Phil2 and Doves,
Was this a question or a statement of doubt?
I must ask, if Jesus was crucified on any day but Friday, why
is there not any evidence of whistle blowers against this “heresy”
in the early church?
Friday was well established as THE day that Christ was crucified
early in the second century where many of the disciples of the apostles
where still alive.
Justin Martyr writes concerning the weekly worship of Christians:
But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly,
because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the
darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the
same day rose from the dead. For He
was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day
after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His
apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which
we have submitted to you also for your consideration.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.ii.lxvii.html
Take also into account the very words of Simon Peter and Cleopas
on the road to Emmaes when they met with Jesus:
Luk 24:19-21 And he said unto them, What things?
And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20
And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to
death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that
it had been he which should have redeemed Israel:
and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
If there is any misunderstanding how Jesus defined what the
“third day” is, he says so in his own words:
Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell
that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I
do cures to day
and to morrow, and the third [day] I shall be perfected.
Jesus, by using similitude, concealed the wisdom of God concerning
the his crucifixion and resurrection.
If Sunday was the “third day”, then Saturday would
have been the “second day” or the day after, and Friday would
have been the “first day” or the “day of” the crucifixion.
My “first day” here was Aug 22, 1969 (my birthday).
My “second day” was Saturday, Aug 23, 1969. The “third
day” was Sunday, Aug 24, 1969.
Do you see the harmony?
The problem that you have is reconciling the 3 days and 3 nights
of the Sign of Jonah. Had it not been for the 3 days and 3 nights,
you would have no problem accepting a Friday crucifixion. How do you
reconcile the many references that both Jesus and the disciples make concerning
the “third day”, by keeping the definition that Jesus himself
used in regards to the “third day”, and this riddle of the 3
days and 3 nights?
Would you mind if I introduce you to another riddle?
If I built a house with all 4 walls facing south, and I saw
a bear, what color is the bear?
Now all of a sudden, our minds begin to reject the plausibility
of such a riddle, because how can a man build a house with all 4 walls facing
south?
Simple!!!
If you build your house on the North pole, all 4 walls will
face the south. Therefore the bear must be a polar bear. (Drinking
Coke perhaps?)
The only plausible solution is found by the only location in
which all conditions of the riddle are met.
Mat 12:40 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.
Let me ask you 3 questions:
1. Where you are located, at this very time, is it day
or is it night?
2. At a location on the opposite side of the earth, at
this very time, is it day or is it night?
One final question….
3. In the very center or heart of the earth, at this
very time, is it day or is it night?
GOTCHA!!!
The center of the earth is the only location that experiences
both day and night at the same time. Therefore, 3 days and 3 nights
in the heart of the earth is the only place that can experience that condition
in 36 hours.
Behold the manifold wisdom of God!!!
Blessings,
Wade