THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IN
PROPHECY
Did it fulfill the prophecy of Jonah?
One of the most meaningful prophecy in the Bible concerning the resurrection of
Jesus is known as "the prophecy of Jonah." It is a emblematical
prophecy represented by the three days and three nights that Jonah spent in the
stomach of a great fish. "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow
up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights." (Jonah 1:17).
Jesus explained the prophetic symbolism of this unique event on an occasion when He rebuked the Pharisees for seeking a "sign" from Him. By a "sign," they meant a miracle that would validate Jesus' claim to be the Messiah.
Jesus took their word and trifle with with it by telling them that the only "sign" they would be given would be "the sign of Jonah." Jesus then explained what He was talking about: "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 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." (Matthew 12:38-40).
Jesus clearly prophesies here, using the example of Jonah, that He will spend three days and three nights in the tomb before His resurrection will occur. This prophecy, like all Messianic prophecies, had to be fulfilled in the life of Jesus if He truly was the Messiah of God. Jesus emphasized this point Himself after His resurrection when He told His disciples, "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." (Luke 24:44).
But was the prophecy of Jonah really fulfilled in the burial experience of Jesus? According to the traditionally accepted chronology of events, it was not!
The traditional chronology places the crucifixion on Friday morning and the burial on late Friday afternoon. It fixes the resurrection on Sunday morning. Therefore, according to the traditional view, the body of Jesus was in the tomb only one full day (Saturday) and two full nights (Friday and Saturday). Jesus said His body would be in the tomb three days and three nights.
Jesus said all Messianic prophecy had to be
fulfilled in Him, and I believe He meant every detail of every Messianic
prophecy. Otherwise, it could be argued that He was not the Messiah.
Let's consider the events in the last week of Jesus' life to see if we can find
some clues that will solve the problem. Perhaps the best place to begin is with
the problem itself. It is rooted in Mark 15:42 where it says that the
crucifixion took place on "..the preparation, that is, the day before the
sabbath."
This verse has caused most people to assume that the crucifixion took place on a Friday since the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday. And that assumption has in turn led to the conclusion that the crucifixion had to take place in either 30 or 33 AD because those are the only two years in the general time period of Jesus' death when the day of preparation (14 Nisan on the Jewish calendar) fell on a Friday.
However, a careful study of Jewish calendar practices will show that the assumption that the day of preparation in the year of Jesus' death had to fall on a Friday is no accurate! Such an assumption is based upon our misunderstanding about Jewish feast days. What the church has failed to recognize over the centuries is that the first day after Passover (15 Nisan) is a feast day, or "high day" because it is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is therefore considered to be a Sabbath, regardless of which day of the week on which it falls.
Numbers 28:16-18 states: "And in the
fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD. And in the
fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be
eaten. In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of
servile work therein:"
Verse 18 "In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no
manner of servile work therein:" clearly indicates that the first day after
Passover, Nisan 15, is to be observed as a Sabbath — and so it has been
throughout Jewish history to this day.
The Gospel of John makes it clear that the Sabbath after the crucifixion was not a regular Sabbath. Rather, it was a feast day Sabbath, marking the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Consider the words of John 19:31 — "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."
Again, the point of all this is that Jesus did not have to be killed on a Friday in order for His crucifixion to precede the Sabbath because there could have been two Sabbaths during the week of His crucifixion, depending on what day of the week the high feast day fell on. If it fell on Saturday, then there was only one Sabbath. But if it fell on another day of the week, as it usually does, there would be two Sabbaths.
Take the year 31 AD for example. In that year the 14th of Nisan, the Passover day on which Jesus would have been crucified, fell on Wednesday, (April 25th.on our calendar) The next day, Thursday, would have been the high feast day, and therefore it would have been a Sabbath.
Therefore, if Jesus was crucified in the year 31, He would have been crucified on Wednesday and buried that evening (just before or right at sunset) before the high feast day Sabbath began. His body would have remained in the tomb for three days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and three nights (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday), just as He predicted. That means His resurrection would have taken place on Saturday evening, (At sunset or right after) on 17th of Nissan or (April 28th. On our calendar). To the Jew, that would place the Lord's resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week, because the Jewish day begins at sundown.
There is a clue in the Scriptures that the crucifixion week had two Sabbaths. In Mark 15:47 we are told that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James remained at the tomb after Jesus had been buried. In Mark 16:1 it says that the two of them bought spices to anoint the body of Jesus after the Sabbath was over. "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." But in Luke 23:56 it says they bought the spices before the Sabbath and then rested on the Sabbath before proceeding to the tomb on Sunday morning. "And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment."
There seems to be only one explanation of the apparent contradiction in these verses. After resting on the high day Sabbath on Thursday, the ladies bought the spices on Friday and then rested again on the regular weekly Sabbath on Saturday before proceeding to the tomb on Sunday morning. This explains how they could have bought the spices both before and after the Sabbath. They bought them after the high Sabbath on Thursday but before the regular Sabbath on Saturday.
Another point of controversy about the resurrection week concerns the nature of the Lord's last supper with His disciples. The church has traditionally taught that this was the Passover meal. But the scriptures clearly indicate that the meal was eaten the evening before Passover.
Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover. In fact, He died at three o'clock in the afternoon at the precise moment that the Passover lambs were beings slaughtered for the Passover meal that evening (Matthew 27:45-46). Jesus and His disciples had eaten their last meal together the evening before Passover. Yet, Jesus referred to His last meal with His disciples as "keeping the Passover" (Matthew 26:18). So, it must have been a Passover meal that was celebrated one evening early.
Let me propose a solution to this problem.
There is evidence that the Galilean Jews reckoned time differently from the
Judean Jews. Whereas the Judean Jews counted a day from sunset to sunset, the
Galilean Jews counted a day from sunrise to sunrise. If this is true, then Jesus
and His disciples, being Galileans, would have celebrated Passover one evening
earlier than their Jewish brethren in the Jerusalem area.
A Summary of the Order of Events Regarding the
Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus in 31 AD
1.Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover meal on a Tuesday evening (Nisan 13)
in the Upper Room on Mount Zion.
2.After the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples departed the Upper Room and
walked to the Garden of Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley between the Old City and
the Mount of Olives.
3.Jesus was betrayed and arrested early Tuesday evening. His various trials lasted throughout Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
4.Jesus was crucified at about 9:00 am on Wednesday morning (Nisan 14). At noon, darkness filled the land. At about 3:00 p.m. Jesus died.
5.Jesus was buried on Wednesday at sunset.
6.The two Marys waited until after the high Sabbath on Thursday (Nisan 15) to purchase the spices for the anointing of Jesus' body. They bought the spices on Friday (Nisan 16) and then rested again during the regular Sabbath on Saturday (Nisan 17) before returning to the tomb on Sunday morning (Nisan 18).
7.The resurrection of Jesus occurred on Saturday evening at six o'clock, sundown. The resurrection was discovered on Sunday morning when the women returned to the tomb.
8. Jesus was in the grave exactly three days and three nights as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
What Difference Does It Make?
Lest you be tempted to write all this off as much ado about nothing, let me explain why I think it is important. Prophecy and its fulfillment validate Jesus as who He said He was — namely, God in the flesh. Prophecy and its fulfillment also validate the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Prophecy must be fulfilled precisely, not approximately.
The precise fulfillment of prophecy regarding the First Coming of Jesus is our assurance that all the prophecies regarding His Second Coming will also be fulfilled completely to the last detail. God will not forget or overlook anything. He is true to His Word. He keeps His promises.