A Common Fallacy 

Memory Verse: "Jesus answered and said unto them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' " (John 2:19).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 12.

Introduction: Jesus told the Jews, ". . . the scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). In the book of Matthew, over a dozen times it is stated that this or that was done "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken" by the Scriptures, by the prophets, etc. (See Matthew 1:22; 2:15,23; 4:14; 8:17; 13:14,35; 21:4; 24:34; 26:54,56; 27:9,35.)
  It is inconceivable that Jesus would be concerned with, and show such preoccupation with proving that the prophets were of God and with assuring believers that their faith was not in vain, then make a prophecy of his own and fail to bring it to pass in as exacting a manner.
  It is readily admitted that the miracle of Jonah was not the fact that Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, but that he was alive after the ordeal. The miracle of Christ's death is His resurrection, not the entombment, nor the length of the entombment. We could be guilty of being more concerned with dead facts than the Living Christ.
  Did Jesus fulfill the sign of the prophet Jonah? We affirm, emphatically, that He did; although many Christian people do not understand the sign or its fulfillment. The common concept of the time Christ was buried and was in the tomb, is in no wise, a fulfillment of His sign to be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The Bible does not say that Jonah was in the custody of the sailors and in the belly of the whale a combined total of three days and three nights. It says, "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17).
  Most Christian people, however, believe that Jesus was in the heart of the earth less than two nights and one day, instead of three days and three nights.

Lesson Questions:

1. What Sabbath was being prepared for, on the day of Christ's crucifixion? John 19:14,31.

2. Read Matthew 28:1 and Luke 23:54. Consider the fact that the Greek word for "dawn toward" is the same as that for "drew on." This being true, using the meaning absolutely required by context in Luke 23:54, what is the meaning of Matthew 28:1?

3. If one were to change the punctuation of Mark 16:9, by placing a comma after "risen," and removing the one after "week," what difference would it make in meaning? Write it out the changed way. Note: The punctuation of the Bible is not a part of the original manuscript, having been supplied centuries later.

4. At what times of what days were visits made to the empty tomb of Christ? Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1.

5. Is it possible for the visit recorded in John 20:1 to come before the one recorded in Matthew 28:1? Consider the events narrated in each chapter.

6. How many women went to visit the tomb, according to each account? Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1.

7. How many angels were seen by the women according to each account, and where were they? Matthew 28:2; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4; John 20:12.

8. With different time of day (in the end of the Sabbath, still dark Sunday morning, and at the rising of the sun Sunday morning); with different numbers of women making the visits (two, three, at least five, and one); with different numbers of angels doing different things (one sitting outside, one sitting inside, two standing inside, two sitting inside); and with the disciples involved in different ways, how could these be the same visits to the tomb?

9. When the two disciples said to Jesus, "and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done," could they have been meaning to say, "therefore we expected Him to have been resurrected today?" Luke 24:21. Where would the believers have been on Sunday morning if they expected His resurrection then?

10. If Christ was resurrected "in the end of the Sabbath" (Matthew 28:1), as the first day of the week "drew on," and if Christ was three days and three nights in the tomb, on what day of the week was He crucified?