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Author: Stephen Weller
736 words, 4 minutes read time

Resurrection Day

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-6

The previous less was devoted to a review of the previous major section. With this lesson we begin a new major section of study, which is also a very long one, but before we look at the first event of this major section, I would like to begin to consider the question that was asked in lesson H632; “Did Jesus die on Wednesday, Thursday or on Friday?

Several months from now we will cover Matthew 28:1 – 6 ESV: ¹ “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” Sometime during Saturday night, before sunrise on Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.

Next let us consider Jonah, who did his best to avoid going to Nineveh as commanded by the Lord. Instead “Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So, he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3 ESV). But the Lord brought a great storm upon them and threatened the safety of the ship. Determining that the storm was the result of Jonah’s disobedience, “they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea” (Jonah 1:15 ESV). As we know, this was not the end for Jonah, for “the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17 ESV). Jonah was alive inside the great fish and he prayed to the Lord and the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land (Jonah 2:1 – 10).

Several months ago, we had a lesson that related to Jonah. In lesson H456 the Jews asked Jesus for a sign to prove who he was, and Jesus answered them, ³⁹ “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For just 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 12:39 – 40 ESV).

What if Jonah was thrown overboard on Thursday. Thursday would be day one, Thursday night would be night one, Friday would be day two, Friday night would be night two, Saturday would be day three and Saturday night would be night three. Assume the fish delivered Jonah to the shore just before sunrise on Sunday morning, ready to start his journey to Nineveh. Thursday to just before daylight on Sunday morning would be three days and three nights. Jesus said he would be in the earth three days and three nights like Jonah was in the great fish. Is it possible that tradition placed the death of Jesus on Friday when it really was on Thursday?

Conclusion

In this lesson we looked at when Jesus rose from the dead and we consider the time Jonah was in the belly of a great fish; three days and three nights. To the request asked by the Jews for a sign proving who he was, Jesus said the only sign he would give is the sign of Jonah and then he said, “For just 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 ESV). If Jesus died on Friday, as tradition claims, then how do we get three days and three nights?