For a BAS Reply benefit: 3 Days & 3 Nights Was Literally Meant By Jesus as Whole Days & Nights, & The Resurrection of Jesus In Scripture Revisited.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, He did so on Palm Shabbat (Saturday), not on a Sunday -- which is erroneous. He spent 4 days at the Temple, teaching and being examined, even as the Lamb of Pesach, found without spot and without blemish.

In Exodus 12, it says that the Pesach / Passover lamb is to be killed on the 14th "between the evenings". The time there being designated as 3pm until the just before the first three stars appear in the evening sky with the setting of the sun.

By the fact of this 3 hours of darkness, from the sixth hour of the day until the ninth, to which was no eclipse of the sun, the prophecy of Exodus 12:6 is fulfilled according to any reasonable interpretation of ritual/religious observance of Torah.

This also goes back to Genesis 1:14, in which "G-D said, Let there be lights." The absence of the vav before and after the letter Rosh in m' orah, says Rashi, gives it the same spelling as "the curse of".

This tells us, that before the foundation of the world, G-D had in His perfect foreknowledge that man would not only be created, but fall away and need a savior.

As a result of this omniscience, G-D ordered the creation of this enclosed Universe (as Job refers to it), after the manner of teaching us about HASHEM (the L-RD) our Redeemer and Redemption. Therefore, in Yeshua, we see the literal fulfillment of the perfect Pesach / Passover offering, literally taking "the curse of" all mankind upon Himself, and literally slain between the evenings, as the central most point of our existence; being the gate / door to eternal life in HASHEM and the world to come.

Like passing through a doorway in the first Exodus, above us on the lintel is His blood, and to the right and left on the door posts is His blood...and it is only through this door, the Door of Redemption -- de facto, in and through Christ Himself -- do we receive forgiveness, sonship, and access to the Eternal (and not just temporal) Love of G-D the Father.

The Cross, the Cross, the Cross; to the unbelieving a symbol of death, but to the followers of the L-RD, Jesus Christ, it is the means of life, through He who is our "source" to eternal life as our well-spring, the Holy One of Israel (e.g., Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13; with John 7:37-38, 4:10-14)

In the New Testament times, after the Passover seder in 30 A.D., at about midnight, Jesus and the disciples "went out and sung a hymn" (Mark 14:26), this refers to the fact that about midnight, all 3,000,000 in and about Jerusalem would rise up to the sound of the shofar and would stand on rooftops or wherever they could face and see the Temple...and at the cue, the nation of Israel would sing the hymn / the Hallel Psalm.

http://www.templeinstitute.org/pesach/hallel.htm

Jesus died upon the Cross at the ninth daylight hour on March 23, A.D. 30; the tenth of the Kalends of April (Lactantius, Letter to Donatus, .2). This de facto fell on a Wednesday, the 14th of Nisan, in a properly reckoned calendar which I can reasonably defend and show on another posting.

At Sunset (Shkias HaChamah) Joseph of Arimathea and Nico-demus (a Greek translation for "Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel"-- of all Israel outside Jerusalem) embalmed Jesus' body just south of the Olivet fault, near the Kidron & Hinom Juncture on Olivet, just north of En Rogel. They finished by the time of the appearance of the first three small stars at which time was called "Tzais HaKochavim".

The time between Shkias HaChamah and Tzais HaKochavim is called "between suns". It is at this time that we are in the twilight zone in which the days change, a time of erev or disorder (as we find implied in Genesis 1).

Jesus was buried from Tzais HaKochavim Wednesday night (now the 15th of Nisan) through Thursday night (now the 16th), through Friday night (now the 17th), through to Saturday night (now the 18th): three nights and three days.

In all likelihood, He rose again from the dead in the third watch of the night. Jesus was indeed in the earth for an entire three nights and three days.

When the first light began to break on the eastern sky, but while it was still dark, we see the passages of Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1 in this reverse sequence called "Alos HaShacar": which is defined as "first light which appears before the sun itself is visible".

The time in which the women left for the tomb was at this point, but on the leeward or western side of Olivet, the tomb and the valley of the Kidron would have remained in darkness even after that "Naitz HaChamah" (the rising of the sun as it slips upon and above the horizon). Therefore, there is no discrepency in the Gospel accounts: none.

At such a point as Alos HaShacar, Jesus had long since arisen, probably at about 3 am, such as when the Apostles on the Sea of Galilee once thought Him a ghost walking upon the water. 3am would follow the last passing of the Centurion visiting the various sentry posts,

Polybius, Book 6.36
When this time comes, the man to whom the first watch fell by lot makes his rounds accompanied by some friends as witnesses.

He visits the posts mentioned in his orders, not only those near the vallum and the gates, but the pickets also of the infantry maniples and cavalry squadrons.

If he finds the guards of the first watch awake he receives them, but if he finds that anyone is asleep or has left his post, he calls those with him to witness the fact, and proceeds on his rounds.

Those who go the rounds in the succeeding watches act in a similar manner.

As I said, the charge of sounding a bugle at the beginning of each watch, so that those going the rounds may visit the different stations at the right time, falls on the centurions of the first maniple of the triarii in each legion, who take it by turns for a day.

Each of the men who have gone the rounds brings back the tesserae at daybreak to the tribune. If they deliver them all they are suffered to depart without question;

but if one of them delivers fewer than the number of stations visited, they find out from examining the signs on the tesserae which station is missing,

and on ascertaining this the tribune calls the centurion of the maniple and he brings before him the men who were on picket duty, and they are confronted with the patrol.

If the fault is that of the picket, the patrol makes matters clear at once by calling the men who had accompanied him, for he is bound to do this; but if nothing of the kind has happened, the fault rests on him.

The women and the apostles come to the tomb before 6am, meaning that the last watch of 3am, the Third Watch, had been verified by at least 2 witnesses as to the security and alertness of the Tomb of Jesus.

Therefore, we are able to isolate a time of about 4:42-5am for the appearance of the women at the tomb, and the arrival of the apostles as likely between 5am-5:40am...the times being very general and approximate.

It is comforting to know, that the Bible and the facts of the Resurrection are reliable, and beyond reasonable question...so much so, that the greatest American Legal Scholar on the Rules of Evidence in the 19th Century, Simon Greenleaf, when upon examining the Resurrection on a dare as a skeptic, became a believer in Jesus. Such is the power of even just the testimony of the Resurrection upon a fair minded individual open and honest to the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Amen. Jesus is LORD. 

 The Resurrection of Jesus

Golgotha

“And coming toward and into a tract of land, upon which is called Golgotha in the Hebrew, the which is saying -- in interpretation -- ‘the skull cap area’. {1}



[My Comment: The insinuation is a yarmulke. The tomb of David, which was prominent in this land-tract, was like the skullcap upon the head of Jerusalem. In this area, only those kings of Israel that were considered worthy, had their bones interred. Nehemiah 3:16 (and other passages), tell us that there were multiple burial sites for the Kings of the Davidic line here: thus, the name “Golgotha” or “skull-cap”, being an idiom for an area dedicated to the “kings or the skull-caps of the nation of Israel”. Kings were therefore a type of yarmulke in their symbolism.

The tomb of David was a white sepulcher that eerily resembled a skull at certain  times of the day. This was hated by the first priests. In effect, David was looked down upon by the first priests of the city as just an ancestral reference whose name, like the Almighty, could be invoked to frighten the common folk into compliance.]

And having crucified Him, sitting down, (the soldiers) guarded Him there. {2}

And the people stood wherever they were at, viewing attentively. {3}



[My Comment:  This last verse translated from Luke 23:35, testifies to the crowded conditions mentioned by Josephus and others, 3,000,000  plus were crammed into an area less than a few square miles. By comparison, Alexandria Egypt was a crowded city with less than a mile in width and four miles in length, being congested daily with just 500,000. The condition in Jerusalem was 6 - 7 times worse in a comparable area of about half that length for three times a year: twice being in excess of 7 days at a time. This feast of Unleavened Bread - the Passover - First Fruits, all part of the same 8 days (a week and one day) of  continuous Observance by ancient Israel's near entire population of men ages 20-60 in Jerusalem, was one of those occasions.   Just the fact that the Romans were able to push their crucifixion through the streets of Jerusalem was practically a feat in itself.]



And it was then the third hour [being 9 a.m.] when they crucified Him. {4} 

Then from sixth hour
 [being 12 p.m. -- noon] the light of day was removed entirely, for the darkness came into being (as night) upon and over all the the Land,  

 [of Israel, even upon the whole Earth]  

until the ninth hour  [until 3 p.m.],

for the sun was as black as the darkness. {5}


Then, in the ninth hour, Jesus emphatically cried out with a loud and commanding voice {6}  


…and the veil of the Temple was rent violently in two,
from top to bottom.
 {7 }

Then Jesus again emphatically cried out with a great
and commanding voice, releasing the wind,
 {8} 

bowing His head and having stopped breathing. {9}



[My Comment:  The night and morning previous, there was rainfall. The clouds had dissipated by the third hour, and there was no wind for six hours. Upon the death of Jesus, not only did His “Spirit” or pneuma depart from His body, but doubly applicable, the “wind” or pneuma was released, as though with a vengeance or authority, as well.]




And the earth trembled with an agitated shaking. {10}


[“ O YHVeH, put on them reverent fear and dread (like clothing) [upon a man],
(and like scrub) [upon a field]. Let the nations know intuitively that they (are only) mortals. Selah.”
 (Psalm 9:20  - AWPR)]




And the centurion standing near, but across, out and off at the opposite of  Him, {11} 

 guarding Him, {12}

 saying,
‘Surely this righteous man was the son of GOD.’
 {13}

Then the soldiers came, and …coming upon Jesus, when they saw and perceived that He was presently at this time dead, they did not break his legs -- as with an axe, in two. {14}

 But still another one of the soldiers with a lance, drove in deep, pierced the side of Him: and all at once (there) came out (of the wound) blood and water. {15}



[Pilate asks Joseph to bury Jesus]
Then after these things, {16}  

Joseph of Arimathea went in, up to, and alongside
Pilate.
 {17}

 And taking courage asked (what was to become) of the body of
Jesus.
 {18} 

Then…having called near the centurion, he (Pilate) interrogated him {19}…and fully knowing from the centurion, {20}


Pilate asked Joseph of Arimathea, -- then being a concealed disciple of Jesus, through the terror and fright of the Jews -- in order that he might take up and carry away the body of Jesus. {21}



[My Comment:  The testimony of John in the Greek specifically and literally says that Pilate asked Joseph. The testimony of Peter through Mark infers a fearsome inquisitiveness to the effect of: ‘Now that this one has died, you’re not really going to leave the body up there are you? It’s already between the evenings, the preparation time of our observance of Holy Day.’ Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Pilate to turn to Joseph and ask the favor, and may be that he personally issued some money quietly for the linen for Jesus’ burial. Although Pilate’s wife may have wished Jesus ill, I sincerely believe that Pilate did not. However, to say Pilate gave Joseph money to make the linen purchase is simply a 50/50 speculation on my part, based on the reading of the Gospel text.]

And purchasing a linen fabric, and coming, {22} 

he took the body of Jesus. {23}

Then also came Nicodemus, bearing up and carrying a mixed blend of myrrh and aloes, about 100 (times) 12 ounces. {24}

They together, they bore up the body of Jesus, and wrapped Him up in the linen sheeting, and bound it around and fastened it together with the spices, as is customary with Jewish burial. {25}

And in that same tract of land where He was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden there was a new tomb out of rock, in which no one had ever been placed.
They then put Jesus there through the (time) of the Preparation of the Jews


[until the first three stars were about to appear in the sun setting sky],

because the tomb was near. {26}

And having rolled a very great stone to the door of the memorial cave, he left. Then, was there Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary sitting down before the presence of the grave.
Then upon the next day, the which is in the midst
 {27}

 of the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together up alongside and next to Pilate, saying ‘Lord, we do mindfully so recollect that one, the deceiver, said upon (His) life, ‘’After three days, I will be raised up (a new creation).’’  Set in motion and urge then (for) the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest at any time the disciples of Him come near by night, and by stealth steal Him, that they might say to the people, ‘’He is arisen from the dead’’; and the last deceit will thereby be worse than the first.

Then Pilate shone forth his words to them,

[having heretofore been suspicious of them, and having kept silent],


‘You now have and hold possession of a custodian guard. Go away and depart in secret, and secure it against (your) enemies and verify all with your sight and observance that it is so. 

 They then, rushed and ran through with violence and made the grave secure against (their) enemies, setting the stone (with) the seal of authenticity (upon) the grave in the midst of the custodian guard. {28}



[My Comment:  Upon arrival, the Pharisees and First Priests have the stone removed, and verify the identity of Jesus, while in the midst (or presence) of the  custodial guard. The centurion verifies definitively that indeed their testimony is true. That is, probably the entire council witnesses Jesus’ chest and head with their own eyes. The tomb is closed back up with the great rock, and then sealed with the signet of Pilate. The two Mary’s are chased off from the area; the site is secured to the  council’ satisfaction. 


 The guard will consist of about 20 sentries and one centurion. They will be consistently checked up on at regular intervals without fail ranging from 4 - 8 hours by those who bring meals, and by the Centurion of the Watch who inspects each post in a circuit.  They may have more frequent shorter intervals than even this.  The Chiliarch must also receive regular interval reports by the Centurions of the Watch, and order any post not reporting in investigated immediately by others beside the Centurion of the Watch while bringing forth the Centurion of the Watch to the Chiliarch to give an immediate first-hand report with the expedience of answering for a life threatening reprimand. At the first sign of trouble, there would have likely been a trumpet of some sort to sound an alarm, as the Romans used them like Bugles to send orders and announce virtually everything they were doing as a troop.]



Then, the evening watch of the Sabbaths, upon the first rays of light dawning into the one of the Sabbaths [First-fruits], Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came towards, to gaze and closely look upon the grave. And behold!

A shaking came into being, very great! For (the) Angel of the LORD descending down out of Heaven, and coming up to and alongside (the location) rolled up back and (sending uphill and) away the stone, and sitting down up on top of it.



[My Comment:  The context of the rolling back of the stone appears to be that it was done so forcefully, that the great rock was out of its groove, and tossed a short way up and behind the tomb entrance, yet still over the cave’s perspective. This indicates that the rock was circular, and not squared, like a cork. As the Psalmist said, “But GOD will redeem My soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive Me. Selah.” (Psalm 49:15 - KJV)]



And then the face of His was the beholding of lightning, and the weight of his glory as white as snow. Then from the intense and quaking fear of him, those guarding were shaken to their very core, and came into being as if they were dead.
From judging discreetly, the Angel then said to the women,

‘Don’t you be frightened out of your wits (also). For I see and know that you
seek Jesus, He having been crucified. He isn’t here, because He was raised up, just as He said. Come here. Look and see the place where the LORD lay down.
{29}

Then weeping outside up alongside the tomb, Mary stood; and as she wept, she bent over beside and into the tomb, and beheld two angels sitting down: one up alongside the head, and one up alongside the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And say these to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

She responds and says, ‘Because they took up and carried away my LORD,
and I don’t see or know where they placed Him.’
And saying these things, she turns about to where she was looking back, and looks at and gazes at Jesus
 [up close, and personal], standing (there), and still does not see and yet know that it is Jesus.
Jesus says to her,
‘Woman, why are you crying? Just who is it that you seek after
and strive to find?”
{30}



This question is on the lips of Jesus to you.  


Just who is it that you seek after and strive to find?





End Notes:


1 Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:17


2 Matthew 27:35, 36; Mark 15:24


3 Luke 23:35


4 Mark 15:24. Also, the symbolism of a conqueror who captures his enemy, and drags him through the streets, as in a noose, is prophesied as a result of the crucifixion in the Hebrew of Psalm 9:16.

“YHVeH is made known in the Judgment He has made and brought about:
in the work of the bend of His Hands
 [.i.e., in His wrists]

are the wicked ensnared
(as in a noose). A Meditation. Selah!”

(Psalm 9:16, AWPR)



“And (one) shall say unto Him, ‘What are these wounds in thine hands?
Then He shall answer,
(Those) with which I was wounded (in) the house of my friends.”
(Zechariah 14:6, KJV)




5 Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44-45


6 Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 23:7 The Greek emphasis given by Luke and Mark’s gospel is that the cry was great, and loud, and commanding; not just a query. It goes to experiencing the separation of which the unbeliever has in hell, and why Christ -- without sin -- experienced the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth aspect of sin upon the Cross. By confining Himself to Scripture, YHVeH the Son not only experienced man’s separation from GOD the Father, but was able to offer up the appropriate response to which we believers are called to respond with. We may call GOD into question for activities of withdrawal and ask why. We may not lawfully accuse Him or slander. Jesus simply noted the activity and then demandingly questioned, why? As seen in the Psalms, and as the Son of David, this response is perfectly acceptable with GOD.  



7 Luke 23:45, Mark 15:38. Matthew 27:51 places the order of the temple veil, the earthquake, and resurrection in a collective utterance (i.e., vv. 51-53 are to be read as parenthetical).


8 Matthew 27:50


9 John 19:30, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46


10 Matthew 27:51,54. The biblical writers had a habit of leaving natural events and weather out of their writings. Matthew, in the heart of the capitol, among thousands of hostile witnesses, in 55 A.D., freely speaks of the simultaneous earthquake, the solar anomaly, and the sudden wind that blew fiercely at the time of the crucifixion. When these events happened, it made the senses of the millions watching even more acute, so that when the centurion cried out, ‘Surely this was the son of GOD!’, and the more heard him and paid his words attention. There is no Talmudic teaching to argue or dispute the Gospels or their events from having occurred. If there was any objection, despite the persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church in their sphere of influence, those disputations of Christian history would have survived among the rabbinate. That rabbinical silence is, de facto, an affirmation of the Christian witness.


11 Mark 15:39 - ο παρεστηκως εξ εναντιας αυτου This tells us the positioning of the centurion and the soldiers in relation to the Cross. The soldiers had placed Jesus on one side of the stone fissure which leads up to David’s tomb, while they stood upon the other side. The fissure’s width had to be narrow and easily traversed by a running soldier (e.g. Mark 15:36). The area of crucifixion also had to be leveled out, yet steep round about it: easily defensible.

Only one centurion was needed to prevent access while his troop sat and rested.  Why? Perhaps the site was a steep mound, like a high place, easily controllable, accessible by one narrow path no more than 4-5 feet wide. Though upon the Eastern Mount, the western slope of Olives, the Romans held a south-north positioning from Jesus near the Kidron - Hinom Valley Juncture. This will not entirely make sense until the fissure to Azal is excavated, and David’s tomb is found along that fissure. Once that site of David’s former tomb in Jerusalem is found, then the Gospel accounts will make perfect sense.

Having never seen what the Apostles saw, as it relates to Jerusalem’s topography in 30 A.D., accurate visualization is very difficult. Paul through Luke in Hebrews indicates the Romans were to the north, and Christ crucified closer to the south or Hinom gate, through which the blood of animals were to be burned without the camp.


12 Matthew 27:54


13 Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47, Matthew 27:54


14 John 19:32-33



15 John 19:34 The blood and water aspect shows that Jesus heart burst after dying of asphyxiation, and congestive heart failure. What little blood was left in His body was quickly separating. The Gospel of John is telling us that there was probably about a 20 minute interval between Jesus’ death and the piercing. This probably occurred when the soldiers receive the writ from Joseph of Arimathea, bearing Pilate’s order to give the body of Jesus to him, and get rid of the other two by usual means (cf. John 19:38). The spear would have punched through Jesus’ left side, and rode up under the ribcage, straight into the heart. The notion of a right side to left side spear punch is idiocy from those unlearned in small weapons combat. The testimony is to the effect that Jesus went limp leaning to His right. Had He been closer to the ground, a thrust from a six to eight inch blade -- with a quick counter clockwise twist before removal -- would have had the same effect as the lance.

However, the Psalms specifically list the “spears” of the bulls of Bashan “western or Roman” soldiers, as piercing Messiah. The left side must flow forth the Living Waters if Messiah is to sit at the Right Hand of the Father in order for the river of Life to proceed from BOTH the throne of the Father and the Lamb (e.g. Revelation 22:1).


16 John 19:38


17 Mark 15:43; Matthew 27:57-58; Luke 23:50,52


18 Mark 15:43


19 Mark 15:44


20 Mark 15:45


21 John 19:38


22 Mark 15:46


23 John 19:38


24 John 19:39


25 Mark 15:46, Matthew 27:59, Luke 23:53, John 19:40


26 John 19:41-42



27 Meta… here means “in the midst” of the Preparation, evening-morning. Based on the context: “the next morning” following the Passover sacrifice, even though it is still a holy day. The Passover has already been partaken of, so defilement with Pilate is not an issue. Whether they penalize themselves 7 days or not, the primary concern is to secure the body of Jesus before the disciples gain courage to do so.

Now that the Passover had been taken, the number of people had dwindled dramatically from the very hour of the 3pm sacrifice (Luke 23:48), so that by the next day, and well before the time of First fruits, less than a few thousand beside the Temple guard and Roman patrols would still be remaining in the hills about Jerusalem. Many hundreds of thousands would be leaving in a very short span of time, so that it might not be hard to tamper with the tomb upon the following evening. Therefore, it was imperative to open the tomb, verify the identity of the body, seal it, and guard it. By doing this very act, these first priests verified and sealed the authenticity of the coming Resurrection of Jesus as definitive fact, though unknowingly at the time.



28 Matthew 27:60-66


29 Matthew 28:1-6


30 John 20:11-15 The woman stooped down and was able to look inside the cave-tomb. The entrance was probably at least 3 feet high, with a groove of at least 1 ½ - 2 feet in depth, of sufficient width to allow a man to safely turn about in it without falling down. The platform and floor of the cave had to drop another 3-5 feet below the elevation where the woman was standing, and be back into the cave some 8-10 feet. In all likelihood, there were finger mausoleums -- which were also cut into the back of the cave, curving out of sight, even from the light of the angelic radiance. Because of its proximity to the tomb of King David, and its being on the Mount of Olives, this newly hewn out rock-cave tomb was a very expensive purchase and stone cutting project, and speaks of immense wealth. Whoever owned this cave was not only rich, he was almost like a government treasury unto himself. Perhaps more so than the rich young man of Matthew 20:16-22.



Above Work product mine, and reposts of my own work product by me:
 3 Days and 3 Nights, written by me & posted by me at this blog in December 2009,  and "The Resurrection of Jesus" as part of a larger copyrighted manuscript I wrote & copyrighted in 2006 and repeatedly published on this blog -- Brianroy