Well, if we read
in Matthew's gospel Ch. 12:39-40 "...no sign be given to it,
but the sign of the prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the belly of the fish,
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth." Jonah being the sign of
Yahshua, being three days and three nights in the belly of the fish,
Yahshua was three days and
three nights in the tomb. This raises some interesting thoughts, and we
may have to open our minds to
new concepts, of exactly what happened, especially as many of us have been taught
from childhood that Yahshua was
crucified on Friday and rose again on Sunday. No way is this three whole days and three
whole nights!We may find it difficult to come to terms with the actual truth of what happened. So, reader, I challenge you to be courageous enough to examine these thoughts for yourself, and hopefully receive a great blessing in understanding how things were by seeing them from a
Hebraic and Biblical perspective. Come along with me
on a delightful journey of truth and understanding as
we examine the scriptures together.First of all, let us look at some of the Gospel accounts of the resurrection of Yahshua. In Luke 24:7 we are told that "He spoke to you when he was in Galilee, that the Son of man must be ...and be crucified, and the third day rise again" So we know He would rise not after two days between 'Good Friday' and 'Easter Sunday' but after three whole days and nights! Let us therefore examine the Gospel accounts carefully to see exactly what is being said.
Matthew 28:1 states, "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, (the Bible states from the beginning i.e. Genesis 1:5 that a day begins in the evening, so a day is from one evening to the next,
not as we have been taught, from midnight to midnight.) Yahweh called a day
'evening and morning' so evening comes first.
(Gen.1:5 "...and the evening and the morning were the first
day")
This shows that
'as it began to dawn towards the first day' when Mary came to
the tomb, it must have been sometime after seven oclock, Saturday night, which is
the time of sunset in Israel in April. In verses 11-13 In John 20:1-18 we read "The first of the week cometh Miryam (Mary), when it was yet dark, to the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away.... Yahshua said to her "Miryam." "...behold some of the watch (i.e. the soldiers watching over the tomb)"...came into the city, and showed to the chief priests all the things that were done..." (i.e. earthquake, angels, missing body etc.) The chief priests gave a large amount of money to the soldiers saying "Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him while we slept..." (So they admitted He was gone, during the night) Mark 16:1-7 "And ...very early in the morning the first of the week, they (women, coming to anoint His body with spices) came to the sepulchre - obviously because it was now beginning to be light, Miryam had already been... at the rising of the sun ...they saw that the stone was rolled away....they saw a young man....and he said to them, He is risen; he is not here...tell his disciples that he goes before you to Galilee" (he had gone there already...!)
Taking all these scriptures into consideration, this means, that if Miriam went to the tomb "A great while before day" it was still night, only to find that He was risen already, then Yahshua must have risen earlier than Sunday morning, obviously before light, and more probably, during Saturday night. As He was crucified at 9 a.m. and 'gave up the ghost' at 3 p.m. (i.e.'the ninth hour') and Him being exact in all things, then it is not unreasonable to think that He rose about the same time three days later. If He was gone during Saturday night, before light, when Miriam visited the tomb, ("a great while before day") then we can see that He rose some time before that, and because of the prophecy re. Jonah, it was literally three days and three nights after His death, making it late Saturday afternoon towards evening, but definitely before Sunday morning.
Now, let us go a little further. We will count backwards from the time of the resurrection of Yahshua as stated by the Gospels. We know now that Yahshua rose from the dead some time between 3.00 p.m. Saturday afternoon, and before the sun rose on what is called 'The first day of the week' or Sunday. Counting backwards then from Saturday say around 3-00 p.m. or later, three days and three nights backwards from then would be Wednesday evening some time after 3-00 p.m.
This is a little mind-blowing if we have been taught by traditionalists who would like us all to think that He was crucified on Friday!
What
was in the minds of the Jews when they asked Pilate to kill Him before
the sabbath dawned, to
break the legs of the crucified ones
so that they would be taken down from the cross "before Sabbath?"
John 19:31 states, "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, i.e. the Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread Sabbath, besought Pilate that their legs
might be broken,
and that they might be taken away") This was not the 7th. day weekly sabbath!
Let me explain.
In Leviticus chapter 23 which is about the Feasts of Yahweh, you will come across the
Feast of
Passover, which
was when Yahshua was crucified.You will also read that Yahweh had instituted a Sabbath day at the beginning and the end of the Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread.
If you read
Lev 23:6-8 "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto
the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work
therein.
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the
seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein." If Yahshua had to be taken from the cross before the Sabbath of the Feast, it must Have fallen on Wednesday evening for Him to have risen late Saturday afternoon/evening i.e.'a long time before day' on the Sunday. Therefore, the first Sabbath Day of the Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread was in fact, on Thursday, or rather Wednesday evening to Thursday evening ('and the evening and the morning were the first day' remember Genesis 1)So, this was the Sabbath day spoken of by the Chief Priests. Notice that in this scripture in John 19 As before mentioned, it actually says, "...that sabbath day was an 'high' day" i.e. a Passover Sabbath.
From this we are able to understand that when Yahshua was buried, it was the beginning of the first Sabbath day of the Feast of Passover.
Now it becomes clear that Yahshua was three full days and three full nights in the tomb. No, the Bible doesn't contradict itself and it is easily understood, if we are willing to open our minds to Hebraic thinking and a greater understanding of how the Old and New Testaments fit together. Often the New Testament scriptures 'come alive' so to speak when we read them in context of what has been written before in the Old Testament.
came out in the month Abib..."