Thursday, April 09, 2009  Good Friday Should Probably Be Good
Thursday  One of the questions I often receive from people when
I teach on evidence for the resurrection or apparent
contradictions in the Bible concerns Jesus' statement regarding
the number of days and nights He would spend in the grave. The
question goes like this:  “Jesus said He would spend three days
and three nights in the grave (see Matthew 12:40) so how was
that fulfilled if Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on
Sunday morning? That seems at best like three days and two
nights, but Jesus specifically said three nights.”  Well, what
do we say to that? Critics of the Bible point to this passage in
Matthew 12:40, then look at all of the “Good Friday” services
taking place, then do the math and conclude that Jesus couldn’t
count or that the gospel writers erred. This is one of the most
commonly cited “apparent contradictions” in the Bible. Well, the
critics have overlooked something (as is often the case).  It's
very likely that Jesus was