Blessed Easter!

The Lord is risen, indeed! Blessings to all as we celebrate the Eastertide season.

 

Don't tell Mathew the Gospel writer this
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 12:40

 

As one site called "The Divine Evidence" puts it,

HOW LONG WAS JESUS IN THE TOMB?

(NIV) Contradiction 1: The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the earth. Matthew 12:40

(NIV) Contradiction 2: The Son of Man [would] on the third day be raised again. Luke 24:7

"Semantics, semantics. Critics point out the "inconsistency" between after three days and on the third day as if an apostle is standing outside the tomb with a stopwatch and counting out three 24-hour periods. Jesus was crucified on Friday and subsequently placed in the tomb where He would remain until Sunday. The Greek work literally meaning all night dianuktereuo is not used in Matthew so there is no reference to literal 24 hour periods. Instead, he uses the word nux which can refer to a literal or metaphorical night."

 

Our Bishop addressed these semi-cloaked jabs a few weeks ago. She commented "Do you really think the elders who assembled the canon didn't read the material? They knew the minor and trivial differences were there and still included them in the canon. Relax people and receive God's clear message"

Jeff

 

Actually Jeff I believe we as Christians and the Church do have credible responses to these types of questions, rather then look at them as semi-cloaked jabs they should be addressed clearly and concisely else it just gives the skeptics bullets to fire...

 

Agreed, but people will find what they want to find. Most find faith and salvation, some only see discrepancies and doubt.

Jeff

 

Agree with you - we have this also in discussions about theology between believers.

 

So if Jesus spent 3 nuxi or whatever the plural of nux is, in the earth. When did he arise if he also spent three days in the earth as well?

 

The Jews considered any portion of a day to be counted as a complete day ('a day and a night'). Christ died on Friday, at approximately 3 p.m.


The first 3 p.m. includes the previous evening (our Thursday evening from 6 p.m. onwards) so in three hours, 3 p.m. on our Friday to 6 p.m. ends the first day cycle. The 2nd day cycle begins at 6 p.m. on our Friday evening, the 2nd evening and morning cycle. So by this count, 6 p.m. Saturday is the 2nd evening and morning cycle. So on the morning of the 3rd evening and morning cycle is our Sunday morning. That's how you get three days and three nights in the heart of the earth or Jonah's big fish's belly reference.

 

In our Church we do the same hour counting!

 

Well this is how I have always heard it explained. But how do Consulars 3 nux fit into this theory?

 

Remember that Christ was particularly veiled in Messianic statements before His precious death. He said "tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it again". Everyone laughed at him because they heard "Solomon's Temple", but He was referring to the Temple of His own Body. Why should we not expect Him to make similarly mysterious statements such as this about Days and Nights?

Recall that Christ said He will be "in the heart of the earth". This can mean more than simple burial. For all we know, the horrible agony of taking all the tortured sins, agonies, loneliness, and weakness of human nature upon Himself the evening before Good Friday was already a sort of death and burial. He was in the heart of the Earth (Adam) by that point, long before the Cross.

 

I'm sure if Bart Ehrman were alive at the time of the crucifix, he'd have his stopwatch out making sure the full three days were fulfilled. If it was short by 3 seconds, his entire belief system would come crashing down...........and it did!

Jeff

 

And we must be sure to remember that difficult passages of Scripture must be interpreted in light of other passages which are directly related to them. As an example: Matthew 17:1 says that six days after the incident at Caesarea Philippi, Christ was transfigured. Luke 9:28 says the Transfiguration occurred eight days after the incident with Peter. Which is correct? Both, says Chrysostom; for Matthew is not contradicting Luke, "but most fully agreeing with him. For the one expressed both the very day on which He spake, and that on which He led them up; but the other, the days between them only." (Homily 56 on Matthew).

Here, Matthew (the writer of the "Christian Torah") was bringing out the example of Jonah as a type or prophecy of Christ. The others were bringing out the perfect holiness of the number Three (Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.) by their versions. Each evangelist was a human being with his own interests - and the Holy Spirit does not abolish the man in order to teach the doctrine.

 

In one of our numerous debates at the Ehrman book study, I used this example. When I was working as an officer, let's say I responded to a domestic battery call, and upon arrival I found an injured female, but the male aggressor had already left the scene. In questioning the two witnesses for a clothing description, one said he had on a brown shirt and the other said it was dark green. Does the slight discrepancy make the woman's injuries any less real or significant? Did the event not happen because of a minor difference of explanation? Too many approach their belief system with a Johnny Cochran (the O.J. trial attorney) mindset.:think:

Jeff