Featured The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: The Foundation of Christianity

GERHARD EBERSOEHN:

"You say Jesus was bodily in the grave three days long."

JOHN HENRY:

No, I say the Lord Jesus was bodily in the tomb for all or part of 3 periods of daylight and three periods of nighttime, three days and three nights.

Matthew 12: 40: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

There was both a literal physical fulfillment of His word as stated above, and a literal spiritual fulfilment when His spirit was also "... three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom:

Luke 23: 39-43, 46: "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ... 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

Luke 16:19-26: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."

The Lord Jesus went back into paradise again after this just before His ascension back to Heaven and took the spirits of all the Old Testament saints with Him to Heaven:

Ephesians 4: 8-10: "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)"

 

GERHARD EBERSOEHN:
"You say Jesus was bodily in the grave three days long."

JOHN HENRY:
No, I say the Lord Jesus was bodily in the tomb for all or part of 3 periods of daylight and three periods of nighttime, three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:40: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

This was the physical fulfillment of His word; He was, however, also literally "... three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom:

Luke 23:39-43, 46: "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ... 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

Luke 16:19-26: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."

The Lord Jesus went back into paradise again after His resurrection just before His ascension back to Heaven and took the spirits of all the Old Testament saint with Him to Heaven:

Ephesians 4:8-10: "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)"


GERHARD EBERSOEHN:
The "three days", "according to the Scriptures", were "three days"--each one, one day comprised of night first and then day after.

JOHN HENRY:
It is common knowledge that the Biblical OT days were counted from sunset to sunset. That is irrelevant to the time that Jesus was in the tomb. Jesus ate the Passover with His first church on the evening before His death, and then instituted the Lord's Supper for the Church Age. Then during the daylight of that Passover day of 30 AD God provided a special 3 hours of darkness (Mark 15:33) as Jesus was being slain, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29, 36). All those passovers from the Exodus to that day were types of Jesus Christ, the antitype, the fulfilment of the Passover.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8: "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."


GERHARD EBERSOEHN:
The "three days", "according to the Scriptures", were "three days", dated (on the calendar), "the fourteenth day", "the fifteenth day", and, "the sixteenth day".

JOHN HENRY:
No, the Lord Jesus ate the last legitimate typical Passover at the prescribed time, the evening before His crucifixion and afterwards He instituted the Church Ordinance of the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:19-39; Mark 14:12-28; Luke 22:7-22; John 13:1-30). He died during the miraculous darkness while on the cross with only a few hours of daylight before the beginning of 15 Nisan which was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a special Sabbath, "an high day" (John 19:31; cf. Lev. 23:5-8). Note that the root meaning of Sabbath is rest. This left 2 more full daylight periods and 2 full nights and part of another fulfilling Matthew 12:40.

 

THE BELOW IS FROM ANOTHER THREAD THAT IS MORE TO THE POINT OF THIS ISSUE.

Gerhard Ebersoehn (is GE); John Henry (is JH)

GE:
1) “Mary sees the stone removed”, “while being early darkness still”, dusk. Then Peter and John go to the tomb to see what Mary has told them. (Jn20:1-10)

JH:
John 20: 1: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, WHEN IT WAS YET DARK, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." (God's preserved word, KJV)
Matthew 28: 1: "In the end of the sabbath, AS IT BEGAN TO DAWN toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." (God's infallible, inerrant, preserved, holy word, KJV)
Mark 16: 1-2: "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." (God's inerrant, preserved, holy word, KJV)
Luke 24: 1: "Now upon the first day of the week, VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." (God's preserved, holy word, KJV)
Ever since night fall when it became dark it had been "the first day of the week" or as we call it today, Sunday, which was the 3rd of the 7 feasts of Israel, Firstfruits, which always falls on the first Sunday after Passover as prescribed in Leviticus 23 which says: "... ye shall bring a sheaf of THE FIRSTFRUITS of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH the priest shall wave it." (Lev. 23:10-11) The Apostle Paul spoke of the fulfillment of this Feast in his Resurrection Chapter:
1 Corinthians 15:20-23: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become THE FIRSTFRUITS of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ THE FIRSTFRUITS; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming." (God's holy, infallible, inerrant word, KJV)
The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead in the darkness of the "first day of the week" on "the morrow after the sabbath." It was the third period of darkness after His death for our sins on the prior Thursday Passover Day.


GE: 2) “Earliest morning- darkness”, just after midnight, “the two women” (variant – the two Marys), “and certain others with them”, for the first time, “came to the sepulchre, bringing the spices they had prepared”. (Lk24:1) “They returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.” (“Then Peter stood up and ran to the tomb; and bending low over, he saw the linen clothes. He went back, wandering by himself about that what had happened.” (Lk24:9-12) Cf. John's account in 20:1-10. Luke talks of another visit by Peter, because for one thing, he doesn't mention John.)

JH: The lack of mention of John does not prove that John was not there. The Four Gospels record the events of the discovery of the Lord's resurrection from 4 perspectives. It is like the sign written above the Lord's head on the cross.
Matthew 27:37: "And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Mark 15:26: "And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Luke 23:38: "And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
John 19:19: "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS."
The complete statement was therefore: THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS
The 4 accounts of the Lord Jesus' resurrection all depict the same event from different perspectives with different emphasis.



GE: 3) These women to make sure, a second time came to the tomb “very early before sunrise”. (Mk16:2)

JH: It has already been proven that the 4 Gospels are in harmony.


GE: 4) Mary from after the others had fled in fear (Mk16:8) “had had stood after without at the grave” (Jn20:11). At the time a gardener should begin work, about sunrise, Jesus “early … first appeared to Mary”. (Mk16:9)

JH: None of GE's above information changes the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on "the morrow after the sabbath" which was "the first day of the week." The Lord died on the Feast of Passover during a miraculous darkness; was in the tomb during two nights and two days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and arose from the dead during the night of the Feast of Firstfruits fulfilling the pictures that these 3 feast signify. He was in the tomb for part of one day and one night, and all of two days and two nights.

 

Dear Mr. Gerhard Ebersoehn:

What is this sarcasm all about? I have explained my Scriptural position, but you turn around and put word's in my mouth, even after I drew you a picture. Why the misrepresentation? You wrote:

JohnBaptistHenry said:

There was both a literal physical fulfillment of His word as stated above, and a literal spiritual fulfilment when His spirit was also "... three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom:

You therefore say He was <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>.

You therefore say He was killed and buried on the 14th and was <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>, i.e., You say that He rose on a fourth day because you say He was <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>> you date the fourth day, the 17th.

Count,

14th killed and buried--day 1 of <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>;

15th dead and buried--day 2 of <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>;

16th dead and buried--day 3 of <<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>;

17th dead and buried and raised--day 4---after---<<three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" in paradise, also called Abraham's bosom>>.

Now, Gerhard Ebersoehn, surely you know, I said no such thing! What I did say was, "The Lord Jesus was in the tomb three days and three nights: Thursday before dark (day 1), all of Friday (day 2), and all of Saturday (day 3); Thursday night (night 1), Friday night (night 2), and Saturday night (night 3). The Lord rose sometime before sunrise on the first day of the week. This fulfilled the Lord's prediction that He would be "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:40) The Lord did not say He would be three nights and three days in the heart of the earth, but He said, "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Then since the Lord was placed in the tomb only an hour or so before dark, it would have been natural for the Jews to say, "... to day is the third day since these things were done" (Luke 24:21) on the first day of the week, because He was in the tomb from sunset of the 15th to sometime after sunset the 17th, 2 full days and the beginning of a third (cf. Matt. 27:63; Mark 8:31, 10:34, 14:58; Luke 13:32, 24:7, 46; John 2:19; et. al.).

 

FINDING DANIEL'S PROPHESIED FULFILLMENT OF THE MEDO-PERSIAN DECREE TO RESTORE JERUSALEM MARKING THE DATE TO BEGIN THE COUNTDOWN TO JESUS CHRIST'S LAST PASSOVER & RESURRECTION

(The dates in green on the Chart at the bottom can be verified at links in the NOTES at the bottom of this article)


The Bible scholar and Biblical chronologist, Floyd Nolen Jones has come to the same conclusion as the 16th Century Bible chronologist, James Ussher. Jones indicates the following in his Chronology:

There were 4 decrees issued by 3 Medo-Persian kings for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to restore the City and Temple after the 70 year captivity in Babylon. One of the 4 was the starting point for the first 69 weeks of years (69 x 7 = 483 years) of Daniel's Prophecy of 70 Weeks that ran out at the Triumphant entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem on March 31, 30 AD fulfilling Zachariah 9:9. It was the day the Passover lambs were selected in accordance with Exodus 12:3-6. Messiah was "cut off" during a miraculous 3 hour period of darkness on the day of Passover on Thursday, the 14th of Nisan.

1. The decree to rebuild the Temple in the first year of Cyrus, BC 536 (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-6, 5:13-17).
2. The decree to complete the Temple in the second year of Darius I, Hystaspis, BC 519 (Ezra 4:24, 6:1-12).
3. The decree to beautify the Temple in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, BC 467 (Ezra 7:7-28).
4. The decree to build the city of Jerusalem and its wall in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, BC 454 (Nehemiah 2:1-8, 13, 17).

Only the last fits Daniel 9; it is the correct decree. Artaxerxes' decree to Nehemiah (Chap. 2) is the only one of the 4 that fits Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks (Dan. 9). It is the only decree that specifies "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." The decree to build the wall was issued in the 20th year on Artaxerxes which was the Biblical month of Nisan 454 BC.

Daniel 9:24-26: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."

Jones continues in his book, Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics, saying:

"One of these [four commands] must be identified as being the specific decree which included 'the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem ... the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.' As may be seen and verified, the first three have only to do with the Temple proper; nothing was said concerning the rebuilding of the city, the street in the plaza area and its walls. Indeed, the reconstruction of the Temple was stopped because the Jews were rebuilding the city without authorization (Ezra 4:1-4). Thus, the conditions of Daniel 9:25 were not met in any of the first three decrees." (Floyd Nolen Jones; Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics, 2002; p. 218)

"James Ussher (1581-1656), learned Archbishop of Armagh, the highest position in the Irish Anglican Church; scholar and historian of the first rank. Entering Trinity College at 13, he prepared a detailed work on Hebrew chronology in Latin at 15 and received a Master's degree when 18. At 19 he engaged in controversy [with] the Jesuit scholar Henry Fitzsimons. Overthrowing him, none could thereafter match him in debate. An expert in Semitic languages and history, at 20 he was ordained. At 26, he earned a doctorate and became Professor of Divinity at Dublin. ... Oliver Cromwell greatly esteemed Ussher and awarded him a magnificent state funeral in Westminster Abbey. His epitaph reads: Among scholars he was the most saintly, among saints the most scholarly." (Jones, p. iii)

"Ussher prepared a chronology of Biblical events based on his study of the Holy Scriptures, deriving 4004 BC as the year of the creation of the universe. His dates were almost universally accepted until the mid-nineteenth century when the satanic three pronged attack against the Word of God in the areas of evolution, textual criticism and Bible chronology was launched. This assault has resulted in clouding the minds of the human race against the veracity and accuracy of the Holy Writ and, subsequently, to God's claims on the lives of all mankind. (Jones, p. iii)

"Ussher had set aside Ptolemy's 465 BC date for the commencement of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus in favor of BC 473. This latter year was based on much older historic data which Ussher considered more reliable than that of the Canon. It places the twentieth year of Artaxerxes at BC 454 and brings the 483 years [of Daniel 9:25: 69 x 7 = 483 years] to an auspicious 30 AD fulfillment." (Jones, p. 241)

"[Ptolemy] was an astronomer, astrologer and geographer. [He} recorded astronomical observations at Alexandria from AD 127 to 151, compiling the results into a system in which he placed the earth at rest at the center of the universe. He envisioned the planets and other heavenly bodies as encircling the earth in fixed orbits on a daily rotation about a celestial axis." (Jones, p. 243)

[A]s far back as the days of Julius Africanus (c.200-245 AD), it has been widely accepted by historians, chronologers and Biblical commentators (i.e., Africanus, Petavius, Ussher ... and most present day students of Daniel's prophecy) that only the decree issued in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I granted permission for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, along with its plaza street and walls, and thus fulfilled the conditions of the prophecy. With regard to this, Africanus wrote: "And the beginning of the numbers, that is, of the seventy weeks which make 490 years, the angel instructs us to take from the going forth of the commandment to answer and to build Jerusalem. And this happened in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia." [Jones quoting: Julius Africanus, Chronographies, Anti-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI, Roberts and Donaldson, eds., (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1885), chapter xvi., para. 3.]. The present author's [Floyd Nolen Jones'] study has led him to the same conclusion, thus establishing the date of the twentieth year of Artaxerxes becomes paramount." (Jones, p. 219)

"[If] we take BC 473 as the year in which Xerxes installed Artaxerxes I Longimanus beside him on the throne ..., the Jews would quite naturally begin to reference the dates associated with him from that year as that would have been the point from which they began to have dealings with him as their sovereign. Numbering from that date would place his twentieth year over the Jews as BC 454 (or AM 3550 inclusive, exactly as Ussher) 484 and the 483 years of the Daniel 9:25 prophecy brings us to 30 AD for its fulfillment (454 BC + 30 AD = 484 less 1 for going from BC to AD = 483). ... Jesus came into the city to be declared Prince (or King) on the 10th day of Nisan in the year 30 AD. On the 14th of Nisan He was crucified. On the 17th of Nisan He resurrected. Daniel had prophesied the beginning and the end of a 483 year period of time at least 80 years before it started!!" (Jones, pp. 251, 267).

Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks ran out during Nisan of 30 AD. It was the 1st day of the week on the 10th of Nisan (March 31, 30 AD). This was the day that the Passover lambs were being selected (Exodus 12:1-3), and the day Jesus, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) rode into Jerusalem "... riding upon an ass ..." (Zach. 9:9)

Zachariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (cf. Luke 19:28-44; Mark 11:7-10; John 12:12-34; Matt. 21:5)

Daniel 9:25-26: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself ..."

The Lord Jesus Christ was "cut off" or crucified for our sins on Passover during the day, after eating the Passover the prior evening at the specified time (Exodus 12:5-6), and then He instituted the Lord's Supper for the church (Matt. 26:26-29); all just after sun down the evening before the Lord gave His life for us on the cross (John 19:28-30; Matt 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46). Jesus fulfilled this the first of the 7 Feasts of Israel, and likewise the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which symbolized the burial of His sinless body, and the Feast of Firstfruits, which pictured the Lord victorious resurrection from the dead (cf. Lev. 23; John 1:29, 36; Mark 8:15; 1 Pet. 3:22-24; 1 Cor. 5:6-7, 15:20-23).

PICS & NOTES BELOW ​

 

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NOTES & LINKS:

Thursday, April 6, 30 AD on the Julian Calender was the night of the full moon which marks Passover (see U.S. Naval Observatory website below).

This Julian date converts to our Gregorian Calender as April 4, 30 AD as seen in the above Resurrection Week Chart (see Calendar Home below).

1. Astronomical Applications Department, U.S. Naval Observatory website:
Spring Phenomena

2. CalendarHome.com
Convert a date

3. Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics, 2002 by Floyd Nolen Jones available free at:
http://www.floydnolenjones.com/Floyd_Nolen_Jo…/Writings.html
or https://answersingenesis.org/