Lesson 60 – Was it really three days in the tomb until Jesus rose?
Welcome back. Today’s lesson will be short. We need to address a criticism about the empty tomb in the form of the question, was it really three days in the tomb until Jesus rose?
Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you for how you bless us all each day. I pray that everyone who needs to
hear this message will find it and that it will lead them to the truth and a deep belief in you
that they can maintain for life. Lord, some people claim the Bible is wrong to claim three
days from the Lord’s crucifixion to Resurrection. Help us to understand this concern and
how to explain to help others find you. Lord, bless this lesson and speak your words through
me that you want everyone to hear. Amen.
Most scholars agree that Jesus was on the cross on a Friday until late afternoon. He was
placed in the tomb on Friday evening. He was resurrected and gone early Sunday morning
when the women visited the tomb, but it was empty.
In Christian studies and knowledge, everyone says that it was three days before Jesus
rose. Now critics wish to deny this claim by saying it is not three days between Friday
evening and early Sunday morning. It’s a question worth a response.
They are right in saying it is not three 24-hour periods from Friday evening to early
Sunday morning. It is barely two of those periods. We do call those days, so it was not three
literal days as we think of them.
But, as mentioned in another lesson, the word day has multiple meanings, in Hebrew, in
Greek and even in English. Jesus was in the tomb for parts of three days: Friday, Saturday
and early Sunday. So, it is easy to explain. Have you ever said something like, I spent all
day relaxing? Do you mean 24 hours or part of that day?
Now, what is the significance that it was three days? First, among Jews at the time, they
believed that the soul remained with the body for three days after death. If He had raised
sooner, people would have been suspicious, and enemies might claim He had not really died.
Then, of course there is prophecy. Jesus Himself predicted He would be in the ground
for three days. And Paul in the NT claims Jesus rose on the third day according to the
scriptures. He was probably referring to Hosea. In Hosea 6:1-3, it says about the Messiah
that “…after three days He will restore us.”
Until next time friends.
