This is a simple question, a parable if you will. It does have a Scriptural thought to it though.Here is the scenario:
I am paying $1000 US for each day (24 hours) I spend in my room. I will be staying for 3 days and 3 nights.
Therefore I will spend a total of $3000 US and will leave about the same time I arrive.
I arrive at the hotel at the evening of Friday (before the sunset), that I may see the setting sun from my room when I check in. It is a wonderfuls stay so far as the weekend unfolds.
On the Sunday morning however, someone comes and knocks on my door. It is a notice for me to check out, for my time as expired, according to management.
-------
Questions:
1. Did I get my money's worth?
2. Did the hotel lie to me?
3. Did I interpret the time span differently than the normal?
4. When should I have left?
-------
Answer the above questions before continuing please.
Post your answers in the comments.
-------
Before, you continue, I want you to pray. Pray that God through Jesus Christ, will reveal Himself to you. That His love will envelope you and gently guide you, not by your will but by His will. That you would humbly submit and say: "Lord what would you have me to do?"
-------
So most if not all of you may have figured that you did not get your money's worth huh?
Well I'd believe the same thing. If anything counting 3 days and 3 nights, I should have left about the same time on the Monday evening huh?
It's interest you count that hotel scenario like that. Simple and easy huh?
Let's Begin
Now let's say Jesus Christ is gonna spend 3 days and 3 nights as He told the Pharisees:
Matthew 12:38-40 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 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: 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.
So now we have our same scenario only with Jesus Christ the Son of God, who cannot lie.
A majority of us know of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We say that Christ was put in the grave on the Friday evening as the sabbath drew near, and early morning on the first day (Sunday) He rose again. However looking back on the same scenario before (I do it so you won't justify), we'd probably try to recount something to justify
I put forward this: If we look at the different accounts of the crucifixion of from Matthew to John, each provides some different information.
Let's look at the following scriptures:
Matthew 28:1-7 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
Notice the first verse there. What does it imply? Did it say He rose again, as it began to dawn towards the first day?
Nope, it shows that in the end of the sabbath (still within sabbath time since the dawn here implies that something is about to begin) two Marys were going to see the sepulche. By the time they got there, Christ had already risen.
But in the other accounts, it sounds differently
Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Luke 24:10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
They are different. In each account, a different set of women came to the sepulchre and in each account it seems like a different time of day. One could say that due to the fact that their Lord, Saviour and King had died, it must have been such a trauma for them, especially Mary Magdalene, who went more than once. There could have been doubt as it pertains to his resurrection:
John 20:8-15 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Seems she was still mourning though that other disciple believed. So this scripture puts forth evidence that she was fully aware and had some doubt.
When was Jesus Christ resurrected then?
That's a good question. Before we can figure that out we have to conclude when he resurrected, according to scripture.
In Matthew it gives the earliest account of when the women went to visit the tomb of Jesus Christ, during sabbath as it came to a close. When they got there, the stone was already roled away, and there was no body found. The guards had fainted (became as dead men). There were angels found in the sepulchre proclaiming his resurrection.
If you understand time in scripture, look a Genesis that shows how a day is:
Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
As it states, eveneing then morning. Evening starts around sunset. So the new day, based on scripture, starts every sunset and not the man-made midnight. As the name states "midnight"which is the middle of the night.
The lights in the sky show the division of day and night and so on.
If we look at when Jesus Christ was buried, it was before the sunset of the preparation day:
John 19:28-31 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 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.
Notice how I underline that part there. It actually tells you the type of sabbath it was to be. Most will say that it was the weekly sabbath but there are actually more than one type of sabbath in the Bible (Leviticus 23). This high day sabbath was not a weekly sabbath, but rather one of these. The two Marys went to the tomb on the closing of the weekly sabbath (Matthew 28:1).
Another thing to note is why the bodies should be brought down before the sabbath:
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
It really is helpful to read through the entire Bible. It does give a better understanding of things, even pertaining to the gospel.
Another scripture points to the fact that Christ was on the cross about the ninth hour of the day:
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
This is not 9am or 9pm (just to clarify) but rather 9 hours after sunrise, which would around 3pm or there about, whch mean there was roughly 3 hours to get Christ of the cross and bury Him.
So Jesus Christ was buried before sunset, therefore He arose before the sunset, on the weekly sabbath.
Burial Day - Counting Back
If we count back from His resurrection, we'll find the day of the week the Messiah was cut off.
So here we go:
3 Days ________________3 Nights___________
Saturday Morning Friday Evening
Friday Morning Thursday Evening
Thursday Morning Wednesday Evening
Daniel 9:25-27 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
To have a bit more understanding, check out: http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-daniel-9-24-27.htm
Not only was Christ cut off in the midst of the week prophetically, but he really was cut off in the middle of the week.
-------
I really do pray that all who read this will consider, don't take it as truth because I posted it here but look into it yourselves. You have reasoned that Good Friday to Easter Sunday does not add up to 3days and 3 nights.
Please seek after God through His Word, not through a preachers mouth, know it for yourself, there's so much wisdom that God has to offer. Be like those in Berea:
Acts 17:10-11 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Pray for the truth of God, you cannot find the truth if you have your own pre-conceived ideas about His Word.
Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
We really do have to know the Word for ourselves:
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I do pray that as much as you who read and share this, will seek to lean on the Lord Jesus Christ in truth.
God bless you all and much love for you all.
If you're not saved, and want to live for Christ, maybe you lack the belief. As Him: "Help thou my unbelief."
Isaiah 55:1-9 is a beautiful invitation for anyone who wants to turn from wickedness.
If you believe that you believe, but you have not been living righteously, consider Psalm 50, Matthew 7:13 - 27.
Look into the origins of Easter, why it's called Easter, why we have these "lovely" traditions we love so much.
All to celebrate Christ. Consider Jeremiah 10:1 - 8.
Did it originate with Christ or is there another reason?
Yours Sincerely,
Lushane Alano Jones
