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The Gospel of John is the last of the four Gospels in the Bible. Many consider John’s Gospel to be the most accurate, but perhaps that doesn’t matter once the other three have had a place in the Bible as well and it is on the basis of our faith in God that we accept those Gospels as well, least of which because they are the words and inspiration of God if we have faith in Him. What do we know of his Resurrection according to the Gospels?
Well, you can start with John 2:18–21, in which Jesus is in the midst of an argument with the Jews for his driving out the merchants and traders from God’s Temple for engaging in commerce there on the Sabbath. When the Jews ask him what right he has in doing that, he responds in Verse 19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then ask him in Verse 20 how he can destroy the Temple when it took 46 years to build. We don’t know the answer Jesus gives, but John in Verse 21 explains that Jesus was referring to “the temple of his body.” If so, then Jesus knew that would be his fate.
(As for the “temple” part, it is confirmed later, in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are all God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us in our temples. In that respect, I tell you that our temples are not images of God, they are God Himself.)
The Bible confirms not only Jesus’ prediction of his resurrection, but that his resurrection will occur three days after he is destroyed. His destruction is described among the Gospels, including Luke 23: 33 which actually states that Jesus is crucified. His death is confirmed when Luke 23:46 says “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.”
When did Jesus perish on the cross? We can presume it happened on Friday, since it is written in Luke 23:50-56 that a man named Joseph asked for and received Jesus’ body and put him in a tomb just before the Sabbath, which would be Saturday. The presumption, even if not confirmed, is at least credible since under Jewish law the dead are generally laid to rest within 24 hours after death.
And when was Jesus resurrected? Luke 24: 1-7 says that “on the first day of the week, at early dawn,” people went to the tomb where Jesus laid, but “they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” Well, the first day of the week would be Sunday, so from Friday when he perished at the cross to Sunday amounts to about three days. The three-day interval, apparently is confirmed when in Verses 5-7, the people who were looking for Jesus’ bod were told by two people standing by, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” The “third day part” is referenced by Luke 9:22.
Why would it matter that we know that it was a three-day interval between Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection? It may be because it is necessary that everyone hold to the truth as revealed in the Bible. We don’t know who the Pagans were that Jesus’ disciples were in the process of converting, but a discrepancy that may seem small to some of us could be significant enough to cloud the truth that the disciples were in the process of conveying. And if some of the pagans were to ask others, who became Christians about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and one Christian says, ‘Oh I believe it was four days because...’ and another answers ‘Oh, it was the same day fer sure,’ what would those Pagans think if the Christians can’t get the story straight about the Son of God? What would people centuries later think?
Our belief in God is based on our faith in Him, to the extent of our understanding of the Bible which is His Words and His Inspiration. People who were not there at Jesus’ crucifixion or death must get the story straight for both, as gleamed from the Bible.
Well, you can start with John 2:18–21, in which Jesus is in the midst of an argument with the Jews for his driving out the merchants and traders from God’s Temple for engaging in commerce there on the Sabbath. When the Jews ask him what right he has in doing that, he responds in Verse 19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then ask him in Verse 20 how he can destroy the Temple when it took 46 years to build. We don’t know the answer Jesus gives, but John in Verse 21 explains that Jesus was referring to “the temple of his body.” If so, then Jesus knew that would be his fate.
(As for the “temple” part, it is confirmed later, in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are all God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us in our temples. In that respect, I tell you that our temples are not images of God, they are God Himself.)
The Bible confirms not only Jesus’ prediction of his resurrection, but that his resurrection will occur three days after he is destroyed. His destruction is described among the Gospels, including Luke 23: 33 which actually states that Jesus is crucified. His death is confirmed when Luke 23:46 says “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.”
When did Jesus perish on the cross? We can presume it happened on Friday, since it is written in Luke 23:50-56 that a man named Joseph asked for and received Jesus’ body and put him in a tomb just before the Sabbath, which would be Saturday. The presumption, even if not confirmed, is at least credible since under Jewish law the dead are generally laid to rest within 24 hours after death.
And when was Jesus resurrected? Luke 24: 1-7 says that “on the first day of the week, at early dawn,” people went to the tomb where Jesus laid, but “they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” Well, the first day of the week would be Sunday, so from Friday when he perished at the cross to Sunday amounts to about three days. The three-day interval, apparently is confirmed when in Verses 5-7, the people who were looking for Jesus’ bod were told by two people standing by, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” The “third day part” is referenced by Luke 9:22.
Why would it matter that we know that it was a three-day interval between Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection? It may be because it is necessary that everyone hold to the truth as revealed in the Bible. We don’t know who the Pagans were that Jesus’ disciples were in the process of converting, but a discrepancy that may seem small to some of us could be significant enough to cloud the truth that the disciples were in the process of conveying. And if some of the pagans were to ask others, who became Christians about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and one Christian says, ‘Oh I believe it was four days because...’ and another answers ‘Oh, it was the same day fer sure,’ what would those Pagans think if the Christians can’t get the story straight about the Son of God? What would people centuries later think?
Our belief in God is based on our faith in Him, to the extent of our understanding of the Bible which is His Words and His Inspiration. People who were not there at Jesus’ crucifixion or death must get the story straight for both, as gleamed from the Bible.
True
