There is a teaching circulating among Messianic Jews & others, that Messiah died on a Wednesday. This teaching goes to great lengths to demonstrate that you need three 24-hr. periods for Messiah to have died and resurrected. (3 days & 3 nights) This teaching was originally taught by a Gentile, who misunderstood the Holy Days, and the way time is used in the Bible. For some reason, it has been picked up by the Messianic Community. Please read on with an open mind.
Time, as measured in days, is used in a rather loose way in the Scriptures; in fact, as we will see, it is used the very same way that we use it today! (They didn't have pocket watches back then!)
Compare the following passages:
Gen. 42:17-18 - (3 days, on the third day) Joseph had his brothers
put in custody for 3 days. On the third day, he released all but one.
I Sam. 30:12,13 - (3 days & 3 nights, 3 days ago) The account of an Egyptian who hadn't eaten anything 3 days & 3 nights, because he was abandoned 3 days ago. (This account on its own doesn't prove much, but taken in conjunction with the other passages, it shows a consistent pattern of thinking.)
I Kgs. 20:29 - (7 days, in the 7th day) "For seven days, they camped opposite one another, and on the seventh day, the battle was joined."
II Chron. 10:5, 12 - (after 3 days, on the 3rd day) ".Come back to me in three days." "They came on the third day.."
Esther 4:16 - ( 3 days, night & day) ".fast for three days and three nights." ". I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the King."
Esther 5:1 - (on the 3rd day) ".on the third day, Esther put on her royal robes & stood in the inner court of the king's palace."
Concerning the resurrection:
Matt. 12:40 "For as Jonah was 3 days & 3 nights in the
belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days & 3 nights in the
heart of the earth." (the sign of Jonah was resurrection!)
Matt. 16:21 ".be raised the third day."
Matt. 17:23 ".and on the third day he will be raised
up."
Matt. 20:19 "On the third day He will rise again."
Matt. 26:61 "I am able to destroy the temple of God and to
build it in three days."
Matt. 27:62 ".said, After 3 days, I will rise."
Matt. 27:64 "Command that the tomb be made secure until the
third day."
Mark 8:31 ".be killed and after three days rise again."
Mark 9:31 "He will rise the third day."
Mark 10:34 ".And the third day He will rise again."
Mark 14:58 ".I will destroy this temple made with hands, and
within three days I will build another made without hands."
Luke 9:22 " .and be killed and be raised the third day."
Luke 18:33 ".and the third day He will rise again."
Luke 24:7 "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of
sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Luke 24:21 ".today is the third day since these things
(crucifixion) happened."
Luke 24:46 "Then He (Y'shua) said to them, 'Thus it is
written and thus it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer, and to rise from
the dead the third day."
Acts 10:40 ".Him God raised up on the third day."
I Cor. 15:4 ".He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures."
Jewish Thinking: The Talmud says, "a part counts as a whole." Thus, any period of time which touches 3 days is considered the whole 3 days.
Logic tells you that if Y'shua was buried for three 24-hour periods, then he would have to rise on the 4th day.
Let's go over the schedule for the week when Y'shua gave up his life on the tree, was buried and rose again. Keep in mind that "evening and morning make a day" according to the first chapter of Genesis. The day begins when the sun goes down and ends at sunset the following day.
Let's go back in time - almost 2000 years ago:
The first day of Passover week was not treated like other Holy days. It was
called Preparation Day. On that fateful week, Preparation Day was a
Thursday. We know this, because the Friday Sabbath was called a High
Sabbath. That happens when a Holy Day falls on a Shabbat. The Feast of
Unleavened Bread fell on a Friday evening that year, making the Sabbath a HIGH
Sabbath. (The entire 8 day Passover week is also referred to as the Feast of
Unleavened Bread - this has caused some confusion among non-Jews)
At the beginning of Preparation Day (evening) the disciples prepared a Passover feast. This was a regular occurrence for Rabbis & their disciples to meet in the upper rooms of the walls surrounding the Temple Complex. The common people did not eat the Passover Feast on the first night, but Rabbis did so without the Lamb. They went through the ritual with their disciples. It was a teaching method and also was considered a righteous thing to do. Thursday evening, Y'shua met with his disciples and taught them, as they went through the ritual of the Passover Seder without the Lamb. (He was the Lamb of G-d!) That night was spent at Gethsemane, where He was arrested and taken through various stages of religious trials and political trials, then brutally whipped.
At nine A.M. Friday (still Preparation Day), Y'shua was crucified, and all through that day, the Passover lambs were being brought to the Temple to be sacrificed at the altar. The blood was poured out at the base of the altar & certain parts were burned, then the lambs were taken home to be roasted whole. During the day of Preparation Day (the first day of Passover) while Y'shua was hanging on the tree, lambs were being slaughtered. At 3 P.M. on the first day of Passover (Preparation Day), Y'shua died. The Jews were in a hurry to get him off the cross because a High Holy Day & the Sabbath were about to start. While the Lambs were roasting, Y'shua was being buried before sundown on Friday. After sundown, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was eaten by all of Israel. The ritual Seder--the retelling of the release from bondage, the freedom of Israel from Egypt, the redemption of the firstborn by way of the blood of the Passover Lamb--was being told while the Lamb of God was proclaiming freedom to the captives in Sheol (hell)!
All Shabbat, Y'shua rested in his grave, while the people of Israel rested from their labors. Saturday night began the third day of Passover week, which was the Holy Day of Firstfruits. Sometime before dawn, Messiah, who is the firstfruits of the resurrection from the dead, arose from His grave in His resurrected body! His work was finished, the debt of sin was fully paid, and His resurrection was the Seal of Approval from the Father. We live because He lives!
This is the important fact of this teaching! Let's not get hung up on details and get our minds off the goal: following Y'shua and walking in His footsteps, as He did the will of the Father, so should we.
There is no contradiction in the various ways to describe what happened. Remember- no pocket watches back then. We need to realize that the Bible uses these terms of days (3rd day, after 3 days, on the third day, etc.) very loosely. Just as we ourselves do, in our modern times. When we say we will see someone in two days, we do not mean a literal 48-hour period. There is no need to be hung up on literal 24-hour periods in interpreting the Bible either. To do so, takes our mind off what is really important: the resurrection of our Lord & Savior, Y'shua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ)!
Just as Isaac was considered dead & resurrected again in Abraham's mind as he took his son to Mt. Zion to sacrifice him according to the wishes of the Lord; so Y'shua considered himself dead from Gethsemane until the time of resurrection on the third day.
Thursday night & Friday daytime: Preparation Day (the first day of Passover) is Day One - He was judged, crucified & buried. (the 14th of Nisan)
Friday night & Saturday daytime: Unleavened Bread is Day Two - He was still in the tomb. (the 15th of Nisan)
Saturday night: Feast of Firstfruits is Day Three - He arose from the Dead! He is our guarantee of our own resurrection; He is the first of many more! (the 16th of Nisan)
The Rabbis have missed the mark today. In Israel, the first night of
Passover, the Seder is celebrated without Lamb, because they don't want to be
accused of sacrificing when there is no temple. Others use Lamb anyway. The
second night of the Passover Week, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is only
observed by the ultra-orthodox. The third day - the Feast of Firstfruits is all
but forgotten. It is a sad state of affairs into which the Jewish People have
fallen. Pray for eyes to be opened and hearts to be ready to receive their
Messiah, the Promised One of Israel. He is coming back soon to set up His
kingdom. Those who reject Him, will be rejected by Him. The sin problem
has been taken care of and the door is open to the Throne of Grace!
Now is the Day of Salvation! Don't delay.
Lura Maiman, Congregation Yeruel, Israel