2. Jesus
gives us the answer in
Matthew 12.40,
"For as Jonah 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."
3. Wemust interpret them literally except
when the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
JesusHimself said He would be buried for
three days and nights.
4. If Jesus died on Friday afternoon and rose
on Sunday, that would not make 3 NIGHTS.
No matter how you add it up, you cannot get
three nights from Friday to Sunday
morning. We know that Jesus arose from
the dead on Sunday, which is the first day of
the week.
We must not only count the three days but
also THREE NIGHTS.
5. Unbelievers take out their hand and start
counting the days and nights, and it does not
add up correctly so they throw out the Bible
and say it is inaccurate.
However, the Bible does not say that Jesus
died on Friday, but only that he rose on
Sunday.
Now when he had risen very early, the first
day of the week (Mark 16.9).
6. Forthe first three centuries Christians did
not celebrate the death of Christ on Friday.
They did not even celebrate the
resurrection on Sunday!
They celebrated the day of the resurrection
based on the Jewish Passover. The
resurrection day would fall on different
days, depending on the day of the
Passover.
7. Itwasn’t until the Emperor Constantine fixed
the day of Easter on Sunday after the first full
moon of spring, which corresponded to the
Jewish Passover.
The church leaders made an honest mistake
by assuming the death of Christ was on
Friday. They came to that conclusion based
on the fact that Jesus died before the Sabbath
Saturdaywas the regular "Sabbath" for the
Jews which means "Rest" or no work.
8. Mark 15.42 confirms that Jesus died the day prior to the
Sabbath.
And when it was already evening, since it was the
preparation, that is, the day before a Sabbath.
Compare also Matthew 27.62:
Now the next day, that followed the day of the
preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came
together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that
deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I
will rise again.
9. They assumed this Sabbath was Saturday and
therefore concluded the death of Christ was
on Friday.
That seemed reasonable enough —Friday,
Saturday and Sunday—that makes three days.
Unfortunately, they forgot to take into
account that the Passover itself was also a
Sabbath.
10. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth of
the month, between the two evenings, is
the PASSOVER to Jehovah.
6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is
the feast of unleavened bread to Jehovah;
seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread.
7 On the first day ye shall have a holy
convocation: no manner of servile
(regular) work shall ye do.
11. Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be
a special Sabbath. (John 19.31 NIV)
John calls this Sabbath a special one because it was not the
ordinary one. Therefore there is no need on our part to say
that the Passover landed on a Saturday.
The ―date‖ of the Passover was fixed; it was the fourteenth day
of their first month (see Leviticus 23:5-6 and Exodus 12:6).
The Jewish calendar used during Jesus’ era was a 29 to 30 day
a month calendar. Therefore the Passover was a ―floating day‖,
which means it could land on any ―day‖ of the week.
12. Since Jesus specifically declared that he
would be in the heart of the earth for three
days and nights, there is only one day that
Jesus could have died to make three days
and nights, and it is Thursday, and as we
shall see, the Bible actually points to this
day.
13. Many of the Christians who recognize the
fallacy of teaching that Jesus died on a
Friday actually err on the other end and
teach that He died on a Wednesday.
Atfirst glance this may seem logical since
there is a period of 72 hours between and
resurrection, however, it was the common
practice of Jesus’ day, as it still is today, to
call any part of the day as a day.
14. We say that we spent the whole day at work. We
don’t mean that we arrived before the sun rose and
left as the sun set. That would be silly.
To spend the day at work doesn’t imply you spent
24 or even 12 hours there. It just means you spent
―part‖ of the day, which you consider to be ―a day‖.
This is how days and nights were treated in the
Bible.
So, as long as Jesus spent part of the day or part of
the night in the tomb it can be legitimately
considered a day and night.
15. IfJesus had died on Friday Jesus would
have been in the grave for only TWO
nights.
Had He died on Wednesday, He would
have been in the grave for FOUR days and
FOUR nights.
Bothof these theories contradict Jesus’
own words!
16. Even though it isn’t as natural as it should be, we
need to think both biblically and in a historical
context that is quite different than ours.
Historically, the Jewish people began their day in
the evening; at our 6pm.
The reason for this is not mere preference but is
based on the Bible itself:
And there was evening, and there was morning—
the first day (Genesis 1.5)
17.
18. So with that said, there is one passage which proves the Passover landed on
Friday of that year:
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus
lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead (John 12.1)
Jesus arrived at the home of Mary on the ordinary Sabbath and it was there
that Mary poured perfume on Jesus feet.
We know that this was the Sabbath because in vv12-13 we read
The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus
was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches….
Historically and traditionally this is Palm Sunday. Notice carefully the
previous day when Mary poured perfume on Jesus feet the gospel writer
says that this day was Six days before the Passover.
Count six days from Saturday, and there you have it! Passover landed on a
Friday.
19. The death of Christ was on Thursday afternoon and
His resurrection was on Sunday before the sun had
risen.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still
dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that
the stone had been removed from the entrance (John
20:1).
This passage clearly shows that Jesus rose on Sunday
while it was still dark. This is significant because to get
an even 3 days and 3 nights, Jesus had to die before the
sunset on Thursday and resurrect before sunrise on
Sunday.
20. A method or principle of interpretation
Dispensational Hermeneutics is a:
Literal,
Grammatical,
Historical ,
Synthetic
Methodology
21. By Literal methodology we mean two things in particular:
Literal interpretation requires that we assign to every word the same meaning
that it would have in its normal usage, whether in speaking, writing or
thinking
Literalism resists going beyond what is written. It is reproduced word for
word. (1Co 4.6 – JNDV - Now these things, brethren, I have transferred, in
their application, to myself and Apollos, for your sakes, that ye may learn
in us the lesson of not letting your thoughts go above what is
written, that ye may not be puffed up one for such a one against another)
David Cooper’s ―Golden Rule of Interpretation‖ (which is probably better
known than he is) goes:
When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense;
therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning
unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in light of related
passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.
22. Grammatical interpretation observes the impact
that grammar plays in any given text. Thus, Bible
interpreters must correctly analyze the relationship
that words, phrases, or sentences have toward one
another.
Such an analysis includes the study of lexicology
(meaning of words), parts of speech (function of
words), and syntax (relationship of words).
It is this aspect of our hermeneutic that prevents
us from changing the meaning of words to suit our
preconceived ideas.
23. The Historic interpretation takes into account the
Historical context
Historical setting,
Historical circumstances
in which the words of
Scripture were written.
Milton S. Terry explains:
The interpreter should, therefore, endeavour to take himself from the
present, and to transport himself into the historical position of his
author, look through his eyes, note his surroundings, feel with his
heart, and catch his emotion. Herein we note the importance of the
term historical interpretation.
24. This is the principle the simply states that
the Bible does not contradict itself.
If an interpretation of one passage
contradicts a truth taught elsewhere in the
Bible, our interpretation must be wrong.
