 fell on saturday in 33AD. Maybe this means Jesus was crucified in 33AD?
timeanddate.com/calendar/monthly.html?month=4&year=33&country=34