Did Jesus Spend 3 Days And 3 Nights In The Grave?
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Introduction
KJV Matthew 12:40 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.
Have you ever puzzled over these words of Jesus Christ? He prophesied that He would spend in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. He was crucified and buried on Friday, rested in the tomb on Saturday and on Sunday morning raised from the dead. It makes three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and two nights (from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday) in modern reckoning. It is three incomplete 24 hour periods, which we often call “days”. How could that be? Jesus could not have made mistakes. How should we understand His words from the Gospel of Matthew?
Today I present some biblical information for your consideration that will immensely help in understanding this issue.
I was concerned about this matter, prayed and asked the Lord to help me to understand the chronology. He answered my prayer and gave me a revelation when my husband and I were reading the book of Acts, chapter 10. In this chapter it talks how the Apostle Peter saw a vision. As a result of this vision he started from Joppa to Caesarea to the house of Roman centurion Cornelius to proclaim the good news for him. For the entire story read the whole chapter from your Bible. I will focus on parts of it.
Exploration
In this chapter the Lord drew my attention to the sequence of events and the number of days they took.
Acts 10:1-3 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
So, Cornelius saw an angel about the ninth hour. Though in the chapter it does not say what day of the week it was, for easier understanding [for the purpose of illustration] we will consider it Monday. So, the events start on Monday at 9 o’clock.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. 7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
The same day (Monday) Cornelius sends his servants to Joppa to bring the Apostle Peter to his house.
9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
The next day, i.e. Tuesday Peter was praying about the sixth hour.
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. 17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate, 18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
At the same time when Peter was seeing the vision, the messengers from Cornelius arrived. This takes place the same day, which we by agreement call Tuesday.
19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. 21 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? 22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. 23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
Peter received the quests cheerfully and lodged them overnight. The next day, i.e. on Wednesday, Peter and his guests headed for Caesarea. Some brothers from Joppa joined them on this trip.
24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.
The next morning, it means on Thursday, they arrived in Caesarea at Cornelius’s house.
‘25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. 26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. 27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together. 28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?
Now be very attentive.
30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. 33 Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.
Cornelius informed them about what happened to him on the very first day (Monday), when at 9th hour in the vision the angel appeared before him. Cornelius said it happened «four days ago». Do you notice something unusual [strange] about it? In what kind of words we would talk on Thursday about events that happened on Monday? We would say it happened “three days ago”. ((For more details Wednesday we would call “yesterday”, Tuesday – “the day before yesterday” and Monday “three days ago”)). So Cornelius was speaking about those events as happening four, not three days ago.
I am neither a theologian nor historian. This explanation may not be exhaustive. But I know one important principle: the Bible explains itself. It contains enough information to be correctly understood. Thus, biblical day reckoning is different from modern reckoning. When the Scripture talks about 4 biblical days they correspond to our three days or 24-our periods. Based on this we can logically conclude that biblical “three days and three nights’ make our two days or 24-hour periods, not three. Now it is obvious that Christ was telling the truth. We just have to remember to approach the Holy Scripture not from our one-sided view, not to force our opinion on the Bible, but to come to it with an open mind. We should ask God to guide us into the truth and strive to understand the biblical viewpoint of any fact. Then we will see how many puzzles are solved, which seem to us either mistakes or lies or do not make sense. We have to change our thinking and vision. Then God’s truth will start being revealed to us.
© Copyright Tatyana Noel-Tsygulska
August 21, 2008