The infallible sign Jesus said would prove that He was who He said He was and that He had come to do what He had said He had come to do, for the reason He said He had come to do it was His physical resurrection from the grave.
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- In John 2:19-22, Jesus predicted His resurrection when He said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!”
- Like many today, these religious leaders had their minds so focused on their physical temple they didn’t realize Jesus was referring to His body: His death and His resurrection.
- In Matthew 12:39-40, when the scribes and Pharisees asked Him for a sign, Jesus said: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Now you understand why skeptics doubt the truth about Jonah being resurrected from the whale. That historical event set the pattern for Jesus’ death and resurrection; the infallible proof that He was the Savior sent from God. About two-thirds of the people in the world have never heard the gospel, and therefore they can’t believe in what they haven’t heard.
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- But there is a growing majority of those who have heard the gospel who are not willing to believe in what they have heard.
- However, cheapening the gospel to make it more acceptable or repackaging the gospel into movies and other forms of media to make it more relevant is not going to cause them to change their heart.
In a letter to Pastors, R.C. Sproul, Director of Ligonier Ministries. said, “We’re at a crucial point in history!”
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- He went on to explain how, while the gospel is being joyfully received in Africa, Asia, and South America, it is being rejected in the West. Dr. Sproul said:
- “We are seeing a rejection of our Christian heritage. Recent court decisions, political moves, and media depictions of Christians seem to be pointing to the day when our culture will not be afraid to say: ‘If you are an evangelical, you aren’t welcome here.’ Those who remain devoted to Christ now find themselves in churches with a shallow understanding of the Person and work of Christ because the gospel is being forgotten.”
Now, with that backdrop, I want you to look at the chart: “Three Days and Three Nights”!
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- The majority of Protestants and Catholics believe Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday afternoon, which is why they refer to it as “Good Friday,” and then they believe He resurrected from the grave on Sunday morning.
- No one disputes the grave was empty on Sunday morning, but there are questions on exactly when He was crucified and then exactly when He resurrected.
- If He was crucified and buried on Friday and then resurrected on Sunday, how could He have been in the grave three days and three nights, which He said would prove His deity?
- Regardless of how it is calculated, you can’t get three days and three nights from Friday to Sunday, and yet that’s what the Church has been taught and continues to teach! Why?
- For the sake of seasonal uniformity!
In 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicaea, Church leaders separated the date of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the actual, historical and prophetical event and connected it to the pagan festivals of spring and the Feast of Ishtar or “Easter”!
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- Now, 1700 years later, the celebration of Easter has become more important than the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But God didn’t change His calendar in 325 A.D.
God’s prophetic calendar has always been based upon the Seven Jewish Feasts, and it still is today.
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- The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were not according to man’s schedule, even though it might have appeared that way to the Jewish Religious Leaders.
- The date and time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were according to the pattern God established with the Hebrews as they were encamped at Mount Sinai.
- All seven feasts are listed in chronological order in Leviticus 23, and they are called “feasts of the Lord,” which means they were not established by the Hebrews or Moses but by God.
- They were holy convocations that took place at appointed times each year, and it was not within the purview of the Hebrews to adjust the dates to fit their schedule.
- No, Christians aren’t required to keep these feasts because they have been and are being fulfilled in Christ, as we will see, but we should know them, for while they were acceptable expressions of repentance and worship unto God for the Jews, they were “types” or illustrations of what Christ must do to fulfill God’s plan for our salvation.
Join us tomorrow as we continue our journey “From Gethsemane to Golgotha to Glory!”