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Was Jesus In the Tomb Three Days?
| "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." (Matthew 12:40) NKJV |
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What do the three days and three nights of Matthew 12:40 mean? There are different understandings of this text. Some have understood it to mean that Jesus was to be in the grave three days of twelve hours and three nights of twelve hours. All agree that Jesus was crucified at three in the afternoon. Those who hold the Wednesday crucifixion view assert that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday afternoon, then 72 hours later raised from the grave Saturday afternoon, and appearing on Sunday morning.
Others argue that when it says Jesus was in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, it means He was under the surveillance of the priests and scribes and Pharisees from Thursday until Sunday morning.
The traditional explanation, which seems to me the most logical, takes into account that in those days they counted time in a different way than we do. When we say three days--three nights, we naturally think 72 hours. When they said three days--three nights, they considered a full day or any part of a day as a day.
Evidence for this understanding of the three days--three nights can be found in Luke 24:21 which tells of Jesus' walk to Emmaus with Cleopas and his friend. This walk was on a Sunday afternoon. Speaking of the crucifixion they said, "today is the third day since these things were done."
According to John the Sabbath of that week was a "high day," or as the NIV translates it "a special Sabbath," a day when the weekly Sabbath came on the same day as the Passover Sabbath John 19:31. Thus He was crucified on Friday. As Cleopas and his friend reckoned it, Friday the day of the crucifixion was the first day, Sabbath while Jesus was in the tomb the second day, and Sunday the day of His resurrection the third day.
Additional Comments
In the days Jesus spoke these words they counted time in a different way than we do. When we say three days--three nights, we naturally think 72 hours. When they said three days--three nights, they thought of them as days or parts of days as a day. Evidence for this is in Luke 24:21 as Jesus walked to Emmaus with Cleopas and his friend. This walk was on a Sunday afternoon. Speaking of the crucifixion they said, "today is the third day since these things were done." There's no way Jesus could have been crucified on Wednesday that would make Sunday the third day.
Much is sometimes made of Matthew 28:1. The original manuscripts did not have chapter or verse divisions, nor even punctuation. In this case the sense of the text would follow more logically were the first phrase in 28:1 attached to the end of the previous sentence, "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch in the end of the Sabbath." That would put Matthew in agreement with the other gospel writers who are clear that the resurrection was on the morning of the first day (Sunday).
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