Most churches commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday
and His resurrection on Easter Sunday. But how does this fit with the sign
Christ gave?
As proof that He was the Messiah, Jesus Christ promised in
advance exactly how much time He would spend in the grave. He called it “the
sign of the prophet Jonah.”
The sign of Jonah
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had seen Him work
miracles but still didn’t believe He was the Messiah (Matthew 12:23, 38). In
fact, the Pharisees plotted “how they might destroy Him” (verse 14) and accused
Him of working for Satan (verse 24)!
So when they asked for another sign, Jesus said:
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and
no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (verses
39-40).
Jesus referred to the great miracle from the book of Jonah.
God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the
fish for three days and three nights before God told the fish to spit him out,
alive, on the shore. And Christ let everyone know that He would be in the grave
for the exact same length of time. He said the sign of Jonah would be the only
sign He would give them. This important prophecy was very specific.
How do you get three days and three nights between Friday
afternoon and Sunday morning?
Yet today most churches ignore this sign or try to explain
that it didn’t really mean three full days and three full nights. Why? Because
of a common misunderstanding about the holy times during that week many call
Holy Week.
First, try to do the math. Almost all Christian churches
teach Jesus Christ died and was buried late Good Friday afternoon, then was
raised early Easter Sunday morning. That’s Friday night, Saturday day and
Saturday night: two nights and one day. Even if you wanted to stretch things to
call the few minutes of daylight on Friday a day, that’s only two days and two
nights. Remember, Jesus was already risen before sunrise on Sunday (John 20:1).
Why would Jesus make a point of saying three days and three
nights if He didn’t mean it? Is this a contradiction in the Bible or is there a
simple explanation everyone would understand if they celebrated the festivals
of the Bible as Jesus and His disciples did?
Jesus clearly stated that He and His disciples were
celebrating the Passover when He washed their feet and added the New Testament
ceremony of the bread and the wine. He said: “With fervent desire I have
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
Jesus and His disciples followed the command found in
Leviticus 23 describing the “feasts of the Lord.” “On the fourteenth day of the
first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover” (verses 4-5). Biblical days
started in the evening, so after that Passover ceremony, but still on the
Passover day, Jesus was arrested, beaten and crucified. He died around 3 p.m.
(“the ninth hour” of daylight in the Jewish system of time keeping; Matthew
27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46) and was buried before sunset. In fact,
the Jewish leaders were urgent that Jesus’ body not remain on the cross the
next day.
“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the
bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a
high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they
might be taken away” (John 19:31).
Most people today would see the word Sabbath and assume this
means Saturday, since the regular weekly Sabbath day taught in the Bible is
from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. But most miss the fact that John called
it a “high day.” What did he mean? Let’s quickly go back to Leviticus 23. What
comes right after the Passover (the 14th)?
“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the
first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on
it” (Leviticus 23:6-7).
This First Day of Unleavened Bread was an annual Sabbath
day—a high day. And it can come on different days of the week.
So the logical explanation is that Christ was exactly right
about the three days and three nights. People today are just confused about
when He died and was resurrected. It couldn’t have been on a Friday afternoon
and Sunday morning.
The accompanying chart shows the math that works—the
chronology of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection that matches the biblical
festivals and confirms the sign of Jonah—the only sign Jesus said He would
give!
Written by Mike Bennett
plus.google.com/ MikeBennett-LHT
