When did Jesus die and come back to life?

mark kennedy

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Most people seem to believe Jesus was crucified on a Friday because sundown was the start of that week's Sabbath. The problem with this assumption is Jesus was dead not only three days, but also three nights. There are two nights between Friday at sunset and Sunday at sunrise so that is mathematically impossible unless he rose on a Tuesday.

I actually read an article about that. According to the writer, the only way "on the third day" is the same as "three days and three nights" is if it refers to the third day of the week. Of course, this would move the crucifixion date to a Saturday evening.
  1. Saturday night
  2. Sunday day/night
  3. Monday day/night
  4. Tuesday morning
This wouldl put The Last Supper on a Friday night - the beginning of a weekly Sabbath.

Another article proposes Jesus was crucified on a Thursday in order to make three nights and a Sunday resurrection. The writer of that one argues the word Sabbath does not have to mean a Friday night-Saturday night break from work because Jewish holidays are their own Sabbaths - meaning it could have been a Thursday night-Friday night Passover Sabbath. It looks like this:
  1. Thursday night
  2. Friday day/night
  3. Saturday day/night
  4. Sunday morning
Are either of these ideas Biblical? What about a Wednesday death or Monday resurrection?

Sorry if this post is too long.
I think Jesus had the Passover meal with the Apostles early, we do know that Jesus died the day before the Passover. Perhaps having Passover as early as Wednesday, I'm not entirely sure, but this never really created an issue for me.
 
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ViaCrucis

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It certainly is a thing. The bible says in several places "three days and three nights". That equals 72 hours and any other figure calls God and Jesus liars.

There are basically three options we have:

1) It was a lie to say "three days and three nights".
2) It was a lie to say Jesus rose on the third day.
3) Neither are lies, because when Jesus speaks of His being in the belly of the earth, He doesn't mean three full 24 hour periods.

Christians have, for two thousand years now, gone with the third option.

-CryptoLUtheran
 
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prodromos

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One thing I find annoying is how people keep saying "2000 years" about stuff that occured in the 20s and 30s. There was no such thing as Christianity before when. 33 AD?
That's your Asperger's kicking in again :).

It's another use of synecdoche where the whole (1000 years) refers to the part (slightly less than 1000 years). It is an extremely common figure of speech.
 
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Calminian

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There are basically three options we have:

1) It was a lie to say "three days and three nights".
2) It was a lie to say Jesus rose on the third day.
3) Neither are lies, because when Jesus speaks of His being in the belly of the earth, He doesn't mean three full 24 hour periods.

Christians have, for two thousand years now, gone with the third option.

-CryptoLUtheran

There's actually a better 4th option. When Jesus speaks of being in the "heart of the earth" he was not speaking about the grave.

That reconciles everything, from the Friday crucifixion, Sunday morning resurrection and literal 3 days and 3 nights.

an in-depth article: What did Jesus mean by 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth?

You are right Jesus was not speaking about 3 24 hour periods, but we need at least 3 partial nights for his statement to be true (which it is). He said specifically he'd be 3 nights in the heart of the earth. And he was, once you understand what heart of the earth means. Had he wanted to limit the meaning of this phrase to his death, he would have used the metaphor "under the earth." He instead said "heart of the earth" which to the ancient reader meant heart of the land. We would do well as apologists to take a closer look at this phrase.
 
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Calminian

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Bukt Jesus was not buried under the Earth.

Doesn't matter that's the metaphor for the dead common in the Old and New testaments.

Also, earth means land. "and God called the dry land earth." (Gen. 1:5)

"Heart of the land" is how the ancient readers would have understood it. It would have been similar to today's expression heartland, which no one, today, takes as a reference to death or burial. That's what the metaphor would have been based on. Jesus said he'd be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the land where men dwell and rule. Seems to be a reference to their dominion and authority. But can't be a reference to the gave. That would make no sense at all.
 
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prodromos

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Doesn't matter that's the metaphor for the dead common in the Old and New testaments.

Also, earth means land. "and God called the dry land earth." (Gen. 1:5)

"Heart of the land" is how the ancient readers would have understood it. It would have been similar to today's expression heartland, which no one, today, takes as a reference to death or burial. That's what the metaphor would have been based on. Jesus said he'd be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the land where men dwell and rule. Seems to be a reference to their dominion and authority. But can't be a reference to the gave. That would make no sense at all.
Sorry, but this sounds like a complete stretch to me. Perhaps if you had examples of "heart of the earth" in other Hebrew literature which linked the expression to "authorities", but for now it looks like you've pulled it out of thin air.
 
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GodLovesCats

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Sorry, but this sounds like a complete stretch to me. Perhaps if you had examples of "heart of the earth" in other Hebrew literature which linked the expression to "authorities", but for now it looks like you've pulled it out of thin air.

Do you have your own Hebrew literature to disprove Calminian's comments?
 
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Calminian

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Sorry, but this sounds like a complete stretch to me. Perhaps if you had examples of "heart of the earth" in other Hebrew literature which linked the expression to "authorities", but for now it looks like you've pulled it out of thin air.

Here's one.

Deut. 11:3 the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; 4 what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the LORD brought lasting ruin on them.​

Earth in the Bible is the same word for all the lands and particular lands like Israel or Egypt. The above passage speaks of what God did in the heart of the land of Egypt, specifically to the rulers and authorities of Egypt. Literally it refers to the heartland of Egypt, metaphorically it refers to the authorities of Egypt.

And as CFC challenged above, what are some arguments you can make for heart of the earth meaning the realm of the dead?
 
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prodromos

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Here's one.

Deut. 11:3 the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; 4 what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the LORD brought lasting ruin on them.​

Earth in the Bible is the same word for all the lands and particular lands like Israel or Egypt. The above passage speaks of what God did in the heart of the land of Egypt, specifically to the rulers and authorities of Egypt. Literally it refers to the heartland of Egypt, metaphorically it refers to the authorities of Egypt.
Since you went to the effort of checking your concordance for the "land", "earth" equivalence, I'm surprised you did not do the same for "heart". You will not in fact find any verse in the Old Testament that says what you are claiming. And even if it did as you claim, you have still had to make a huge contextual leap from the above verse speaking of a nation of people, to have it somehow refer to the land they occupy, so you can they claim the reversal of the same for your novel interpretation of "heart of the earth" meaning under the Jews' authority.
And as CFC challenged above, what are some arguments you can make for heart of the earth meaning the realm of the dead?
You need look no further than the Book of Jonah, since that is the sign Jesus pointed them back to.

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

“I called to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and thou didst hear my voice.
For thou didst cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood was round about me;
all thy waves and thy billows
passed over me.​
 
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