Richard's Remarks: Three Days and Three Nights
Last Sunday evening, during our Life-of-Christ study, we briefly considered the occasion when the people asked Jesus for a sign. Jesus responded with these words: “...[J]ust as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:39-40, NASB). Yet, consider this: Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon and His body was placed in the tomb where it remained until His resurrection early on the first day of the week. Thursday night, all day Saturday, early Sunday morning - Does that add up to three days and three nights? Unfortunately, some have been confused by this and, as a result, have developed the idea that Jesus was actually crucified on a Thursday. Yet, the scriptures do indeed harmonize with a Friday crucifixion.
I actually addressed this topic in a bulletin article last year (April 2, 2006). In that article I pointed out that there are a number of references within the scriptures to Jesus being risen on the third day (see Matt 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 13:32, 18:33, 24:7,21,46; Acts 10:40; 1 Cor 15:4). It is important to note that in Matthew 12 Jesus was speaking specifically to the scribes and Pharisees. It is then interesting to note the request they made to Pilate following the crucifixion of Jesus: “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day” (Matt 27:64). Obviously, the Jewish leaders considered “three days and three nights” and “the third day” as equivalent terms. (Such can also be seen by considering other passages that refer to durations of time - see Gen 7:12, 17; 1 Sam 30:12-13; Esther 4:16-5:1.) In last year’s bulletin article, I also pointed out the importance of realizing that within the Jewish time system any portion of a day would be referred to as a full day. In consideration of these facts, it is easy to see that the terms “three days and three nights” and “the third day” are equivalent phrases.
Now for something that I didn’t share with you when I previously addressed this topic: The following shows that the Jews weren’t the only ones to utilize different terminology to refer to the same amount of time. Let’s consider a hypothetical example: Let’s suppose Amy, myself and the kids, started out on a trip to California with plans to make several stops along the way. Let’s say we left Sallisaw at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. Of course, during our travels on Sunday we would visit with a congregation somewhere along the way for Bible class and worship. After the morning worship, at precisely 12:00, let’s say somebody asks the question, “When did you start your trip?” How would we answer that question? “________ days ago.” How would you fill in the blank? – I would fill it in with “2”. (Not Sunday, not the day before, but Friday – 2 days ago) However, what if they asked the question this way, “How long have you been traveling?” Would I not be correct in answering, “Three days”? After all, we would be in our third day of travel having traveled on Friday, on Saturday and also on Sunday morning.
But, let’s consider the actual time traveled in absolute numbers. There would have been 24 hours (one day) from 9:00 a.m. Friday to 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Another 24 hours would have transpired from 9:00 a.m. Saturday to 9:00 a.m. Sunday. Another 3 hours would have passed between 9:00 a.m. Sunday to 12:00 p.m. Sunday. Collectively, 51 hours had passed since we left Sallisaw. So, had we literally started our travels two days (24 hour periods) ago? Not really because 48 hours had been exceeded. Had we traveled three days? Not yet, because we hadn’t reached the 72 hour point. However, we completely understand
such time references and would not argue against their accuracy.
Hopefully, this information has helped you to see how the Jews used differing phrases to refer to the same amount of time - much like we still do today. So, since Jesus was resurrected on the “third day”, what day was He buried? The answer: Friday. He spent some of Friday in the tomb, all of Saturday and some of Sunday. Sunday was the third day of His death - the day that He came forth from the tomb in victory.