Christ Was “Not” In The Grave Three Days And There Nights, Why Do Go Along?

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I was reading a talk by Elder McConkie about how Christ spent three days in the tomb, “as the Jews measure time”.

Then we have these scriptures…

Matthew 12: 28-40

38 ¶Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mark 8: 31

31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Matthew 27: 62-64

62 ¶Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,

63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

No matter how you look at it was less than 48 hours. Why, is this never pointed out. We disagree on other points…what am I missing.

In the thread title I meant to write "Why do we go along"?

Edited April 5, 2012 by Bill “Papa” Lee

[LeSellers]

Since there is an unaccounted-for day in "Passion Week" (typically we think of it as Wednesday), there is no reason to assume that He was Crucified on Friday. I believe it was Thursday. The "Sabbath" before He was crucified was not the weekly Sabbath, but that of Passover. Since this Sabbath would have been on Friday, and the next day was the ordinary Sabbath, He would have been resurrected on Sunday, as we know it to have occurred, and thus He'd have been in the grave/Hell for three days.

The Jonah prototype/foreshadowing is what clinched it for me.

Lehi

[Thinking]

It was about 36 hours (Friday evening to Sunday morning). One could argue that He was in the tomb for at least a part of three different days, hence 3 days. If the unit of measure is days, then 3 days is perfectly acceptable.

[LeSellers]

While it may have been "part" of three days, Jesus specifically said He'd be in the tomb for three days and three nights. No Friday Crucifixion allows that.

Lehi

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

It was about 36 hours (Friday evening to Sunday morning). One could argue that He was in the tomb for at least a part of three different days, hence 3 days. If the unit of measure is days, then 3 days is perfectly acceptable.

If this were just someone in the news, we would not be trying to make the facts fit the story.

[JAHS]

Some have enterpreted "heart of the earth" to mean the entire time of his suffering which would include all the time he spent suffering in the garden of gethsemane on Thursday. If you include that you would have three days AND three nights.

[wenglund]

I suspect the reason we go along with it is because absolute precision of language is unnecessary in the case, particularly given the symbolic nature of the statement.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[blueadept]

In better understanding the weird way that Jews count days, Genesis states that 'evening came and morning dawned the ___ day.' So the evening marks the beginning of a new day. Anything that started prior to sunset is the previous day (which would include an evening in their logic).

So for our 'western logic', the 1st day/evening was only a couple of hours. The 2nd day was actual 24 hrs and the 3rd day started at dusk on Saturday evening.

That said, my western brain still has issues about this.

[Cobalt-70]

See this interesting article about the subject by Mormon astronomer John P. Pratt that was published in the Ensign: http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/easter/dating.html

Pratt thinks Jesus' death was probably on a Friday, Nixan 14 (the first day of Passover), AD 33. That would mean Jesus was in the tomb only two nights (he has a theory as to how that is consistent with Matt. 12:40). If you factor in the trip to Gethsemane, it also means that the Last Supper was not actually a Passover meal.

But he also gives a lot of background on other possible interpretations. I had always understood that Passover was on Thursday, he went to Gethsemane that night, and was killed Friday. But Passover was only on Thursday in AD 27 and (arguably) AD 34. The former date might be too early (because Jesus' ministry could only have been about a year total), and the latter date might be too late, considering that Paul was probably converted that year.

[katherine the great]

What blueadept said. (Ditto)