February 16, 2003 / Volume 3, Issue 7
THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Jesus was to be buried for three days and nights (Matthew 12:40), but was actually only buried for one day and two nights (Mark 15:42-43; John 20:1). The texts show the burial did not take place until Friday night and the tomb was empty before Sunday morning. Jesus was NOT dead for "three days and three nights" whether present-day or Jewish time reckoning is used.
RESPONSE:
Notice with me some terms which are used interchangeably: "...until the third day..." (Matthew 27:64); "...in three days..." (Matthew 26:612; 27:40); "...on the third day..." (Matthew 16:21; 17:23); "...three days later..." (Mark 9:31; 10:34); "...after three days..." (Matthew 27:63); and "...three days and three nights..." (Matthew 12:40). Each of these are used to refer to the same event.
Notice some additional cases in the Bible where apparent time discrepancies exist, but a bit of careful thought helps to understand.
In Acts 10:3, 9, 23-24, 30, Cornelius tells Peter his vision occurred "...four days ago..." (literally 73 to 96 hours). However, the actual time to pass was 72 hours. There were three actual days, but parts of 4 days.
In 1 Samuel 30:12-13, the young Egyptian had been "...three days and three nights..." (literally 72 hours) without food or water. He had fallen sick "...three days ago..." (anywhere from 49-72 hours).
In Esther 4:16; 5:1, the people fasted for "...three days...", eating no food "...night or day..." (literal 72 hours). However Esther went to the King "...on the third day..." (anywhere from 49-72 hours)
All the above descriptions are correct, including the time which the Christ spent in the tomb. In each case, the emphasis on the phrases used is not the literal number of hours which had passed, but the number of days of which a portion was included in the whole. With Cornelius' example, only 72 hours had passed, but those 72 hours were spread across 4, not three days.
Regarding the Christ, he was placed in the tomb prior to the Sabbath day (Mark 15:42-43; Matthew 27:57-62; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-42). He remained in the tomb through the Sabbath. Then, on the first day of the week, it was found empty (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
The following chart may assist in seeing that Jesus was in the tomb for parts of three days, which is exactly what the Scripture teaches, the 6th, 7th, and 1st days as seen on the Jewish calendar.
There is no contradiction.
This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible, but original article is no longer listed
