Frost heaves in the road bounce the truck cab violently, banging Isaac's head hard against the cool side window, jarring him out of his slumber. Adam takes note of his waking, gives Isaac a moment to sort out his surroundings, then picks up the conversation where he had left off.
“You know, I never went to a fancy college like you. But that doesn't mean I haven't studied. I have lots of time to listen and think. I like to mull things over and look at a subject from every possible angle. I will do it for days. Now with the internet, research is so much easier than before. The company I contract to gets like a gazillion gigs of data per month with their satellite coverage contract. That’s how they can keep in touch with all of the trucks. I can use it all I want. I just can't stream Netflix 24 hours a day is all. Anyway, between waiting to load produce and hours of service limits, I can get a lot of research done. There are audio posts I listen to and many topics to fact check. So, if you are ready to discuss the topic biblically, so am I.”
“Sounds good to me,” Isaac said with a growing clarity after his slumber. He was excited for the opportunity to exercise his biblical prowess and set this old trucker straight. “All points used have to be supported by the King James Version or the Strong’s concordance using the words from the original texts. My profs say that other translations can misdirect a person if they are not careful. Only the sound word of God can be used and no source other than the Bible can be referenced to support an opinion.” Isaac adds.
“That’ll work for me,” Adam replies nodding his head. “Good ground rules. Shall we start?”
“OK” Isaac begins hesitantly trying to remember where the conversation had ended. “I will admit that Paul doesn't specifically say to keep Sunday in place of Saturday, and the scriptures I used to show that he had were, well, circumstantial at best. And yes I agree that Jesus freed us from having to keep the old covenant law through his sacrifice.” Isaac uses these retraction sentences to formulate where he wanted to start his rebuttal.
“But it is rock solidly clear, that the day Jesus was crucified was the preparation day for the Sabbath. Furthermore, it is also rock solid, that it was the first day of the week, while it was still dark before sunrise, that the women found the tomb empty. You can't disprove those facts using the Bible as source material.”
“Absolutely, one hundred percent true. Congratulations, that's the second thing you’ve said that I can agree with,” Adam says grinning.
“So now you agree that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday? Did the thought of having to prove, through bible scripture anything different, scare you?” Isaac sarcastically remarks.
“Nope, to all of those questions,” replies Adam. “You’re still wrong. Your first statement was true. The day Jesus was crucified was on the preparation day for the Sabbath and the women did find an empty tomb in the predawn darkness of the first day of the week. Those statements are, as you say, rock solid.”
“So what's your problem?” Isaac was still sarcastic.
Checking his temper, Adam calmly replied. “It's not my problem. It's your lack of understanding of the bigger picture.”
Still sarcastic Isaac sneers. “Ohh dooo tell, would you pleeaase enlighten me.”
“Well since you’ve asked so nicely, it would be my pleasure,” Adam says, saccharinly sweet, turning his face towards Isaac to display the biggest fake smile he could muster. “Let’s start with verses talking about how long Jesus would be in the grave for. Your good with that keyboard, go find em!” he orders.
Isaac begins his search meticulously cutting and pasting each reference into a single document for future reference. “We’ll use all of the accounts describing what Jesus, or others said, about how long Jesus would be in the grave,” Isaac said looking for Adam's approval.
“Ya sure, that would be good,” Adam says agreeably.
Before long Isaac proudly reveals his findings. “OK, these are the verses I could find about how long Jesus would be in the grave. I have put them into categories. First, is the sign Jesus gave to the Pharisees, then, in three days, on the third day and after three days,” Isaac proceeds to read them aloud.
“Sign of Jonas.
Matthew 16:4 King James Version
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Luke 11:30
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
Matthew 12: 40
For as Jonas 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.
In Three Days.
Matthew 27:40
and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
Mark 15:29
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days.
Matthew 26:61
And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
Mark 14:58
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
John 2:19-21 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
On The Third Day.
Luke 24:46
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
Luke 24:21
but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
Luke 24:7
‘The Son of Many must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’
Luke 13:32
He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’
Luke 9:22
And he said, “The Son of Mane must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Matthew 20:19
and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Matthew 17:22-23
And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
Mark 9:31
For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
Mark 10:34
And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luke 18:33
And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
1 Corinthians 15:4
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Acts 10:40
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
After three Days.
Matthew 27:63 KJV
Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Mark 8:31
And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be kil
led, and after three days rise again.
So you can see Jesus was in the grave for three days,” Isaac said.
“OK. That would put Jesus in the tomb for 72 hours then wouldn't it? Three 24 hour days,” Adam calculates.
“No. The term day was a figure of speech, any portion of the day would work,” corrected Isaac patiently, momentarily losing his sarcastic tone. “There are other examples of that in the Bible.”
“Yes, I have seen them, but Jesus used the story of Jonas as his test of divinity, breaking the three days into three days and three nights. So to fulfill that, you would need some part of each day and night. Friday sunset to predawn first day of the week would not have the needed time, there would need to be a daylight and night portion from each day. Or he may have completed the whole 72 hours so that the Pharisees would have no grounds on which to deny his divinity.
After all, he knew they would use the tiniest excuse to reject him; they had been doing that for the last three and a half years of his life. It doesn't make sense for him to give a sign to prove he was the son of God to the Pharisees and then give them an excuse to ignore it.
Had Jesus been talking to his friends then a figure of speech would have been alright. But not for the Pharisees, they were nit-picky lawyers all about the smallest jot and tittle. No, he would have wanted to be more precise than a figure of speech. Besides, look at his statements, in three days, on the third day, and after three days. The only way these three statements can all work is if it was exactly three days, 72 hours,” Adan argued.
“I can see your point about the Pharisees; they did hate Jesus and used any excuse to reject him. However you are forgetting two important facts,” Isaac declares. “The first is that Jesus was crucified on the preparation day and second is the two men walking on the road who met Jesus, they said it was the third day since Jesus had been killed. If he had been in the grave for 72 hours, for the full three days and nights, then they would have been talking to Jesus on the fourth day, not the third. It's not possible for him to be in the grave for a full 72 hours and then talk to people during the daylight portion of the third day.”
“Your second point is a puzzler. I will have to do a bit more research on it. It does seem to put the full 72 hours into question,” Adam admits. “But your first point is fairly easy to figure out. They were Crucifying Jesus on the preparation day for the annual Sabbath of Unleavened Bread. Jesus was literally being slaughtered as our Passover lamb.
I find the symbolism quite poignant. These annual Sabbaths could land on any day of the week, depending on the year. They were to be treated holy like a regular weekly Sabbath day. Like the fast day Paul used when referring to the autumn season, it was also one of the annual Sabbath days.”
“I don't know much about these annual Sabbaths,” Isaac admits.
“Well then you better look them up. I wouldn't want you to trust me about the Bible. You need to prove it for yourself,” Adam says encouragingly.
Isaac begins another search on the lap top, this time to find scriptures on the mysterious annual Sabbaths and how they were to be kept. “There are several different texts describing the annual feast days, but this list in Leviticus 23 is fairly concise. The wording used, treats the weekly and annual Sabbaths the same, as holy convocations, to be the feasts of the Lord. I have never read about them before,” Isaac said with a sheepish tone. He reads the entire chapter, pausing at times to reflect on the newly discovered biblical content.
“Leviticus 23 KJV
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
4 These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
9 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever thro
ughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
33 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37 These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
So the fourteenth, at even or sunset, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, took place just before Jesus was being put into the tomb. Then the fifteenth was the first day of unleavened bread, it would have started at sunset with an annual Sabbath,” Isaac was working out the details in his mind as he talked.
“Yes,” affirmed Adam. “That is why the Jews wanted the legs, of the three crucified that day, to be broken and their bodies taken down. They didn't want them hanging on their crosses on their high Sabbath day of unleavened bread. It's in John's account of that day.”
“I remember reading it, but I never made the connection until you pointed it out now. I wondered why it would have been a ‘high Sabbath’, but never took the time to find out. Let me quickly look it up,” Isaac said, as he starter to type on the lap top's keyboard. “There are two sections of scripture mentioning it being the Passover, and one about it being a high day,” enthusiastically Isaac begins to read them to Adam.
John 19:31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
John 19:14
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
John 18:28
Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgement: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgement hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.”
“Ya. See, those verses tell us it was the preparation day for an annual Sabbath, not a weekly one. These annual Sabbaths could take place on any day of the week not just Saturday, so the preparation day doesn't have to be a Friday.”
“This is all very new and confusing to me,” Isaac complained “I don’t really get it. Friday and Sunday Easter is much easier to understand.”
“OK, let’s go through it again and see if I can explain it better,” Adam said, sounding like an elementary school teacher. “We know that every Sabbath has a preparation day, because you have to rest from your labour on the Sabbath.”
“Ya,ya,ya, I get that part. It’s all the mumbo jumbo about what day you start to count on that gets me,” Isaac said, still complaining. “That’s what I don’t get.”
Smiling broadly Adam Joked, “I bet I can tell you, within three days, the day you were born.”
Thinking he was being made fun off Isaac replied angrily. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Wednesday,” Adam said confidently, brushing off Isaac’s angry response.
“You’re daft, March third.” Taking a moment to think about it Isaac soon saw the significance of Adam’s riddle. “Oh I think I get it now. Because of the number of days in a year, any one day, like my birthday, might land, depending on the year, on a different day of the weak.”
“Exactly,” Adam said calmly. “Preparation day could be any day of the weak for one of the annual Sabbaths. It was also a ‘special’ preparation day, because on the afternoon of that preparation day, the Passover lamb was sacrificed before the first Sabbath of unleavened bread.”
Scratching his head slowly Isaac looked at Adam with new eyes, uttering a slow, “Yyaaa. I think I get it now. Why does it have to be so confusing?”
“Why should it be simple?” Adam questioned. “Like you said earlier, you’re not all that familiar with Old Testament Holy Days.
So let’s start again. We should be able to have all of the scriptures fit into place after adding up the six, day and night segments, revealing the preparation day,” Adam speculates. “Going by the idea of any portion of a day could count for a day and by Jesus using three days and nights as his sign we can count backwards three light and three dark segments to find the day he was crucified on.”
“OK, that would work,” Isaac added. “So we have Sunday before sunrise, or Saturday night to us, that's the first dark part, because the first day of the weak starts at sunset, not at midnight.”
“Saturday light part,” chimed in Adam. “I'll count the daylight portions, you count the nights.”
“That will help make it easy to keep track. Friday dark is two,” agreed Isaac.
“Friday daylight is two,” Said Adam, taking his turn.
“Thursday night makes three,” Isaac says, holding up three of his fingers.
“And some portion of Thursday late afternoon completes at least some of each of the day and night parts, of the three days and three nights Jesus had given as a sign,” Adam says.
Going on Adam ads speculatively, “It also allows for Sunday to be the third day as a figure of speech, since everything took place. The disciples wouldn’t have been finished taking care of Jesus until they rolled the stone sealing the tomb, which would have been after sunset. They probably didn't start counting until they were finished with their work.”
Isaac nods his head in agreement. “That would make for two Sabbaths in a row. Thursday at even of the fourteenth for the preparation day Passover, then Friday the fifteenth for the first day of Unleavened Bread Sabbath, followed by the weekly Saturday Sabbath. The Women show up Sunday before daylight only to find an empty tomb and that Jesus has already risen. That should satisfy all of the scripture references we found,” Isaac stops talking and a pondering look comes over his face. “I wonder why we don't keep it like that?” he says softly to himself.
“What does it matter when we celebrate?” Adam says loudly. Speaking passionately Adam continues. “We are free to worship at any time. Being tied up in laws and time schedules misses the whole point of grace. Jesus freed us from all of that, we can't let ourselves get tied up in the legalism of, one size fits all. I may not believe all that you believe and vice-versa. But it doesn't really matter as long as we believe in and receive Jesus as our Savior.
That's why I disagre
ed with your statements about when Jesus died and was resurrected. Your statements left no room for any other possibilities, or beliefs. You said it had to be a Friday burial, with a Sunday morning resurrection. We shouldn’t deny the power of God because our traditions don't fully reflect God's truth in every way. Jesus was resurrected just as he said he would be. After three days. We need to give others their freedom of thought as to how they add it up and to follow God's calling in their lives.
We can rest assured that Jesus did rise as he said he would and fulfilled his prophesy. Otherwise the Pharisees would not have tried to make it look like the disciples stole the body of Jesus. They would have just said he didn't come back to life as he had predicted and didn't fulfill his proof of messiah-ship. Why bother bribing the Roman guards? The Pharisees would have kept their beloved money.”
Isaac is thoughtfully quiet for a moment, then speaks. “I suppose I should have said, I believe, or that, Christians choose to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on these days.”
“How about, some Christians choose to celebrate,” interrupted Adam.
“Oh ya, I guise that would be better,” said Isaac respectfully. “It's all about making your communication inclusive isn't it?”
“It's all about making your thoughts inclusive,” corrected Adam. “If your heart is there, your words will reflect it. Legalism is exclusive and divisive. Love is inclusive and covers a multitude of sin.”
“I guess I could work on my subtleties,” declared Isaac. “I wonder why the Church ever started keeping Friday and Sunday to commemorate the resurrection.”
“Probably because the Jews persecuted them for not keeping the Law of Moses,” Adam Guesses. “I would have wanted to get as far away from that Jewish legalism as I could. Paul talks about Jewish converts telling others they had to be circumcised and follow the laws of Moses. It seems like, not everyone fully understood the grace Jesus brought to us. It wasn't until in the three hundreds, with Constantine, that the dates for Easter and a Sunday Sabbath were instituted.
Easter isn't practiced when it is because that's the biblical story, any more than the Christmas story. Our Christmas traditions are totally accurate to the birth of Jesus. The ancient corporate Christian church set out the traditions most modern Christians keep today. Most Christians don't know their own church history; they think their religious holidays are prescribed in the Bible by God. When in actual fact today’s Christian traditions were thought up by Christian leaders for a variety of reasons. After all if you are going to leave one set of traditions behind, you need another set of traditions to replace them with.”
Reaching down to the floor Adam picks up a grubby half empty plastic water bottle. Twisting off the cap using the fingers from the same hand he held it with, he takes a sip of water from it, threading the cap back on in reverse order, he drops the bottle back to the floor.
“But that doesn't make keeping them wrong. You said yourself Jesus freed us from the law and it's through grace we are saved, we are free to worship God whenever we think best,” Isaac sharply pointed out.
“Yes, we are free and it isn't important when we worship God, only that we do,” Adam points out. “If it was important to God that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus at a specific time, he would have told us how and when to do it, like he did with the Holy Days. The fact that we can come up with three likely scenarios for how things played out at the resurrection, show that it has been left as a bit of a mystery. God has shown that he can be very precise on how and when to worship him in the past. It seems to me that he isn't looking for people to follow external rules and laws, but follow his spirit, growing in the fruit of love.”
Continuing, Adam says forcefully. “So now that you agree that it isn't important the day or time we worship and you understand some of the history around the days kept as special, STOP being legalistic and judgmental of those who don't believe the same way as you.
Oh and before I forget, John was is the spirit, on the Lord's day, refers to the day that Jesus returns to the earth at his second coming. Not Sunday,” Adam's voice is animated as he talks to Isaac. His head twisting back and forth, taking quick glances at the empty highway in front of him.
Isaac squirms in his seat as if he was a hot stove. His face starts to redden as the reality of his religiously superior attitudes start to become clear to him. He is not ready to admit defeat to this trucker quite yet though. He still had some spiritual ammo left to fire and he was sure that it would be accurate.
Chapter 4
Game On