"the evening and the morning," that is, the night and the day, 66 were the first day;" (Gen. i. 5.) and as the saint spake unto Daniel, "unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings," (Dan. viii. 14.) intending thereby so many days: nor must we imagine that those three days were completed after our Saviour's death, and before he rose; but that upon the first of those three days he died, and upon the last of those three days he rose. As we find that "eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child;” (Luke ii. 21.) and yet Christ was born upon the first, and circumcised upon the last of those eight days:* nor were there any more than six whole days between the day of his birth and the day of his circumcision; the one upon the 25th of December, the other upon the 1st of January. And as the Jews were wont to speak, the priests in their courses by the appointment of David were to minister before the Lord eight days, whereas every week a new course succeeded, and there were but seven days service for each course (the sabbath on which they began, and the sabbath on which they went off, being both reckoned in the eight days); so the day on which the Son of God was crucified, dead, and buried, and the day on which he revived and rose again, were included in the number of three days. And thus did our Saviour rise from the dead upon the third day properly, and was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth synecdochically.† the evening and the morning were the second day," &c.) being three days in the language of the Scripture are said to be fulfilled when the third day is come, though it be not wholly passed over; it followeth, that to be three days dead, or to be three days and three nights dead, in the Hebrew language, cannot necessarily infer any more, than that the person spoken of did continue dead till the third day. * As we read of the circumcision of our Saviour, ¿πλýoInoav ǹμépaɩ ỏкTú· Luke ii. 21. so of Zachary, wç ¿πλýσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς λειτουργίας αὐτοῦ· Luke i. 23. and though the number OT were not expressed, yet it is to be understood according to the language of the Scripture in other cases, and of Josephus particularly in this: Aurage δὲ μίαν πατριὰν διακονεῖσθαι τῷ Θεῷ ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ, ἀπὸ σαββάτου ἐπὶ σάββαTOV. Antiq. Jud. 1. vii. c. 11. + So St. Jerome on Jonas ii. 1.' Et erat Jonas in ventre piscis tribus diebus et tribus noctibus. Hujus loci mysterium in Evangelio Dominus exponit; et superfluum est, vel idipsum, vel aliud dicere quam exposuit ipse qui passus est. Hoc solum quærimus, quomodo tres dies et tres noctes fuerit This is sufficient for the clearing the precise distance of Christ's resurrection from his crucifixion, expressed in the determinate number of three days: the next consideration is, what day of the week that third day was, on which Christ did actually rise, and what belongeth to that day in relation to his resurrection. Two characters there are which will evidently prove the particularity of this third day; the first is the description of that day in respect of which this is called the third, after the manner already delivered and confirmed; the second is the evangelist's expression of the time on which Christ rose. The character of the day in which our Saviour died is undeniable, for it is often expressly called the preparation ;* as hora sexta, et spiritum reddidit hora nona. Sepultus est autem cum jam sero factum esset: sic sese habent verba evangelii, quod intelligitur in fine diei. Unde libet ergo incipias, etiamsi alia ratio reddi potest, quomodo non sit contra evangelium Johannis, ut hora tertia ligno suspensus intelligatur; totum diem primum non comprehendis. Ergo a parte extrema totus computabitur, sicut tertius a parte prima. Nox enim usque ad diluculum, quo Domini resurrectio declarata est, ad tertium diem pertinet.' De Trinit. 1. iv. c. 6. And after him Leo the Great: 'Ne turbatos Discipulorum animos longa moestitudo cruciaret, denunciatam tridui moram tam mira celeritate breviavit, ut dum ad integrum secundum diem pars primi novissima et pars tertii prima concurrit, et aliquantum temporis spatio decideret, et nibil dierum numero deperiret.' De Resur. Domini, Serm. 1. c. 2. vid. Isidor. Pelus. 1.i. Epist. 114. *Паρаσкεvý), 'Parasceue interpretatur præparatio,' saith St. Augustin; de consen. Evang. 1. iii. §. 50. and in the Greek language it signifieth generally any preparation of what nature soever: but in this case it signifieth rather the time in which preparation was made, as Luke xxiii. 54. Kai ǹμéρa žv πapaσkevn and that preparation among the Jews for the sabbath, as St. Mark xv. 42. 'Erεi v παρασκευή, ὅ ἐστι προσάββατον· and in the edict of Augustus Cæsar: 'Eyγύας τε μὴ ὁμολογεῖν ἐν σάββασιν ή τῇ πρὸ ταύτης παρασκευῇ ἀπὸ ὥρας ἐνvárny Joseph. Jud. Ant. 1. xvi. c. 10. which is well expressed by Synesius, ep. 4. Ημέρα μὲν οὖν ἦν, ἥντινα ἄγουσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι παρασκευὴν, τὴν δὲ νύ 6 κτα τῇ μετ ̓ αὐτὴν ἡμέρᾳ λογίζονται καθ' ἣν οὐδενὶ θέμις ἐστὶν ἐνεργὸν ἔχειν τὴν χεῖρα, ἀλλὰ τιμῶντες διαφερόντως αὐτὴν ἄγουσιν ἀπραξίαν. This παρασκευὴ οἱ the Hebrews was answerable to the cœna pura of the Gentiles, as the old glossary,Cana pura, Tроσáßßaтоv: and in Gloss. Latino-Arabico, Parasccue coena pura, id est, præparatio quæ fit pro sabbato.' From whence some of the fathers so interpret the eves of the Jewish sabbaths, as Tertullian : Dies observatis et menses et tempora et annos et sabbata, ut opinor, et coenas puras et jejunia et dies magnos.' Adv. Marcion. 1. v. c. 4. Acceleratam vult intelligi sepulturam, ne advesperasceret; quando jam propter parasceuen, quam coenam puram Judæi Latine usitatius apud nos vocant, facere tale quid not licebat.' S. August. Tract. 120. in Ioan. §. 5. And the ancient translators of the Greek fathers did use the Latin cœna pura for the Greek Tapaσkεvý. As the interpreter of St. Chrysostom, Serm. in Natalem Ioan. Bapt. Qua enim die conceptus est Dominus, eadem die et passus est: eadem ipsa die coena pura fuit, in qua et luna quarta decima occurrit.' So likewise the old interpreter of Irenæus: Parasceue, quæ dicitur coena pura, id est, sexta feria, quam et Dominus ostendit passus in ea.' Iren. adv. Hares. 1. v. c. 23. Mosen in sexta die dixisse, quæ est coena pura.' l. i. c. 14. §. 6. As therefore the cana pura among the Gentiles was that time in which they prepared and sanctified themselves for their sacred solemnities, so the Jews did make use of that word to signify their sanctification, and of the Greek παρασκευὴ to testify the preparation of all things used on their holy we read, they therefore laid Jesus in the garden, "because of the Jews preparation-day, for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.” (John xix. 42.) And "the next day that followed the preparation, the chief priests and pharisees asked a guard. (Matt. xxvii. 62.) Now this day of preparation was the day immediately before the sabbath or some other great feast of the Jews called by them the eve of the sabbath or the feast; and therefore called the preparation, because on that day they did prepare whatsoever was necessary for the celebration of the following festival, according to that command in the case of manna, "It shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." (Exod. xvi. 5.) This preparation being used both before the sabbath and other festivals, at this time it had both relations: for, first, it was the preparation to a sabbath, as appeareth by those words of St. Mark, "Now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath; (xv. 42.) and those of St. Luke, "That day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on." (xxiii. 54.) Secondly, It was also the eve of a festival, even of the great day of the paschal solemnity, as appeareth by St. John, who saith, when Pilate sat down in the judgment-seat, "it was the preparation of the Passover." (xix. 14.) And that the great paschal festivity did then fall upon the sabbath, so that the same day was then the preparation or eve of both, appeareth yet farther by the same evangelist, saying, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day, for that sabbath was a high day;" (Ibid. 31.) that is, not only an ordinary or weekly sabbath, but also a great festival, even a paschal sabbath. Now being the sabbath of the Jews was constant and fixed to the seventh day of the week, it followeth that the preparation or eve thereof must necessarily be the sixth day of the third, Ny ערובתא,the fifth חמשתא,Parascene Latine preparatio thefourth the sabbath. Thus in σkεvý, in Latin cœna pura, were used by the Jews for the same day, the Friday or sixth of the week; but not for that alone, but for the eve of any great festival which answered to a sabbath; so that they had their days, upon the eve thereof, or day be- the second, fore. est; sed isto verbo Græco libentius the eve, N utuntur Judæi in hujusmodi observa- Hebrew, in Greek mapationibus, etiam qui magis Latine quam Græce loquuntur,' saith St. Augustin, Tract. 117. in Ioan. §. 2. So that the same father testifieth that the Jews, speaking Latin in his time, did some times use parasceue, sometimes cœna pura, for their eve of preparation. , and 10, as Otherwise in their own language they called it or y; by which generally they understood the sixth day of the week, the day before the sab bath. For so they reckoned the days of the week in Bereshith Rabba, kawa the first of the week, παρασκευὴ τοῦ σαββάτου, and παραdrev Tov Háoxa. And when a great festival fell upon the sabbath, then as the festivities were both one day, so the eve to both was the same Friday. And such was the day of preparation on which our Saviour was crucified. the week; which, from the day and the infinite benefit accruing to us by the passion upon that day, we call Good Friday. And from that day being the sixth of one, the third must consequently be the eighth, or the first of the next week.* The next character of this third day is the expression of the time of the resurrection in the evangelists. "When the sabbath was past," saith St. Mark, which was the day after the preparation on which he was buried, "Very early in the morning the first day of the week." (xvi. 1, 2.) "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week," saith St. Matthew. (xxviii. 1.) "Upon the first day of the week early in the morning," saith St. Luke.. (xxiv. 1.) "The first day of the week early, when it was yet dark," saith St. John. (xx. 1.) By all which indications it appeareth that the body of Christ being laid in the sepulchre on the day of the preparation, which was the eve of the sabbath, and continuing there the whole sabbath following, which was the conclusion of that week, and farther resting there still and remaining dead the night which followed that sabbath, but belonged to the first day of the next week, about the end of that night early in the morning, was revived by the accession and union of his soul, and rose again out of the sepulchre. Whereby it came to pass, that the obligation of the day, which was then the sabbath, died and was buried with him, but in a manner by a diurnal transmutation revived again at his resurrection. Well might that day, which carried with it a remembrance of that great deliverance from the Egyptian servitude, resign all the sanctity or solemnity due unto it, when that morning once appeared, upon which a far greater redemption was confirmed. One day of seven was set apart by God 6 * Ορᾶτε, πῶς λέγει, οὐ τὰ νῦν σάβ- Cumn in septimo die Sabbati nomen βατα ἐμοὶ δεκτὰ, ἀλλὰ ἃ πεποίηκα, ἐν sit et bservantia constituta, tamen ᾧ καταπαύσας τὰ πάντα ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας nos in octava die, quæ et ipsa prima ὀγδόης ποιήσω. ὅ ἐστιν ἄλλου κόσμου est, perfecti Sabbati festivitate letaάoxýv diò κai äyoμev tǹv ýμépav Tv mur.' S. Hilar. Com. in Psal. Prol. ὀγδόην εἰς εὐφροσύνην. ἐν ᾗ καὶ ὁ Ἰη- §. 12. Hæc octava sententia, quæ σοῦς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ φανερωθεὶς ad caput redit perfectumque homiἀνέβη εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς. Barnabæ nem declarat, significatur fortasse et Epist. c. 15. 'H μèv ovv tõv πvevμa- circumcisione octava die in veteri τικῶν ἀνάπαυσις ἐν κυριακῇ ἐν ὀγδοάδει йкνρLAKÝ оνоμάlerai. Theodorus, Epist. 1. Ἡ δὲ ἐντολὴ τῆς περιτομῆς κελεύουσα Tỹ ỏydóŋ ǹμéρg έK TAVтòs weρITÉμvεiv тà γεννώμενα, τύπος ἦν τῆς ἀληθινῆς περιτομῆς, ἣν περιετμήθημεν ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης καὶ πονηρίας, διὰ τοῦ ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἀναστάντος ἐν μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων ἡμέρᾳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυριοῦ ἡμῶν. Μία γὰρ τῶν σαββάτων πρώτη μένουσα τῶν πασῶν ἡμερῶν κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν πάλιν τῶν πασῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς κυκλοφορίας, ἐγδύη καλεῖται, καὶ πρώτη οὖσα μένει. Justin. Mart. Dial. cum Tryphone, p. 260. Testamento, et Domini resurrectione post Sabbatum, quod est utique octavus idemque primus dies. S. August. de Serm. Dom. in monte, l. 1. §. 12. Καὶ τὸ ἔθος καὶ τὸ πρέπον ἡμᾶς ἀπαιτεῖ πᾶσαν Κυριακὴν τιμᾷν καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ πανηγυρίζειν, ἐπειδήπερ ἐν ταύτῃ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν ἡμῖν ἐπρυτάνευσε· διὸ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς καὶ πρώτη κέκληται, ὡς ἀρχὴ ζωῆς ἡμῶν ὑπάρχουσα, καὶ ὀγδόη, ἅτε ὑπερβεβηκυῖα τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων σαββατισμόν. Theophilus Alexand. Edict. in imitation of his rest upon the creation of the world, and that seventh day, which was sanctified to the Jews, was reckoned in relation to their deliverance from Egypt. At the second delivery of the Law we find this particular cause assigned, "Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm, therefore the Lord thy God commandeth thee to keep the sabbath-day." (Deut. v. 15.) Now this could not be any special reason why the Jews should observe a seventh day; first, Because in reference to their redemption, the number of seven had no more relation than any other number; secondly, Because the reason of a seventh day was before rendered in the body of the commandment itself. There was therefore a double reason rendered by God why the Jews should keep that sabbath which they did; one special, as to a seventh day, to shew they worshipped that God, who was the Creator of the World; the other individual, as to that seventh day, to signify their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, from which that seventh day was dated. Being then upon the resurrection of our Saviour a greater deliverance and far more plenteous redemption was wrought than that of Egypt, and therefore a greater observance was due unto it than to that, the individual determination of the day did pass upon a stronger reason to another day, always to be repeated by a seventh return upon the reference to the creation. As there was a change in the year at the coming out of Egypt, by the command of God; "This month," the month of Abib, "shall be unto you the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you;" (Exod. xii. 2.) so at this time of a more eminent deliverance a change was wrought in the hebdomadal or weekly account, and the first day is made the seventh, or the seventh after that first is sanctified. The first day, because on that Christ rose from the dead; and the seventh day from that first for ever, because he who rose upon that day, was the same God who created the world and rested on the seventh day: "for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in the earth, all things were created by him and for him." (Col. i. 16.) This day did the apostles from the beginning most religiously observe, by their meeting together for holy purposes, and to perform religious duties. The first observation was performed providentially, rather by the design of God than any such inclination or intention of their own: for "the same day," saith the evangelist, that is the day on which Christ rose from the dead, "at evening, being the first day of the week, the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews." (John xx. 19.) The second observation was performed voluntarily, "for after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them." (John xx. 26.) The first day of the week |