twagler:
"My first order of business here was/is to try and prove that Jesus did not rise on a Sunday, which would make the “Sabbath to Sunday because of the resurrection” argument null and void. And of course I will cite Matt. 12:40 as a main argument here, along with John 19:14. I think these verses alone are sufficient. But, Mark 15:47-16:1 and Luke 23:56, if read carefully, clearly show that there were two Sabbath days that week. Luke 22:15 again shows that Passover occurred during that week. The real clincher, however, is John 19:14. I read the Bacc. chapter pertaining to this and I have one comment. If the term parasueke was only used to denote Friday(the weekly preparation day), then of course it came to be synonomous with Friday. My question is “How many times does the Bible refer to a preparation day before a high holy day?” What term is used here? Thank you for your patience.
Best,
Trav
Hey Trav,
A few things…
I know Matthew 12:40 very well… The expression “three days and three nights” may seem enigmatic because Jesus aims to allude to Jonah’s rescue from the great fish. All other predictions of Christ’s resurrection (this being the only exception) refer to Christ as being raised “on the third day/after the third day” in a culture that would understand all these predictions with the mindset of inclusive reckoning (and thus, not necessarily 72 hours at all). I know you are reluctant to apply inclusive reckoning to Matt. 12:40, but the weight is actually on applying this phrase to the 8 verses that would most likely call for a period under 72 hours long, rather than focus on this verse. I believe (as would most scholars) that Jesus uses the phrase “three days and three nights” not to determine a precise period of time as much as to allude to a text that uses that phrase (the book of Jonah). Is this going against biblical literalism? No… its just trying to find the most natural reading for all the crucifixion accounts in conjunction with the other verses which would confirm this shorter period, as well as the Christian tradition.
John 19:14… As for using the word “preparation” for a day before any feast, although I haven’t found any clear reference to its use before just any feast (and not necessarily the Sabbath), especially not int he Old Testament where one would hope to find it, and although we know it was pretty much used synonomously with Friday, I don’t doubt it could be used before a feast day. However, just because its called the preparation fo the Passover doesn’t mean that it was different from the preparation of the Sabbath day because of a very key verse: John 19:31:
“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) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”
Every scholar I have read agrees that the phrase “high day” was used for those special days when the weekly Sabbath day coincided with a Feast day (in this case, Passover). The preparation of the Passover was also the preparation for the Sabbath.
I looked over the other verses you gave me and I have some questions…
I’m not sure that reading Mark and Luke carefully indicates there were two Sabbaths that week. In one account, the women observe where Jesus is laid (v. 47) and after the Sabbath bring spices that they might annoint him. (v.1) The story begins that early on the first day of the week (undoubtedly “Sunday”) they arrived at the tomb to carry out their duty. (v.2)
In Luke, the women observe the place of his burial (it being the Preparation, with the Sabbath drawing near - v. 54). Then, they return home and prepare spices and fragrant oils (v.55). They cannot return to the tomb because the Sabbath was already drawing on, so they rest the day (v.56). Then, on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb with the spices they had prepared on the day of the preparation (v.1).
So:
Preparation = observe where laid, prepared spices
Sabbath = rest according to commandment
First day of week = bring prepared spices & find tomb open
The two accounts seem to reconcile very well. Where in particular do you see discrepencies?
In closing, I invite you to see that the friday-sunday reading is not only the most natural, but is upheld almsot universally int he Christian tradition. Hence, sunday keeping followed so universally throughout the Christian world. (we’ll talk more about sunday soon)
Always inviting your questions,
Hugo.
