Lewis
Member
Over the years I have heard this argument, time and time again. I would like to hear what some of you here at 123 has to say about this.
Was Jesus REALLY Resurrected on Sunday?
Most of Christendom believes that Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, the first day of the week. But if that is true, as most of us have been taught, there are some serious problems with the words of Jesus, Himself, in His prophecies regarding His betrayal, death and resurrection.
If you examine the original Greek in the Greek/English Interlinear translation of the Bible, available from any Christian book store, you will find that the morning the women came to Jesus' tomb and found it empty was "Sabbaton," in the Greek, or Saturday the Seventh-Day Sabbath, in English --- NOT Sunday, the first day of the week, even though that is the incorrect way it has been translated.
There are a number of Christians who are aware of this information. In fact, they theorize that since Jesus was resurrected on "Sabbaton," the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), in order to accommodate Jesus' prediction that He would be in the "heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights," then Jesus must have been crucified on Wednesday and rose from the grave on Sabbath afternoon (Saturday).
But an "afternoon" resurrection is not Biblical. The original Greek and the English translation state that the women came to the tomb early in the morning, "before dawn" and the tomb was empty. (John 20:1)
Even though it is clear from the original Greek that Jesus was resurrected on Saturday Sabbath, I do NOT subscribe to the theory of a Wednesday crucifixion and a Saturday afternoon resurrection. The reasons will become apparent as we proceed.
We will now analyze the Biblical prophecies surrounding Jesus' betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, including the words of Jesus Himself, in order to fully understand the sequence of the events surrounding His resurrection including
1) why the Seventh-day (Saturday), and NOT the first day of the week,Sunday, was the actual day of His resurrection,
2) why this has been mistakenly, or possibly purposely, mistranslated by Bible scholars,
3) why one does NOT have to be a Greek scholar to understand this. All one needs to be able to do is be able to (a) see, and (b) be able to read!! and,
4) why this information is critically important for EVERY Christian to know at this time in earth's history.
"But is this information necessary for my salvation?" you may ask. The answer is "Absolutely!" The reasons will become clear as we proceed.
PROBLEM 1: "Three days AND three nights"
In Matthew 12:38-40 the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. But He said to them:
"An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah 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."
Most of Christendom believes that Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon, placed in the tomb before sundown Friday night, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (Saturday) and was resurrected on Sunday morning before dawn.
But Jesus was very emphatic about giving one sign and one sign only, the sign of Jonah. And Jesus Himself said that "as Jonah 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."
Notice, Jesus does NOT say, "three days and nights." He specifically says "three days AND three nights." And he says it TWICE!
Part of Friday, all day Saturday and part of Sunday could give us 3 DAYS, using Jewish inclusive reckoning (any part of a day can be counted as a "day"). BUT --- WHERE DO WE GET THREE NIGHTS? There are ONLY TWO: Friday night and Saturday night!
Some say that Jesus was just using an idiomatic expression, so He really didn't mean 3 days and 3 nights. But Jesus was giving a prophecy concerning His resurrection, so it must be specific! If it is not reliable and specific, then none of the other prophecies in the Bible can be considered reliable and specific either.
The veracity of Jesus, Himself, is at stake here!
An inquiring mind searching for the truth must admit that there IS a potential problem with the generally held belief about the times of the crucifixion and resurrection.
PROBLEM 2: "Holy One will not see corruption"
Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:24-32 say "neither wilt thou allow thine Holy One to see corruption" which most Christians believe is a prophecy predicting that Jesus' body, when in the grave, would not decay. Every one who deals with dead bodies knows very well that a body starts to decay within a very short time, certainly within a few hours. That's why bodies are immediately refrigerated in hospitals while awaiting pick-up by the funeral home.
If Jesus' body was in the grave from Friday evening until Sunday morning, His body would most certainly have been decaying. Some say, "Well, He was God, so that's why His body didn't decay." Yes, Jesus is God, but Jesus went into the grave in a human body, subject to all the problems of humanity. That's why he could get tired and need to rest and also why He could DIE. He did not get His "glorified" body until he was resurrected. That's when He could "appear" in the upper room without coming through an open door.
Others say that God could supernaturally keep Jesus' body from decaying, and this is also true. But this would not have been consistent with God's desire to allow Jesus to be subject to all the forces that humankind must endure on this earth.
We must assume that Psalms 16:10 is a prophecy that tells us something IMPORTANT about Jesus' resurrection. This is confirmed as this passage from Psalms is quoted in Acts 2:24-32 as a prophecy about Jesus.
PROBLEM 3: "heart of the earth vs. grave"
Jesus said he would be in the "heart of the earth" three days and three nights. He did NOT use the word tomb or grave. The word "grave" was in Jesus' vocabulary as He used that word two different times:
In Luke 11:44 He said:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are as graves which are not seen, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them."
In John 5:28 He said:
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice."
In both instances the Greek word "mnemeion" is translated as "grave." See #3419 in Strong's Concordance of the Bible where the meaning of mnemeion is: grave, sepulchre or tomb.
Jesus did NOT use this word in describing where He would be for the three days and three nights. He said He would be in the "HEART OF THE EARTH." The Greek word "heart" (#2588 in Strong's Concordance) is kardia, similar to the English word for heart: cardia or cardiac. It means heart, center or middle. In the phrase "heart of the earth," "earth" #1093 in Strong's Concordance is the Greek word "ge" which means "soil" OR can also "include the occupants of the earth."
If Jesus wanted to tell us that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights, why didn't he use the word "grave?" It certainly was in His vocabulary because He used it at two other times, when that's what He wanted to say. But HERE, concerning His betrayal, death and resurrection, He chooses NOT to use the word "grave" (the Greek word "mnemeion"), and instead uses the phrase "heart of the earth."
We must assume he had a reason for using the different wording. Could this be the key to unlock the meaning of this prophecy?
PROBLEM 4: Sign of Jonah
Why did Jesus give the "sign of Jonah"? What was unique about Jonah's experience that symbolized what Christ would go through? After all, Jesus COULD have just said "The Son of man will be in the grave three days and three nights" and left it at that. He didn't have to link His future experience to Jonah's previous experience. Why did He do it?
Well, Jonah WAS in the belly of the whale three days and three nights according to the account in the Bible (Jonah 1:17) and according to Jesus' own quote (Matt. 12:38-40).
BUT --- when Jonah was in the belly of the whale --- WAS HE DEAD???
NO, HE WASN'T!! (Now don't jump to conclusions! I'm NOT going to suggest that Jesus didn't really die on the cross. I believe He did. But I'm trying to make a DIFFERENT point here. So please keep reading!)
Jonah was CONFINED --- unable to escape --- but was NOT DEAD!
So since we KNOW that Jonah wasn't dead for those three days and nights, could that be a clue as to what Jesus is trying to tell us when He SPECIFICALLY gave us that "ONE SIGN!"
Could He have been trying to tell us that for the three days and three nights He would not necessarily be in the ground (soil), but surrounded by the inhabitants of the earth -- unable to escape meaning that He would be betrayed, His fate would be sealed, but it would be three days and three nights until He was actually crucified.
PROBLEM 5: The counting of days in the Bible regarding Jesus' resurrection always starts with Jesus' betrayal!
Christians ALWAYS begin counting the "three days and three nights" at the time of the crucifixion. But Jesus STARTS HIS COUNTING of the "three days AND three nights" with HIS BETRAYAL!
See Matt. 17:22,23
Jesus said unto them, "The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again."
See Matt. 20:18,19
"Behold we go up to Jerusalem: and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death. And shall deliver Him to the Nations to mock and scourge and to crucify Him; and the third day He shall rise again."
Here it is: betrayed, delivered, mocked, scourged ---- then crucified. This whole sequence of events STARTED with His BETRAYAL!
See Matt. 26:2
"Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
See Luke 24:13-24
After Jesus had been resurrected, He was walking (incognito) with two of His disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the disciples were explaining to this "stranger" what had taken place in Jerusalem in regard to Jesus. They said:
"Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we were hoping that it had been He which would have redeemed Israel: and beside this, today is the third day since these things were done." (vs. 19-21)
Conclusion: In EVERY instance, the series of events begins NOT with Jesus' crucifixion, but with His BETRAYAL!!
So, let's look at when Jesus was FIRST betrayed! Most people look to the evening of the Last Supper (The Passover) presumably, Thursday night, as the time when Judas first betrayed Jesus. But it actually happened earlier ---
In Matt. 26:1-16 there is the account of Jesus attending a meal at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany (vs. 6). A woman poured a costly fragrant oil on His head as an anointing "for His burial." His disciples were indignant about the "waste" and said the oil should have been sold and the proceeds "given to the poor." But Jesus commended what the woman had done and kindly rebuked the disciples for their lack of understanding about His coming death.
Verse 14 says "THEN, one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, "What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver." --- Here is the initial betrayal!
Now let's consider just WHEN that dinner was. In verse 2 of the same chapter (Matt. 26) it gives us the answer. Jesus said, "Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified."
So it was TWO DAYS until the Passover. When was the Passover? Well, Jesus ate the Passover meal on the night BEFORE His crucifixion. See Matt. 26:17-21
"Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, `Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?' And He said, `Go into the city to such a man, and say to Him, The Master saith, My time is at hand: I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.
"And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover. Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve to eat."
Judas completed the betrayal of Jesus after the Thursday night Passover meal. (John 13:21-30)
As you read on, you will see that Jesus was crucified the following day.
So if the Last Supper (Passover) was on Thursday night, then the dinner at Simon the Leper's house was on Tuesday night -- two full 24-hour days before!
Problem 6: So on WHAT DAY was Jesus resurrected?
Let's look at the ORIGINAL Greek: It says that Jesus was resurrected on "mia Sabbaton" Sabbaton is the Greek word for Sabbath. Sabbath is the word for the Seventh day of the week Saturday in the English language and in 100 other languages (Sabado in Spanish, Shabat in Hebrew, Sabbaton in Greek, etc).
The Greek word sabbaton (#4521 in Strong's Concordance) is used in the New Testament 68 times. FIFTY-NINE times it is translated SABBATH, but NINE times the very same word is ARBITRARILY translated "first day of the week."
Why would the translators make that arbitrary change?
Of these nine times, 6 times are in reference to the resurrection of Jesus, 2 refer to (purportedly religious) meetings that were held and 1 refers to an incident of fasting.
Isn't it curious that the translators of the King James Version of the Bible would arbitrarily and dramatically change the translation of a word 9 times, when it is systematically and repeatedly translated "Sabbath" 59 times? What is their reason?
If one wishes to say "first day" in Greek, there are specific words to do so.
The word for "FIRST" in Greek is PROTOS (#4413 in Strong's Concordance).
The word for "DAY" in Greek is HEMERA (#2250 in Strong's Concordance).
So if one wishes to say "First Day" in Greek, the words are "Protos Hemera!" --- NOT mia Sabbaton which means "on the Sabbath," "one Sabbath" or "one of the Sabbaths."
There is NO specific Greek word listed in Strong's Concordance for the English word "WEEK." However, some Greek scholars say that the word "week" in Greek is designated by the term "sevens" or hebdomads in Greek. Yet in these instances the word "Sabbaton" is arbitrarily translated `WEEK" instead of its proper translation - "SABBATH."
In the book Answers to Objections, by Francis D. Nichol, (Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington D.C.) the subject of grammatical gender is discussed. "Grammatical gender" means that in Greek the gender of the noun and the gender of the adjective must be the same. For instance, in Spanish the word for little boy is niño and the word for little girl is niña. The adjective modifying niña is "la" as in "la niña" (a feminine adjective modifies a feminine noun). The adjective "el" modifies niño as in "el niño" (a masculine adjective modifies a masculine noun).
The Greek word "mia" or "mian" (meaning "one" NOT "first") is in the feminine gender and the Greek word for Sabbath, "Sabbaton" is neuter gender. According to Greek scholars, an immutable law requires adjective modifiers to agree with their nouns in gender. Therefore, according to these "experts" the phrase "mia Sabbaton" cannot be translated "one of the Sabbaths" because the genders for the two words don't match.
They then propose that the translation of the word Sabbaton must be changed from "Sabbath" to "week" and the word "day" must be added (as it is implied). Since the Greek word for "day" is hemera and this noun is feminine gender, then they say everything works out fine. So "mia Sabbaton" is then translated "first day of the week."
But hold on a minute!! That's taking a lot of "linguistic license," it seems to me.
What these "experts" have done is added a full word that isn't there at all ("day") and totally changed the translation of Sabbaton (Sabbath) to the word "week."
However, if one is going to imply the word "day" in the first "day" of the week, why not imply it after Sabbath as in "Sabbathday" which makes a lot more sense (and in fact is done in Strong's Concordance MANY times). Then the genders work out perfectly. "Mia" is feminine and "Sabbathday" is feminine because "day" is implied.
Therefore "mia Sabbaton" means "one Sabbathday" or "one of the Sabbathdays."
If the "experts" can "imply" the word "day" in "first `day' of the week," then we certainly can imply the word "day" in "Sabbathday" with much greater certainty.
*If you object to this reasoning, then please tell us why it is acceptable to add the word "day" in the first instance, but not acceptable in the second instance.
This quote from the Concordant Commentary page 136, clearly explains the issue.
"The resurrection did not occur on Sunday, or "the first day of the week," but on the first one of the seven sabbaths which led from Firstfruits to Pentecost. The notable phrase "one of the sabbaths" is always found in the interval between Passover and Pentecost, never at any other time of the year. It may refer to any sabbath of the seven. It is usually used of the resurrection day (Mt. 28:1, Mk. 16:1-2, Jn. 20:1-19), which would be during the days of unleavened bread, but also of a sabbath after this (Ac. 20:6,7), any time up to Pentecost (1 Co. 16:2,8).
"Scholars are divided as to the reason for the rendering "first day of the week." It was usual to say that "one" is sometimes used for first, and that "sabbaths" sometimes means week, but the latest attempts to justify the accepted rendering is that "one of the sabbaths" is equivalent to "the first day after the sabbath." As the day after the sabbath was commonly called the "morrow of the sabbath" (Lev. 23:15), this seems far-fetched. Even if we take "one" to mean first in this case, the sense is not changed for the first of a series of sabbaths, as we read in Mark (16:9).
"But in no case was sabbaths ever used for `week'". That is always represented by hebdomad , or seven. The only exception would be when a number of sabbaths measure the same space of time as so many hebdomads. As the expression "first day of the week" can be so readily expressed in Greek there are grave grounds for refusing to use these words as the equivalent of `one of the sabbaths'".
Go to this site to see the last page on this subject please.
http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/resurrection/res1.htm
Was Jesus REALLY Resurrected on Sunday?
Most of Christendom believes that Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, the first day of the week. But if that is true, as most of us have been taught, there are some serious problems with the words of Jesus, Himself, in His prophecies regarding His betrayal, death and resurrection.
If you examine the original Greek in the Greek/English Interlinear translation of the Bible, available from any Christian book store, you will find that the morning the women came to Jesus' tomb and found it empty was "Sabbaton," in the Greek, or Saturday the Seventh-Day Sabbath, in English --- NOT Sunday, the first day of the week, even though that is the incorrect way it has been translated.
There are a number of Christians who are aware of this information. In fact, they theorize that since Jesus was resurrected on "Sabbaton," the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), in order to accommodate Jesus' prediction that He would be in the "heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights," then Jesus must have been crucified on Wednesday and rose from the grave on Sabbath afternoon (Saturday).
But an "afternoon" resurrection is not Biblical. The original Greek and the English translation state that the women came to the tomb early in the morning, "before dawn" and the tomb was empty. (John 20:1)
Even though it is clear from the original Greek that Jesus was resurrected on Saturday Sabbath, I do NOT subscribe to the theory of a Wednesday crucifixion and a Saturday afternoon resurrection. The reasons will become apparent as we proceed.
We will now analyze the Biblical prophecies surrounding Jesus' betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, including the words of Jesus Himself, in order to fully understand the sequence of the events surrounding His resurrection including
1) why the Seventh-day (Saturday), and NOT the first day of the week,Sunday, was the actual day of His resurrection,
2) why this has been mistakenly, or possibly purposely, mistranslated by Bible scholars,
3) why one does NOT have to be a Greek scholar to understand this. All one needs to be able to do is be able to (a) see, and (b) be able to read!! and,
4) why this information is critically important for EVERY Christian to know at this time in earth's history.
"But is this information necessary for my salvation?" you may ask. The answer is "Absolutely!" The reasons will become clear as we proceed.
PROBLEM 1: "Three days AND three nights"
In Matthew 12:38-40 the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. But He said to them:
"An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah 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."
Most of Christendom believes that Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon, placed in the tomb before sundown Friday night, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (Saturday) and was resurrected on Sunday morning before dawn.
But Jesus was very emphatic about giving one sign and one sign only, the sign of Jonah. And Jesus Himself said that "as Jonah 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."
Notice, Jesus does NOT say, "three days and nights." He specifically says "three days AND three nights." And he says it TWICE!
Part of Friday, all day Saturday and part of Sunday could give us 3 DAYS, using Jewish inclusive reckoning (any part of a day can be counted as a "day"). BUT --- WHERE DO WE GET THREE NIGHTS? There are ONLY TWO: Friday night and Saturday night!
Some say that Jesus was just using an idiomatic expression, so He really didn't mean 3 days and 3 nights. But Jesus was giving a prophecy concerning His resurrection, so it must be specific! If it is not reliable and specific, then none of the other prophecies in the Bible can be considered reliable and specific either.
The veracity of Jesus, Himself, is at stake here!
An inquiring mind searching for the truth must admit that there IS a potential problem with the generally held belief about the times of the crucifixion and resurrection.
PROBLEM 2: "Holy One will not see corruption"
Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:24-32 say "neither wilt thou allow thine Holy One to see corruption" which most Christians believe is a prophecy predicting that Jesus' body, when in the grave, would not decay. Every one who deals with dead bodies knows very well that a body starts to decay within a very short time, certainly within a few hours. That's why bodies are immediately refrigerated in hospitals while awaiting pick-up by the funeral home.
If Jesus' body was in the grave from Friday evening until Sunday morning, His body would most certainly have been decaying. Some say, "Well, He was God, so that's why His body didn't decay." Yes, Jesus is God, but Jesus went into the grave in a human body, subject to all the problems of humanity. That's why he could get tired and need to rest and also why He could DIE. He did not get His "glorified" body until he was resurrected. That's when He could "appear" in the upper room without coming through an open door.
Others say that God could supernaturally keep Jesus' body from decaying, and this is also true. But this would not have been consistent with God's desire to allow Jesus to be subject to all the forces that humankind must endure on this earth.
We must assume that Psalms 16:10 is a prophecy that tells us something IMPORTANT about Jesus' resurrection. This is confirmed as this passage from Psalms is quoted in Acts 2:24-32 as a prophecy about Jesus.
PROBLEM 3: "heart of the earth vs. grave"
Jesus said he would be in the "heart of the earth" three days and three nights. He did NOT use the word tomb or grave. The word "grave" was in Jesus' vocabulary as He used that word two different times:
In Luke 11:44 He said:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are as graves which are not seen, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them."
In John 5:28 He said:
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice."
In both instances the Greek word "mnemeion" is translated as "grave." See #3419 in Strong's Concordance of the Bible where the meaning of mnemeion is: grave, sepulchre or tomb.
Jesus did NOT use this word in describing where He would be for the three days and three nights. He said He would be in the "HEART OF THE EARTH." The Greek word "heart" (#2588 in Strong's Concordance) is kardia, similar to the English word for heart: cardia or cardiac. It means heart, center or middle. In the phrase "heart of the earth," "earth" #1093 in Strong's Concordance is the Greek word "ge" which means "soil" OR can also "include the occupants of the earth."
If Jesus wanted to tell us that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights, why didn't he use the word "grave?" It certainly was in His vocabulary because He used it at two other times, when that's what He wanted to say. But HERE, concerning His betrayal, death and resurrection, He chooses NOT to use the word "grave" (the Greek word "mnemeion"), and instead uses the phrase "heart of the earth."
We must assume he had a reason for using the different wording. Could this be the key to unlock the meaning of this prophecy?
PROBLEM 4: Sign of Jonah
Why did Jesus give the "sign of Jonah"? What was unique about Jonah's experience that symbolized what Christ would go through? After all, Jesus COULD have just said "The Son of man will be in the grave three days and three nights" and left it at that. He didn't have to link His future experience to Jonah's previous experience. Why did He do it?
Well, Jonah WAS in the belly of the whale three days and three nights according to the account in the Bible (Jonah 1:17) and according to Jesus' own quote (Matt. 12:38-40).
BUT --- when Jonah was in the belly of the whale --- WAS HE DEAD???
NO, HE WASN'T!! (Now don't jump to conclusions! I'm NOT going to suggest that Jesus didn't really die on the cross. I believe He did. But I'm trying to make a DIFFERENT point here. So please keep reading!)
Jonah was CONFINED --- unable to escape --- but was NOT DEAD!
So since we KNOW that Jonah wasn't dead for those three days and nights, could that be a clue as to what Jesus is trying to tell us when He SPECIFICALLY gave us that "ONE SIGN!"
Could He have been trying to tell us that for the three days and three nights He would not necessarily be in the ground (soil), but surrounded by the inhabitants of the earth -- unable to escape meaning that He would be betrayed, His fate would be sealed, but it would be three days and three nights until He was actually crucified.
PROBLEM 5: The counting of days in the Bible regarding Jesus' resurrection always starts with Jesus' betrayal!
Christians ALWAYS begin counting the "three days and three nights" at the time of the crucifixion. But Jesus STARTS HIS COUNTING of the "three days AND three nights" with HIS BETRAYAL!
See Matt. 17:22,23
Jesus said unto them, "The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again."
See Matt. 20:18,19
"Behold we go up to Jerusalem: and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death. And shall deliver Him to the Nations to mock and scourge and to crucify Him; and the third day He shall rise again."
Here it is: betrayed, delivered, mocked, scourged ---- then crucified. This whole sequence of events STARTED with His BETRAYAL!
See Matt. 26:2
"Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
See Luke 24:13-24
After Jesus had been resurrected, He was walking (incognito) with two of His disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the disciples were explaining to this "stranger" what had taken place in Jerusalem in regard to Jesus. They said:
"Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we were hoping that it had been He which would have redeemed Israel: and beside this, today is the third day since these things were done." (vs. 19-21)
Conclusion: In EVERY instance, the series of events begins NOT with Jesus' crucifixion, but with His BETRAYAL!!
So, let's look at when Jesus was FIRST betrayed! Most people look to the evening of the Last Supper (The Passover) presumably, Thursday night, as the time when Judas first betrayed Jesus. But it actually happened earlier ---
In Matt. 26:1-16 there is the account of Jesus attending a meal at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany (vs. 6). A woman poured a costly fragrant oil on His head as an anointing "for His burial." His disciples were indignant about the "waste" and said the oil should have been sold and the proceeds "given to the poor." But Jesus commended what the woman had done and kindly rebuked the disciples for their lack of understanding about His coming death.
Verse 14 says "THEN, one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, "What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver." --- Here is the initial betrayal!
Now let's consider just WHEN that dinner was. In verse 2 of the same chapter (Matt. 26) it gives us the answer. Jesus said, "Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified."
So it was TWO DAYS until the Passover. When was the Passover? Well, Jesus ate the Passover meal on the night BEFORE His crucifixion. See Matt. 26:17-21
"Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, `Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?' And He said, `Go into the city to such a man, and say to Him, The Master saith, My time is at hand: I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.
"And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover. Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve to eat."
Judas completed the betrayal of Jesus after the Thursday night Passover meal. (John 13:21-30)
As you read on, you will see that Jesus was crucified the following day.
So if the Last Supper (Passover) was on Thursday night, then the dinner at Simon the Leper's house was on Tuesday night -- two full 24-hour days before!
Problem 6: So on WHAT DAY was Jesus resurrected?
Let's look at the ORIGINAL Greek: It says that Jesus was resurrected on "mia Sabbaton" Sabbaton is the Greek word for Sabbath. Sabbath is the word for the Seventh day of the week Saturday in the English language and in 100 other languages (Sabado in Spanish, Shabat in Hebrew, Sabbaton in Greek, etc).
The Greek word sabbaton (#4521 in Strong's Concordance) is used in the New Testament 68 times. FIFTY-NINE times it is translated SABBATH, but NINE times the very same word is ARBITRARILY translated "first day of the week."
Why would the translators make that arbitrary change?
Of these nine times, 6 times are in reference to the resurrection of Jesus, 2 refer to (purportedly religious) meetings that were held and 1 refers to an incident of fasting.
Isn't it curious that the translators of the King James Version of the Bible would arbitrarily and dramatically change the translation of a word 9 times, when it is systematically and repeatedly translated "Sabbath" 59 times? What is their reason?
If one wishes to say "first day" in Greek, there are specific words to do so.
The word for "FIRST" in Greek is PROTOS (#4413 in Strong's Concordance).
The word for "DAY" in Greek is HEMERA (#2250 in Strong's Concordance).
So if one wishes to say "First Day" in Greek, the words are "Protos Hemera!" --- NOT mia Sabbaton which means "on the Sabbath," "one Sabbath" or "one of the Sabbaths."
There is NO specific Greek word listed in Strong's Concordance for the English word "WEEK." However, some Greek scholars say that the word "week" in Greek is designated by the term "sevens" or hebdomads in Greek. Yet in these instances the word "Sabbaton" is arbitrarily translated `WEEK" instead of its proper translation - "SABBATH."
In the book Answers to Objections, by Francis D. Nichol, (Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington D.C.) the subject of grammatical gender is discussed. "Grammatical gender" means that in Greek the gender of the noun and the gender of the adjective must be the same. For instance, in Spanish the word for little boy is niño and the word for little girl is niña. The adjective modifying niña is "la" as in "la niña" (a feminine adjective modifies a feminine noun). The adjective "el" modifies niño as in "el niño" (a masculine adjective modifies a masculine noun).
The Greek word "mia" or "mian" (meaning "one" NOT "first") is in the feminine gender and the Greek word for Sabbath, "Sabbaton" is neuter gender. According to Greek scholars, an immutable law requires adjective modifiers to agree with their nouns in gender. Therefore, according to these "experts" the phrase "mia Sabbaton" cannot be translated "one of the Sabbaths" because the genders for the two words don't match.
They then propose that the translation of the word Sabbaton must be changed from "Sabbath" to "week" and the word "day" must be added (as it is implied). Since the Greek word for "day" is hemera and this noun is feminine gender, then they say everything works out fine. So "mia Sabbaton" is then translated "first day of the week."
But hold on a minute!! That's taking a lot of "linguistic license," it seems to me.
What these "experts" have done is added a full word that isn't there at all ("day") and totally changed the translation of Sabbaton (Sabbath) to the word "week."
However, if one is going to imply the word "day" in the first "day" of the week, why not imply it after Sabbath as in "Sabbathday" which makes a lot more sense (and in fact is done in Strong's Concordance MANY times). Then the genders work out perfectly. "Mia" is feminine and "Sabbathday" is feminine because "day" is implied.
Therefore "mia Sabbaton" means "one Sabbathday" or "one of the Sabbathdays."
If the "experts" can "imply" the word "day" in "first `day' of the week," then we certainly can imply the word "day" in "Sabbathday" with much greater certainty.
*If you object to this reasoning, then please tell us why it is acceptable to add the word "day" in the first instance, but not acceptable in the second instance.
This quote from the Concordant Commentary page 136, clearly explains the issue.
"The resurrection did not occur on Sunday, or "the first day of the week," but on the first one of the seven sabbaths which led from Firstfruits to Pentecost. The notable phrase "one of the sabbaths" is always found in the interval between Passover and Pentecost, never at any other time of the year. It may refer to any sabbath of the seven. It is usually used of the resurrection day (Mt. 28:1, Mk. 16:1-2, Jn. 20:1-19), which would be during the days of unleavened bread, but also of a sabbath after this (Ac. 20:6,7), any time up to Pentecost (1 Co. 16:2,8).
"Scholars are divided as to the reason for the rendering "first day of the week." It was usual to say that "one" is sometimes used for first, and that "sabbaths" sometimes means week, but the latest attempts to justify the accepted rendering is that "one of the sabbaths" is equivalent to "the first day after the sabbath." As the day after the sabbath was commonly called the "morrow of the sabbath" (Lev. 23:15), this seems far-fetched. Even if we take "one" to mean first in this case, the sense is not changed for the first of a series of sabbaths, as we read in Mark (16:9).
"But in no case was sabbaths ever used for `week'". That is always represented by hebdomad , or seven. The only exception would be when a number of sabbaths measure the same space of time as so many hebdomads. As the expression "first day of the week" can be so readily expressed in Greek there are grave grounds for refusing to use these words as the equivalent of `one of the sabbaths'".
Go to this site to see the last page on this subject please.
http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/resurrection/res1.htm
