“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” Matthew 12:40
The whole issue is about ONE THING: Did Christ tell the truth, or did He lie? Did He bear false witness? There would have been no reason for Christ to say He would be IN THE TOMB three days and three nights if it were not so. To me, the situation is this: are we going to accept the witness of Christ, or are we going to let man deny the witness of Christ by what man says?
In giving a sign, one is setting forth that which indicates fact, not a misnomer. Had someone in “that evil and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39) began to rethink what Christ said, and believed Christ’s sign, the one and only sign, that Christ would BE IN the heart of the earth three days and three nights, when would he start looking for Christ’s resurrection, after Christ was placed in the tomb? One day and two nights later, etc.?
If Christ was crucified on Friday, and if a religionist of that day was to repent and believe Christ, he would expect Christ to resurrect three days and three nights after He was placed in the tomb, JUST AS HE SAID! So, when would he expect Christ’s resurrection? He certainly would not be looking for Christ’s resurrection early Sunday morning, because at best, that would be half or less of the time that Christ said He would be in the tomb.
Christ said the three days and three nights were the time period he would be IN the heart of the earth. So to believe Christ, rather than some religionist, we accept the fact that the three days and three nights was the period of time Christ’s body was in the tomb, rather than just a range of time that religionists can make out of it what they want to.
To let Christ be true and every man a liar, (Romans 3:4) we accept the fact that He was in the tomb (in the heart of the earth) three days and three nights, just as He said. Should Christ have been crucified on Friday, and was risen before the Christians came to the tomb early Sunday morning, His sign that He gave, His Word that He spoke, His testimony that He gave that He would be “in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” would be false, yes, a lie!
This whole issue can only be resolved by simply believing Christ! If a person is disposed for any reason not to believe the TRUTH that Jesus Himself spoke, certainly there is no grounds or reason to think they will be otherwise persuaded.
All false religion, and all deceit depends on people being willing to follow another line of reasoning other than just go with what God’s Word says. This is how the fall occurred in the Garden of Eden.
The QUESTION to ask and answer is, DO YOU BELIEVE CHRIST, OR NOT?
SHARING
