Daq, your logic does hold for the statement you made, but what if you had also said "on the third day." If you were the Lord, then we would have to find how you could of said things two seemingly different ways, and somehow both are still true. Often times there are revelations involved.
There has been a big controversy for many years on the Book of John saying that Yeshua was being condemned at the
sixth hour:
KJV John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the
sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
Commentators say how can Jesus possibly be there before Pilate and the Chief Priests about the sixth hour when he was
on the cross on the third hour?
Some say it was a scribal error, but the manuscript evidence makes it very clear that this is the correct rendering from the Greek. I believe I found the answer, and it can be found on page 468 (and following), in the chapter "Between the Evenings; the Legal Time to Sacrifice the Passover" and can be found here:
http://themessianicfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMF_Between-the-Evenings.pdf
It is not our job to force the Greek words from scripture out of their meanings, otherwise I could answer your argument the same way you answer mine. I could say "ha ha, see, how can "after three days" possibly mean the same as "on the third day?" And then I could take the Greek for "on the third day" and break the laws of Greek Grammar and proper bible interpretation and say "I always take "on" to mean "after" in these contexts," even if it contradicts Greek Grammar.
It's not our job to tell the Messiah what he meant, but to try to discern what he meant using all the proper rules of the Greek Grammar in which he spoke, also using proper logic, and the fact scripture says he almost always spoke in parables (and dark sayings).
Since the rules for Greek Grammar clearly say meta means "after" in the context of Mark 8:31, because there it is in the Accusative case (not Genitive), and there are no Greek variants on this verse, then we need to try and find out how he meant this, and how it also fits with "on the third day" without shoehorning "on the third day" as my pretend argument above. :
NAS Mark 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again.
meta.
preposition accusative
[UBS] meta, prep. with: (1) gen. with, in company with, among; by, in; on the side of; against;
(2) acc.
after, behind ( meta. to, with inf. after)
There are a few options. As I said before, since these statements were spoken over a 3 1/2 year period, to different people, in possibly different contexts, that could be part of it. Saying "on the third day" when your reference point is the day after the crucifixion, then that would fit. Looking forward from the crucifixion day, Friday would be the first day from it, Saturday the second, and Sunday would be "on the third day."
Or, if there was some kind of a revelation involved, such as my sixth hour example above, then the point AbbaLove brought up I think is excellent, and something I had not seen before. If Yeshua was wanting to give them a revelation that he was the true First Fruits offering, the First Fruit of the
resurrection, then saying "on the third day" would be a perfect way to say that, and his words would be totally correct. He resurrected "on the third day" of the seven day Feast, which this year was Sunday, the day he resurrected. Just like Yeshua does not ever say "I am the true Passover" but he does allude to it. And John does not say Jesus was the Passover, but he alludes to it (not a bone of his broken).
Another interesting point I just noticed is the the Greek article translated "on" in the four "on the third day" raise up scriptures, is not really the Greek word for on, as you can see "on" is not in the definition below:
th/| definite article
dative feminine singular
[UBS] o`, h`,
to, pl. oi`, ai`, ta, the; this, that; he, she, it; tou/ with inf. in order that, so that, with the result that, that
Greek scholar William Mounce says that when the article in Greek is in the Dative case is has the primary meaning of "to," (the first meaning given above). And according to Daniel Wallace's excellent Greek work
Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics when it is a "Dative of reference" he adds: "Instead of the word to, supply the phrase "with reference to."
That being true, when the Messiah speaks of his resurrection, and that he would be raised "on the third day" it is very possible AbbaLove's revelation is in view here, where the focus of his statement was on alluding to fulfilling the First Fruits:
NAS Matthew 20:19 and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day
He will be raised up."
He was resurrected and
raised up (as our First Fruits offering)
with reference to the third day of the Feast, which was the day the priest waived the First Fruits offering that year (first day of the week, third day of the Festival). Either way, one of the two options I have given here could answer what meant when he said these Greek words, the scriptures all harmonize as he meant them.
