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Can I get some of you smart people on this site to answer a question for me please?
If Jesus was crucified on Friday (Oh I know, Sabbath starts on Friday night), and resurrect on Sunday, no matter how you slice and dice, that's not enough to make 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb. Please, someone here explain the math to brain-dead.
Great question! I’m enjoying the answers. Happy Easter
(sorry for the length, I think I will split this in 2)
It’s confusing! here’s a start, & more anons’ thoughts will be helpful
Matthew 12:40 greek word γῆς (gēs) can mean a) the ground or b) a specific geographic territory
another key word is kardia (heart) https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/12-40.htm
So Christ’s words were that as Jonah spent 3 days & 3 nights (Jonah 1:17)… so Christ would spend 3 days & 3 nights in the kardia “heart* of the gēs.
in the “ground” is the most common interpretation & parallels the story of Jonah.
mainstream: any part of a day counted as part of the whole, so Friday afternoon = day 1 and then that evening = night 1; Saturday light hours = day 2 and then there’s evening = night 2. In Hebrew reckoning, Day 3 began at sundown on what we still call Saturday night? So where is night 3, inclusive in day 3?
possibly. [edit from an anon, yes: “3 day & 3 nights” idiom can mean any part of the 3 days time period” without needing 72 hours]
As an aside, In Roman calendaring, 8 kalends ianuarias was Dec. 25, so counting Jan. 1 back to target date of Dec. 25, all of the days are counted including your ending & dates. The Romans did not say 7 more days before… they did not say 7 more days until it is the 1st of the month of January.
Part 2 Other views:*
in the year of the Crucifixion & Resurrection, meaning not A.D. 33, the Passover could have been on a different day of the week, giving a full 3 days & 3 nights in the tomb.
Or
3 days & 3 nights in the kardia “heart* of the gēs = “in the heart of the land” so the Last Supper Meal on a Thursday evening + betrayal by Judas = day 1 & night 1, Friday Crucifixion then night = day 2 & night 2, Sabbath Saturday then the following night= day 3 and night 3. Christ’s agony began before the arrest, in prayer. (Luke 22:44, sweat as it were drops of blood. So comparing Jonah’s suffering to Christ’s a different way…but this does not parallel well Jonah’s time in the depths of darkness.
parts of the timeline for review:
6 days before the Passover (P.) Christ went to Bethany.
He entered Jerusalem 5 days before P. (John 12:12).
4 days before the P., lambs were to be selected. This is the day Christ cleansed the Temple Mark 11:12-15 & Matthew 21:12-19
3 days before P., Christ’s authority is challenged at the Temple (Mark 11:20 - 13:37, Matthew 21:23 - 25:46)
2 days before P., the plot to arrest Christ is discussed, Christ spent this day back in Bethany (Mark 14:1-3)
1 day before P. daytime Crucifixion, = the Last Supper & arrest at Gethsemane (John 13:1). Because technically the Passover day began at sundown, call it a Thursday in modern Western reckoning, they could have eaten lamb that night, unleavened bread with wine and bitter herbs.
A big confusion: Matthew, Mark & Luke make the “Last Supper” meal = the Passover meal, but there’s no mention of them actually eating lamb is mentioned, only the bread & wine (look back to the story of Abram & Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20, after Abram’s battle, the priest/king brought out bread &wine). (Matthew 26:17-20; Mark 14;12-17): Luke 22:7-15)
John 19:14 & 19:31 has the Crucifixion = Day of the Preparation of Passover / sacrificing of the lambs. So in this presentation, the Passover meal had not yet been eaten / celebrated.
So there is an apparent contradiction.
One solution is that as Christ’s cousin was John the Baptist, and as they opposed the establishment, they might have celebrated Passover right at sundown on the Thursday, which = in Hebrew reckoning Friday, the Passover Preparation Day.
This is God’s Son with God’s people, so when you’ve got to do the mission, eat & drink, and the Crucifixion & suffering, time in the grave + Resurrection —> fulfilling the 1st 3 celebrations of the Books of Moses. Fulfilling not meaning “putting an ending to” but meaning bringing their purpose to “full fruition”
You are such a scholar. I would go with part 2. Can you find the part on where there's an extra Sabbath. I think I read it somewhere in old testament where the extra Sabbath day.
sure, Leviticus 23:7-8, 23:24-36, and Numbers 28:18-25
SwampRangers let me know there uses of the 3 days and 3 nights where it does not have to mean 72 hours, and I appreciate his scholarship and writing a lot,
When exploring God’s Word and truth, exploring the possibilities is a good part of getting to know and understand…
Bravo to your in-depth answer dear fren Malachi! ✨👏
thanks fren, another anon just shared that the phrase can mean any past of the days & nights without needing to cover both parts and not needing to cover 72 hrs.