Three Days and Three Nights

Something to consider...

We say Jesus was crucified on Friday because the text says He died the day before the Sabbath.  

Mark15:42-43  

John19:31 

Luke23:54-56   

And we say that if all of these things happened the day before the Sabbath, or on the "day of preparation," then it must have been on a Friday.

And we say that Jesus came out of the tomb on a Sunday, because it was the day after the Sabbath.

Matthew28:1

Mark16:1-2  

John20:1

So when our kids read things like 

Matthew12:40  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

or 

John2:19  “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

are we teaching them to mistrust the scriptures?

That is, for the sake of our "Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday" traditions, are we teaching them to doubt the Holy Scriptures?

Because, you see, those ideas don't line up.  You cannot... Cannot... get three days and three nights between Friday and Sunday, no matter how you slice it.  If you count partial days as whole, and ignore certain parts of the text, you can get three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) but you cannot get three nights.  

Are we teaching our kids that Scripture doesn't mean what it says?

Are we setting them up for failure?

As with most things, the solution is simply to set aside our prejudices and actually READ the scriptures (I know, radical idea, right?)

But we must understand the context, and we must understand the time.

If I said "Well, I vote in every Presidential election, and the last time I voted for President of the United States I was 37 years old," you can make some inferences from that statement.  If you are an American, you know that we only vote for President once every four years, on the years that are evenly divisible by 4.  So we voted for President in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012.  You can say "The last Presidential election was 2012, and A.J. was 37 years old then, so since this is 2015, he must be about 40 years old now."

Notice, I didn't tell you when the last election was, and I didn't tell you how old I am now.  You can gather that information from my sentence by putting it with other information you already know.

It is the same with the Scripture text.

the Gospel authors don't bother to tell us "The Sabbath was on the 7th day of the week," because that's common knowledge, even for some Americans today (the Hebrew word for Saturday is "Shabbat," which is where we get the term "Sabbath").

But what was equally common knowledge in the days of Christ was that, during certain Holy feasts, there could be more than one Sabbath.

Let’s compare two American holidays to see this:  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday in November.  So the calendar date on which it falls is fluid, but it falls on a fixed day of the week… it is always on Thursday.  In 2015, it will be on November 26^th.  But in 2016, it will be on November 24^th.  Christmas, on the other hand, comes on December 25^th, every year. So in 2015, Christmas will be on a Friday, but in 2016, it will be on a Sunday.  

According to Exodus chapter 12, the Passover day falls on the 14^th day of the 1^st month.  It’s a fixed day on the calendar, rather than a fixed day of the week.  But the weekly Sabbath always falls on Saturday (Shabbat), which is a fixed day of the week, like Thanksgiving.

What we’re coming to understand is that during a High Holy Week, such as Passover, you can have multiple Sabbaths in a single week. 

Now lets suppose that the Passover Sabbath came on Thursday of that week.  That makes Wednesday the day of preparation, and it would mean that Jesus died on a Wednesday.  This breaks our Good Friday tradition to pieces, but let’s just try it on.

So Thursday is the Sabbath of the Passover.  Then there’s Friday, which is the normal, weekly day of preparation for the normal, weekly Sabbath.  Then there’s Saturday, the weekly Sabbath.  Then there’s Sunday, which is the first day of the week.  Here we have an interesting marker in scripture: John 20:1 says “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”  Note that this is not making reference to Sabbaths or days of preparation, but rather to a fixed day of the week (the Hebrews did not have names of the days, like we do.  Their week was Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and Shabbat.  So “the first day of the week” that John mentions is the day we would call Sunday.  So at least we get that part right in our traditions.

No, in our thought experiment with the Passover Sabbath on Thursday and the Weekly Sabbath on Saturday, how does this play out?

Jesus dies on Wednesday, at twilight.  Very late in the day.  So we won’t count Wednesday.  But we will count

Wednesday NIGHT           and               ThursDAY and
Thursday NIGHT               and               FriDAY and

Friday NIGHT                    and              SaturDAY.

Now John tells us (20:1) that Mary went to the tomb while it was still dark… before sunrise… and finds the stone rolled away.  So the resurrection happened sometime during the dark hours… during the night… after sundown on Saturday. Since it wasn’t a full night, we cannot count it.

But do you see what happens then?  The scripture lines up!  When Jesus says “Three days and three nights,” (Matt 12:40, John 2:19) He means it!

So with a better cultural context, we can show the scriptures to be reliable. 

Do yourselves and your children a favor.  Stop clinging to your traditions which nullify the Holy Scriptures.  Set aside your preconceived ideas and see what the Bible says.  Because it IS trustworthy.

If we teach our children that it is wrong at this point, and wrong at that point, eventually they will begin to judge it on their own, and decide that the pieces they don’t like are also wrong. 

And their eternal soul hangs in the balance.  The cost is just too great.



Crucifixion hurts.  Setting aside your traditions hurts.  But be crucified with Christ, and live your life for the Son, who loved you and gave Himself for you.

Normally here at Suicidal Christianity, I focus on the elimination of the desires and the pre-conceived notions we bring to the text which change our perspective on it.

Today is no different, but today I want to share with you a marvelous piece of work I found by 

David S. Jesse, "The Bow Tie Bible Guy."

David has written a wonderful blog explaining, simply and completely, a pet peeve of mine.  So take a moment and set aside your pre-concieved notions and give David a read.

You can find his blog HERE.

Remember... I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me.

you're dead.  Set aside what you think and what you've heard, and see what the text actually says.  I know this may be painful for some.  Dying is never easy.

Normally on this blog I try very hard to think deep thoughts about setting aside the self and living for Christ.  Galatians 2:20 is a key verse for this idea, and it's a good one.

Today, however, I start Seminary.  I can't afford my textbooks, so I'm hoping for some grace from the professors until the loans and scholarship overage is disbursed.  I should be terrified.  I should be running around trying to scrounge up dimes from the couch cushions and Amazon gift cards from my secret Amazon gift card hiding place... but I'm not.
I know, somehow, this is going to work out.

I've spent lots of time in prayer.  I sought wisdom from many counselors.  I got lots of great advice on both sides, from people I greatly respect, and then I spent more time in prayer.

In the end, I was convinced that this is what God wants of me.

So even though I should be worried, even though I should be afraid, I'm just not going to be.  My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and HE can do some amazing things.  My Master pulled a coin out of the mouth of a fish to pay His taxes.  And in His kingdom, they use gold as paving stones.
I should be afraid.  But I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

“To slay the sinner is then the first use of the Law, to destroy the life and strength wherein he trusts and convince him that he is dead while he lives; not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead to God, void of all spiritual life, dead in trespasses and sins.” 

- John Wesley

What a brutal idea!  To "slay the sinner!"  We fear to speak in such terms today, because to do so is entirely judgmental.  If I'm to speak of slaying anyone, I am to enact violence upon them, and if I further declare the slain person a "sinner," why, I am breaking the fundamental law of modern American society entirely.



And yet, what Reverend Wesley says above is one of the most loving statements I can imagine.  The truth may hurt, but the truth is always more kind than a lie.



So let us deal directly with the issue, then; In Genesis, God says "For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."  Adam did not die in a physical sense that day, but God did not speak untruth.  Adam lived more than 800 years after his disobedience, but he lived as a dead man.  Not as one who would someday die, but as one who was already dead.

Reverend Wesley above, then, is not pointing out something new, but rather making reference to Genesis (as well as the writings of Paul).  By the Law, we know what sin is.  By the law, we see the standard.  On the one hand, it's helpful to know what the standard is, but on the other hand, once you know, you must live up to it.

The Tanakh (Old Testament) contains 613 laws.  One of those laws is to never forget what Amalek did.

Do you know what Amalek did?

You sinner.

Me too.  I'm going to go look it up after I post this, but I honestly don't know what Amalek did.  I am dead, because of my violation of the law.

Could I, after I look it up, return to life?  What a silly question!  Only God gives life to that which is dead.

And yet we are promised eternal life.  And we may attain it through the shed blood of the Messiah, Christ Jesus.  Because He took upon Himself all the punishment for our sin... He took upon Himself our death.  As Ravi Zacharias has so powerfully said, "Death is dead."

I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me.  

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

So there's this.  And it's hard, I won't pretend it's not.  It may be the single hardest commandment we've ever been given.  The standard is just... so... high.  There's no wiggle room, there's no comfort zone.  Christ calls us to an all out, all encompassing, self sacrificial love.  

He calls us to love each other in the SAME WAY that He loved us.  

When I first decided to talk about this topic, I thought "There's no way you can make that fit with the whole "Suicidal Christianity" thing you've got going on..." but not only was it possible, it was absolutely necessary.

I want to talk today about disposable Christians.

That guy that you interact with on that forum who says that weird stuff that you know for SURE isn't Biblical. 

That gal you know who has that absolutely looney idea about that thing you were just certain everyone understood. 

That preacher you heard say that one thing that Sunday... you remember.  That thing that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  

And in each of those situations, what did you do?

There are a few responses, but I think the most common one for us in the digital age is simply to dispose of them. 

We throw each other away. 

Oh, she's so entirely wrong about this that I can just discount whatever she says... Oh, he is WAY off on that, and so he's probably way off on everything else too...

It's a coping mechanism.  I get that.  There's a certain Bible teacher I don't like.  Her voice grates on me, and her illustrations make me feel like I'm back in high school, laughing at something I know isn't funny.  So when the small group or the Sunday School class is watching one of her highly successful, widely published videos, I show up late to minimize the exposure.  I find some other thing which has suddenly become important, and Oh, I'm sorry, my *insert-random-relative-here* has this *insert-thing-here* every *insert-day-of-small-group-here* and I really just can't make it.  So sorry. 

 

But here's the thing....  Even Pontius Pilate had something to say.  When he gave the order to crucify Christ, he also ordered the sign placed upon His cross which read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," and refused to change it.  But before that, he said "I find no guilt in this man."

Even from those people who annoy us, we can learn truth.

Even from those we would dismiss, we can hear the word of God.

Rich Mullins, before he passed away, told the story at one of his concerts about Balaam.  For anyone who doesn't know, Balaam was a prophet of God who succumbed to temptation.  Some king somewhere paid Balaam a lot of money to tell him how to defeat the Israelites, and Balaam said that if you get them to sin, God will turn His back on them.  So anyway, later on God sends an angel to strike Balaam down dead, but God sends a second angel to warn Balaam (because Grace). 

Balaam is leading his ass (mule, donkey....) down the road, and the ass sees the angel on the path waiting to strike Balaam down.  So the ass stops, and refuses to budge.  Balaam, his eyes filled with the money of the pagan king, doesn't see the Angel... he only sees the ass preventing him from getting to where he was going.  So he pulls on the rope, and he tries to push the ass from behind, and then he starts to beat the ass with a stick hoping to get it to move, when God suddenly gives the ass language and it says "There's an angel about to strike up the path, and you're trying to pull me to your own doom." 

Anyway, Rich ends his story with some of the most powerful words I've ever heard applied to that story.  He says "And God has been speaking through asses ever since.  So if God should call you to preach, you ought not think too highly of yourself.  And if you should, upon meeting someone new, understand immediately that they are an ass, don't dismiss them too quickly."

If I am to hear the voice of God, I must set aside my pride.  I must set aside my own concept that I have all truth, and I must absolutely set aside the idea that I am the final arbiter of truth.  I'm not.  Sometimes, God really does speak through asses.  

Let us seek to be like the Bereans of Acts 17:11.

"Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

So how do I do that?

There really is no good answer to this... at least, none that I've found.  How do I die to myself, and live in Christ? 


Galatians 2:20

 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

It's not easy.  I struggled with this for a long time, and every time I asked for advice, I got some variation of "You're already doing it!  Walk in victory!  Jesus already paid the price!  You're fighting a battle you've already won!"

Whoop-de-freakin'-doo.  That's less helpful than it could have been.  Now I know that the Price is already Paid, and that Christ's work on the Cross has accomplished my salvation, but I still find myself looking too long at something (someone) I shouldn't, or thinking things that are not indicative of one walking in victory.

Sometimes, I feel utterly defeated.  And, to be clear, it's not that some external overwhelming force has overpowered me, but rather that some quiet, internal force has spoken into the quiet of my mind at just the wrong time, and I am defeated before I realize what is going on.

I'm beating myself. 

And if "myself" really has been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, then I'm being beaten by a dead man.

Insult to injury.  I'm getting beaten by a zombie.

When I was a younger man, I studied Martial Arts.  I earned belts in Tae Kwon Do, two different forms of Karate, and made significant progress toward my Black Belt in Shaolin Tiger Kung Fu.  I really loved Kung Fu.  It was about out-thinking your opponent, and beating him with lightning fast reactions, rather than force opposing force.  When I studied Kung Fu, I felt like I could protect myself from anything; we learned how to counter weapons, including firearms.  Why did I quit martial arts?  So I could join the Army.  I spent four years training with real soldiers, preparing for war.  We studied tactics and tactical movement and camouflage and different types of weapon systems and all sorts of ways to encounter the enemy and overcome him. 

As a young man, I learned to rely on myself to defeat my opponents.

On the strength of my own arms.

And I think that's where the problem lies.  I think that's why I'm getting beaten up by Zombie A.J.  Because I can't fight me fighting me.  I need help.

Still, it's not like simply choosing to walk in victory.  It's a daily struggle.  And sometimes I don't ask for help.  Sometimes, I don't cry out to God.  Sometimes I don't rest in the strong embrace of Christ, or kneel in the temple of my own heart to the Holy Spirit.  And when I do that, I lose.

Every fight. 

Every time.

But sometimes...
Sometimes I reach out.  I do.  And I find listening ears, strong arms, and a Consuming Fire. 

Blessed Father, help me to die to myself.  Help me to reach out to You.  Make me weak, that Your power is made perfect in weakness.

Why blog this?

"How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?"

Penn Jillette, Atheist.

      Recently, I sat down for a wonderfully pleasant conversation with one of my favorite High School teachers.  Her theological position is quite a complex one, pulled together from her experiences throughout her long and adventurous life.  Raised in the Christian church, influenced both positively and negatively by Christian pastors, with a good sprinkling of Buddhism, Taoism, Atheistic philosophy, and real life mixed in, she is a fascinating personality and a wonderful teacher.  Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about her, and that's not just because she might one day read this.

     So when we met again after an extended period (I have moved away from my high school stomping grounds, and sadly I do not get back there often enough) we had a lot to catch up on.  How is the family, how is school, how is work, how is life?  She knew I was a Pastor, and wanted to hear all about how things were going with my ministry, and what I was doing with my church, and eventually the topic came around to outreach.  We had a wonderful exchange about reaching out to hurting people and offering them warm clothing, or supporting a local food pantry, and about community meals the churches in my area provide at no cost to anyone who wants to come. 

Then I said "Christ calls us to go out into the streets and tell people.  To tell them how much He loves them and to bring them into His sheepfold.  Christianity is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread."  It's one of my favorite descriptions of sharing the faith, because I think it is so very apt.  

"That sounds an awful lot like proselytizing," she said.

"It is. Christianity is a proselytizing faith," I said.

"You shouldn't do that," she said.

And suddenly I realized a logical disconnect from what we had been talking about only a moment before.  It was wonderful, we both agreed, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and shelter the homeless.  But in the eyes of my friend, it was crossing a line to tell them about Jesus.  I was stunned, and she very perceptively picked up on the disagreement and moved to another topic, but the idea stayed with me.  

When I offer someone bread, it's consumed.  When I offer them a warm coat, it wears out. When I offer them shelter,  usually it is a temporary arrangement.  But when I offer them Jesus... Jesus who

is the same yesterday, today, and forever,

and when I offer them salvation, there's nothing temporary about that.  Like Christ says to the woman at the well, 

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

 It's not bread that is consumed, or temporary shelter, or clothing which the moths will eat, but eternal life.   And how much would I have to hate someone to not offer them that?