OneworldunderGod
It's flat!
3 days and 3 nights
in the heart of the Earth
Matthew 12:38-40
“Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 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.”
(Good Friday to Easter Sunday: only 1 1/2days)
Good Friday - Easter Sunday: It Doesn't Fit with the Bible timeline
article by Scott Ashley
Some edits by me because the NIV was used in article see:
http://www.ucg.org/jesus-christ/good-friday-easter-sunday-it-doesnt-fit-bible/
Jesus Christ said He would be entombed for three days and three nights. Can this be reconciled with a “Good Friday” crucifixion and burial and an “Easter Sunday” resurrection, which allows for barely a day and a half in the tomb? Or do the Gospels spell out asurprising, simpler solution that fits perfectly with what Jesus foretold?
This traditional view doesn’t fit
How can we fit “three days and three nights” between a Friday afternoon crucifixion and entombment just before sundown and a Sunday morning resurrection at sunrise? This traditional view allows for Jesus to have been in the tomb for only a day and a half! Some believe that Christ’s statement that He would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” does not require a literal span of 72 hours or even close to that. They reason that any part of a day, even just a few minutes, can be reckoned as a whole day.
Thus, since Jesus died in the afternoon and was entombed just before sunset, they think the closing few minutes of that Friday constituted the first day, Friday night was the first night, Saturday was the second day, Saturday night was the second night, and a few minutes at dawn on Sunday morning made up the third day.
But where, then, is the third night? Even if a few minutes of daylight late on Friday and Saturday another few on Sunday morning constitute “days,” this interpretation fails to explain how only two nights—Friday night and Saturday night—can somehow be the three nights of which Jesus spoke.
In fact, Scripture is plain that Jesus had already risen before Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early Sunday morning, arriving “while it was still dark” (John 20:1-2). So in reality, no parts of Sunday could be counted as a day, as Jesus was already resurrected well before the break of dawn.
Jonah:1:17, to which Jesus referred, states specifically that “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” We have no biblical basis for thinking that Jesus
meant only two nights and one day, plus part of another day. If Jesus were in the tomb
only from late Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning, then the sign He gave that He
was the prophesied Messiah was not fulfilled.
So which is it? Is something wrong with Christ’s words, or is something wrong with the traditional view of when and how long He was in the tomb? Let’s carefully examine the details from the Gospels. When we do, we uncover the real story of how Jesus’ words were fulfilled just as He said!
Two Sabbaths mentioned
Notice the sequence of events outlined in Luke 23. Jesus’ moment of death, as well as His hasty burial because of the oncoming Sabbath that began at sundown, is narrated in Luke 23:46-53. Luke 23:54 then states, “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.”
In Jewish society of that time, heavy cooking and housecleaning were done on the day before a Sabbath in preparation for it. Thus the day before the Sabbath came to be called “the preparation day” or simply “the preparation.” The biblical Sabbath falls on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
According to Bible reckoning, days begin at
sunset (Leviticus 23:32; compare Genesis 1:5, Genesis 1:8, Genesis 1:13), so all weekly
Sabbaths start Friday evening at sundown.
Based on these facts, many people have assumed that it is the weekly Sabbath mentioned here, and that Jesus was therefore crucified on a Friday. But two types of “Sabbaths” are mentioned in the Scriptures—the regular weekly Sabbath day, which fell on the seventh day of the week, and seven annual Holy Days (listed in Leviticus 23),
Sabbaths that could—and usually did—fall on days of the week other than the regular
weekly Sabbath day.
Was the day after Jesus was crucified a weekly Sabbath, or one of these annual Holy Days?
John 19:31 clearly states that this approaching Sabbath “was a high day.” This term
does not refer to the weekly Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), but in this
context to the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of God’s annual Holy Days
According to the biblical calendar, in that year this high-day Sabbath fell on a Thursday
(meaning it began on Wednesday night at sunset). We can confirm this by looking at the
details in the Gospel accounts—which show us that two separate Sabbath days are
mentioned.
Luke 23:55-56 tells us that the women, after seeing Christ’s body being laid in the
tomb just before sundown, “returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils” for the final
preparation of the body.
They would not have done such work on a Sabbath day, weekly or annual, since it would
have been considered a Sabbath violation. This is verified by Mark’s account, which
states: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices [which they could not have purchased on a Sabbath day], that
they might come and anoint Him” (Mark 16:1).
The women had to wait until this Sabbath was over before they could buy and prepare
the spices to be used for anointing Jesus’ body. Then, Luke 23:56 tells us that, after
purchasing and preparing the spices and oils on Friday, “they rested on the Sabbath
according to the commandment”—which means they had to have acquired the spices
before that Sabbath on which they rested. This second Sabbath mentioned in the Gospel
accounts is the regular weekly Sabbath, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday
sunset.
By comparing details in both Gospels—where Mark tells us the women bought spices
after the Sabbath and Luke relates that they prepared the spices before resting on the
Sabbath—we can clearly see that two different Sabbaths are being discussed here.
The first, as John 19:31 tells us, was a “high day”—the first day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread—which fell on a Thursday that year. The second was the weekly seventh-day Sabbath.
Sign of the Messiah
After the women rested on the regular weekly Sabbath, they went to Jesus’ tomb early on the first day of the week (Sunday), “while it was still dark” (John 20:1), and found that He had already been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark16:2 6; Luke 24:1-3). Jesus was not resurrected at sunrise on Sunday morning. When Mary Magdalene arrived “while it was still dark” she found the stone rolled away and the tomb already empty!
When we consider the details in all four Gospel accounts, the picture is clear. Jesus was crucified and entombed late on Wednesday afternoon, just before a Sabbath began at sunset. However, that was a high-day Sabbath, lasting from Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset that week, rather than the regular weekly Sabbath that lasted from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
While no one witnessed Jesus’ resurrection (which took place inside a sealed tomb), to fit His words and the biblical evidence it had to have happened three days and three nights from Wednesday near sunset until Saturday near sunset—with Jesus leaving His tomb at the end of the weekly Sabbath.
This time line perfectly accommodates three nights (Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday night) and three daylight periods (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). This is the only time that fits Jesus’ own prophecy of how long He would be in the tomb. And, as we have seen, it fits perfectly with all the details recorded in the Gospels.
We can be assured that the entombment period Jesus gave as proof He was the Messiah was the very duration He foretold. Because most people do not understand the biblical Holy Days
Jesus Christ and His followers kept, they fail to understand the chronological details so accurately preserved for us in the Gospels!
ANOTHER BREAKDOWN
Using the Bible as a timeline, we can know exactly what transpired during the Passover Week and follow Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on Sunday until His crucifixion on Wednesday and subsequent resurrection three days later.
The Jewish day starts and ends at six o'clock in the evening, while our day starts and ends at midnight; their daytime begins at six o'clock in the morning and it was referred to as the "first hour."
DAYTIME
First hour - Dawn to 8:00am
Second hour – 8:00 to 9:00am
Third hour – 9:00 to 10:00am
Fourth hour – 10:00 to 11:00am
Fifth hour – 11:00am to 12:00pm
Sixth hour – 12:00 to 1:00pm
Seventh hour – 1:00 to 2:00pm
Eighth hour – 2:00 to 3:00pm
Ninth hour – 3:00 to 4:00pm
Tenth hour – 4:00 to 5:00pm
Eleventh hour – 5:00 to 6:00pm
Twelfth hour – 6:00pm to sunset
NIGHTTIME
First watch - sunset to 9:00pm
Second watch – 9:00pm to midnight
Third watch - midnight to 3:00am
Fourth watch – 3:00am to sunrise
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE JEWISH DAYS IN PICTURE BELOW
TUESDAY The 13th day of Nissan is called the preparation day for the Passover. The Passover meal is eaten after 6:00pm, which means that it is eaten on the 14th day of Nissan.
WEDNESDAY The 14th day of Nissan was called the first day of the Passover and people worked their normal jobs during this day. This was the day that Jesus was brought to Pilate at 6:00am (Matt.27:1-2) and was crucified the sixth hour (12:00pm).
THURSDAY The 15th day of Nissan was the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and also known as the high Sabbath (John 19:31). This is not to be confused with the regular Sabbath. The high Sabbath was a holy day for the Jews and no work could be done on this day. All roads and bridges leading to Jerusalem had been cleaned the day before from garbage and the corpses of dead animals had been removed. Furthermore, all graves had been whitewashed so that the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem would not be defiled. This was the reason the Jewish leadership did not want to have anyone hanging on a cross on a high Sabbath.
FRIDAY The 16th day of Nissan was called “The Morrow After” the Sabbath and this was the day of the cutting of barley sheaves.
SATURDAY The 17th day of Nissan in the year Jesus was crucified was the regular Sabbath. Jesus rose from the dead sometime between 6:00pm Saturday night and 6:00am on the first day of the week (Sunday morning).
The body of Jesus was in the grave from
(Wednesday night through Saturday)
Remember, a Hebrew day runs from 6 P.M. - 6 P.M. (24 hours).