The Resurrection of Jesus…

On SaturdayOr Sunday?

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

• Does it really make a difference? Some say “Saturday”, others say “Sunday”

• Some religions like the S.D.A. and the United Church of God worship on Saturday

• Some members of Churches of Christ are taking the Lord’s supper on Saturday evening

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

“Most believe that Jesus was crucified and placed in the tomb on Friday afternoon – and then raised back to life on Easter Sunday. But when you compare that to what Jesus Christ Himself said, you’ll find there’s a major discrepancy … We know we can’t fit three days and three nights between a Friday afternoon crucifixion and Easter Sunday. So what is the truth? When was Jesus crucified and resurrected? Here are the facts from your Bible: Jesus was actually crucified on a Wednesday and was resurrected near the end of Saturday, the weekly Sabbath. You can verify this, but it’s going to take an open mind and an open Bible.”

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

Sadly, many erroneously believe that the weekly day of worship was changed for Christians from the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday because Jesus was resurrected on Sunday. But he was not, as we’ve seen, and the change in worship day was more about conforming to pagan practices and gnostic ideas. God tells us to come out of this false worship system (Revelation 18:4) … Honor Him the way He wants to be honored, not through the traditions of manmade holidays like Easter and weekly Sunday observance. Instead, worship Him on His days - the weekly and annual Sabbaths He instituted.” (Steve Myers, “Three Days and Three Nights”, The Good News Magazine, 19.2, March-April, 2014, p. 16-18.)

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

• Jesus did not rise “late” on the Sabbath as some argue (compare “late” [Gr. opse] in Mt. 28:1 [“after” in some versions] with Mk. 16:1; Lk. 24:1, 22; and Jn. 20:1

• Jesus did not rise “late” on the Sabbath and then later only appear to the women on Sunday morning as some argue (Mk. 16:9 and the placement of the comma) … the lit. translation is: “Now haven risen early first of the week…”

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

Note three important facts:

• First, Mt. 28:1, Mk. 16:1, Lk. 24:1, and Jn. 20:1 are all speaking of the same event

• Second, when the women came to the tomb it was “early dawn” (compare “the sun was risen” with “while it was yet dark”)

• Third, the women came to prepare the body for burial (had already rested, Lk. 23:56)

When Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?

• Jesus was raised up on “the first day of the week” according to Luke 24

• Major premise: Jesus promised to rise on “the third day” after his death (Lk. 24:7, 46)

• Minor premise: “the first day of the week” (24:1, 13, 29) was “the third day” from Jesus’ death (24:20-21)

• Conclusion: Jesus was raised on the first day of the week (Sunday)

“Three Days and Three Nights”

• First, it must be noticed that there is flexibility with the language

– “three days and three nights” (Mt. 12:40)

– “in three days” (Mt. 26:61; Jn. 2:19-22)

– “after three days” (Mk. 8:31)

– “the third day” (Mt. 16:21; see also Acts 10:40; 1 Cor. 15:4)

“Three Days and Three Nights”

• Second, a common practice was to count part of a day as a “day” (Lk. 13:32-33)

• Example: Acts 10

Day 1: the ninth hour of the day – 3 pm (v.3)

Day 2: on the morrow … the sixth hour – 12 pm (v.9)

Day 3: on the morrow (v. 23)

Day 4: on the morrow (v. 24) … Four days ago, until this hour – 3 pm (v. 30)

The Sabbath Day• Who observed it? Israel (Ex. 31:12-17)

• Why was it observed? Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:12-15)

• When was it observed? Until Israel’s law ended (Heb. 8:13; 10:9)

• The Sabbath was not to be bound on Christians (Col. 2:14, 16)

The First Day of the Week• The day Jesus rose from the grave

(Lk. 24:1, 13, 21) and met with his disciples (Jn. 20:19)

• The day the Lord’s church was established (Acts 2:1; see Pentecost in Lev. 23:15-21)

• The day that NT Christians assembled for worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2)

• The day we worship today!