Three Days & Three Nights

thoughts by Charles P. Schmitt, founding pastor

I recently read an interesting article entitled: “The Resurrection Was Not on Sunday.” The article, by a Sabbatarian group, was an explanation of Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:40—“As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Their conclusion was that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday (rather than on Good Friday) and was raised on a Saturday rather than Resurrection Sunday). A Saturday resurrection, of course (Saturday being the Sabbath), was exactly what they were after. What disturbed me most in the article was not their explanation of the “three days and three nights,” or even their Sabbath-keeping, but their sectarian conclusions that they alone were right and everyone else was wrong!—“You have a choice: You can believe the common tradition, the minister down the street and most of your neighbors—or you can believe … the historical record found in your Bible …” (their words). I think we have yet another choice.

I personally have long believed that a Friday crucifixion was probably not accurate. I’d probably opt for a Thursday crucifixion allowing for Jesus being three days and three nights in the tomb. Thursday day (a partial day is considered as a day in Scripture) and Thursday night; Friday day and Friday night; Saturday day and Saturday night, with the resurrection occurring sometime between the start of the First Day of the Week, which began Saturday at sundown, and the morning of the First Day, our Sunday morning, when His followers came to the empty tomb only to find Him already risen. So why then don’t we rearrange our services accordingly and have a Maundy Wednesday service and a Good Thursday service and a Saturday night Resurrection service? For one good reason.

The problem of sectarian elitism is not new to our times. Even in the early church the issue of “right” days and “wrong” days was a divisive issue. Paul writes to the Romans, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord” (Romans 14:5-6). Then Paul makes a very interesting follow-up statement—“For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? … Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another…” (Romans 14:9-10, 13).

These statements probably uncover the arguments going on in the early church over which days were the “right” days for remembering when “Christ died and returned to life”! But Paul did not support the “right” days controversy. Paul’s encouragement was rather to have a right spirit! A generous spirit! A non-divisive spirit, a non-sectarian spirit! And whether it is regarding the Sabbath (and on this, “do not let anyone judge you,” Colossians 2:16-17), or regarding the right day for Christmas, or regarding which day was the Crucifixion, or when was the Resurrection—on all these issues that people like to wrangle over—let the generous grace of God always be found in our hearts! “Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19)! In this light, in this upcoming season, let us celebrate our Lord—who was born for us, who died for us, and who was raised for us! Amen!

 

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