after death typically represented both in the distance and the day. And now in reference to both resemblances, we shall clearly shew, that our Jesus, whom we believe, and have already proved to be the true Messias, was so long and no longer dead, as to rise the third day; and did so order the time of his death, that the third day on which he rose, might be that very day, on which the sheaf was waved, the day after that sabbath mentioned in the Law. As for the distance between the resurrection and the death of Christ, it is to be considered, First, generally in itself, as it is some space of time: Secondly, as it is that certain and determinate space of three days. Christ did not, would not, suddenly arise, lest any should doubt that he ever died. It was as necessary for us that he should die, as that he should live; and we, which are to believe them both, were to be assured as well of the one as of the other. That therefore we may be ascertained of his death, he did some time continue it. He might have descended from the cross before he died; but he would not, because he had undertaken to die for us.* He might have revived himself upon the cross after he had given up the ghost,† and before Joseph came to take him down; but he would not, lest as Pilate questioned whether he were already dead, so we might doubt whether he ever died. The reward of his resurrection was immediately due upon his passion, but he deferred the receiving of it, lest either of them being questioned, they both might lose their efficacy and intended operation. It was therefore necessary that some space should intercede between them. Again, because Christ's exaltation was due unto his humiliation, and the first step of that was his resurrection; because the apostles after his death were to preach repentance and remission of sins through his blood, who were no way qualified to preach any such doctrine till he rose again; because the Spirit could not be sent till he ascended, and he could not ascend into heaven till he rose from the grave: therefore the space between his resurrection and passion could not be long; nor can there be any reason assigned why it should any longer be deferred, when the verity of his death was once sufficiently proved. Lest therefore his disciples should be long held in suspense, or any person after many days should doubt whether * De cruce descendere poterat, sed differebat ut de sepulcro resurgeret.' S. August. in Ioan. Tract. 12. §. 6. † Ἠδύνατο μὲν καὶ παρ' αὐτὰ τοῦ θα· várov To owμa diɛɣɛîpai kaì máλiv dɛïžai ζῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο καλῶς προϊδὼν ὁ Σωτὴρ οὐ πεποίηκε· Εἶπε γὰρ ἄν τις μηδ' ὅλως αὐτὸ τεθνηκέναι, ἢ μηδὲ τέλειον αὐτοῦ τὸν θάνατον ἐψαυκέναι, εἰ παρ' avrà rýv áváotaoiv v kπideížas; Táχα δὲ καὶ ἐν ἴσῳ τοῦ διαστήματος ὄντος τοῦ τε θανάτου καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἄδηλον ἐγίνετο τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας kλéos. "O9ev iva deixdÿ verpòv тò owμa, καὶ μίαν ὑπέμεινε μέσην ὁ Λόγος, καὶ τριταῖον τοῦτο πᾶσιν ἔδειξεν ἄφθαρτον. S. Athanas. de Incarn. Verb. §. 26. Kai τρεῖς δὴ ἡμέρας διὰ τοῦτο συνεχώρησεν, ἵνα πιστευθῇ ὅτι ἀπέθανεν, οὐ γὰρ τῷ σταυρῷ αὐτῷ μόνον βεβαιοῦται, καὶ τῷ πάντων ὄψει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ τῶν ǹμɛpwv. S. Chrysost. Homil. 43. in Matt. he rose with the same body with which he died, or no; that he might shew himself alive while the soldiers were watching at the grave, and while his crucifixion was yet in the mouths of the people, he would not stay many days before he rose.* Some distance then of time there was, but not great, between his crucifixion and his resurrection. The particular length of this space is determined in the third day: but that expression being capable of some diversity of interpretation, it is not so easily concluded, how long our Saviour was dead or buried before he revived or rose again. It is written expressly in St. Matthew, that " as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so should the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (xii. 40.) From whence it seemeth to follow, that Christ's body was for the space of three whole days and three whole nights in the grave, and after that space of time arose from thence. And hence some have conceived, that being our Saviour rose on the morning of the first day of the week, therefore it must necessarily follow, that he died and was buried on the fifth day of the week before, that is, on Thursday; otherwise it cannot be true, that he was in the grave three nights. But this place, as express as it seems to be, must be considered with the rest, in which the same truth is delivered: as when our Saviour said, "After three days I will rise again;' (Matt. xxvii. 63. Mark viii. 31.) and again, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it up ;" (John ii. 19.) or, "within three days I will build another made without hands." (Mark xiv. 58.) But that which is most used, both in our Saviour's prediction before his death, and in the apostles' language after the resurrection, is, that he "rose from the dead the third day." (Matt. xvi. 21. xvii. 23. xx. 19. Mark ix. 31. x. 34. Luke ix. 22. xviii. 33. xxiv. 7. 46. Acts x. 40. 1 Cor. xv. Now, according to the language of the Scriptures, if Christ were slain and rose the third day, the day in which he died is one, and the day on which he rose is another, and consequently there could be but one day and two nights between the day of his death and of his resurrection. As in the case of circumcision, * Ἕνεκα μὲν οὖν τοῦ δειχθῆναι τὸν θάνατον ἐν τῷ σώματι τριταῖον ἀνέστησε τοῦτο· ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἐπὶ πολὺ διαμεῖναν καὶ φθαρὲν τέλεον ὕστερον ἀναστήσας ἀπιστηθῇ, ὡς οὐκ αὐτὸ ἀλλ ̓ ἕτερον σῶμα φέρων (ἔμελλε γὰρ ἄν τις καὶ δι' αὐτὸν χρόνον ἀπιστεῖν τῷ φαινομένῳ καὶ ἐπιλανθάνεσθαι τῶν γενομένων)· διὰ τοῦτο οὐ πλείω τῶν τριῶν ἠνέσχετο, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ πολὺ τοὺς ἀκούσαντας αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς · ἀναστάσεως παρείλκυσεν· ἀλλ ̓ ἔτι τῶν ἀκοῶν αὐτῶν ἔναυλον ἐχόντων τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἔτι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν ἐκδεχομένων, καὶ τῆς διανοίας αὐτῶν ἠρτημένης, καὶ ζώντων ἐπὶ γῆς ἔτι, καὶ ἐπὶ τό 4.) πον ὄντων τῶν θανατωσάντων, καὶ μαρτυρούντων περὶ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ Κυριακοῦ σώματος, αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ· υἱὸς ἐν τριταίῳ διαστήματι τὸ γενόμενον νεκρὸν σῶμα ἔδειξεν ἀθάνατον καὶ ἄφθαρτον. S. Athanas. de Incarn. Verb. §. 26. + These several phrases are used; first, that Christ was in the heart of the earth τρεῖς ἡμέρας, καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας ̇ secondly, that he was to rise μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας· thirdly, that he would rebuild this temple ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις, and διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν· and lastly, that he rose τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, which is the most ge neral and constant form of speech. the male child eight days old was to be circumcised, in which the day on which the child was born was one, and the day on which he was circumcised was another, and so there were but six complete days between the day of his birth and the day of his circumcision. The day of Pentecost was the fiftieth day from the day of the wave-offering; but in the number of the fifty days was both the day of the wave-offering and of Pentecost included; as now among the Christians still it is, Whitsunday is now the day of Pentecost, and Easter-day the day of the resurrection, answering to that of the wave-offering; but both these must be reckoned to make the number of fifty days. Christ then, who rose upon the first day of the week (as is confessed by all), died upon the sixth day of the week before: for if he had died upon the fifth, he had risen not upon the third, but the fourth day, as Lazarus did.* Being then it is most certain that our Saviour rose on the third day; being, * Lazarus is said to be rɛrapraĩog four days dead, that is, counting the day on which he died, and the day on which his sister spake so to our Saviour at his sepulchre. And being he was raised then, he rose τῷ τετάρτη ἡμέρᾳ, the fourth day. Our Saviour rose τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, and therefore he was τριταῖος when he rose; and so the fathers call him, as you may observe in the words last cited out of Athanasius, p. 427. † As we read in Plutarch: Zoλevc ὁ Θεσπέσιος ἐξέθανε, καὶ τριταῖος ἤδη περὶ τὰς ταφὰς αὐτὰς ἀνήνεγκε. De sera Numen. Vindict. c. 11. And of that spirit in a boy possessed, who hated all women: Επεὶ ἡ γυνὴ περὶ τὴν εὐνὴν ὕβρισε, τριταίου κειμένου γαμηθεῖσα ἑτέρῳ. Philostrat. de Vit. Apoll. Tyan. 1. iii. e. 12. What this Tpiratos is, the Greek grammarians will teach us. Пpòc μèv rò róσa ἀπαντᾷ τὸ τρία τυχὸν ἢ τέσσαρα, πρὸς δὲ τὸ πόστον τὸ τρίτον ἢ τέταρτον ἐπὶ τάξεως, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ποσταῖον τὸ τριταῖον ἢ τεταρταῖον· οἷον πρὸς τὸ,ποσταῖος ἀπ ̓ οὐρανοῦ πάρει; ἀπαντήσει τὸ τριταῖος τυχὸν ἢ τεταρταῖος, ἤγουν τρίτην ἡμέραν ἔχω ἀφ ̓ οὗ πάρειμι ἢ τετάρτην. Schol. Eurip. Hecuba, ver. 32. Toiratos then, in respect of his coming to or from any place, is that person which is now the third day in or from that place; which cannot be better interpreted, as to the Greek language, than in the expression of a Tertian fever, called so because the second accession is upon the third day from the first, and the third from the second, &c. In which case there is but one day between, in which the patient is wholly free from his disease: from whence Tapà plav and rpiraïkõç is the same in the language of the physicians. This is excellently expressed by Alexander Aphrodisæus in that problematical question: Διὰ τί ὁ μὲν τριταῖος ἐκ θερμου χυμοῦ γιγνόμενος, καὶ ἔχων μαστίζουσαν καὶ κατελαύνουσαν χολὴν, παρὰ μίαν κινεῖται· ὁ δὲ ἀμφημερινὸς, ἔχων πεδῆσαν τὸ φλέγμα τῇ βαρύτητι καὶ ψυ χρότητι καθ' ἡμέραν· ὁ δὲ τεταρταῖος διὰ dúo nμepuv μεowv, Probl. 10. I. ii. The Quotidian ague hath its accessions καθ' ἡμέραν· the Tertian παρὰ μίαν (sub. ἡμέραν) after one day of perfect intermission; the Quartan dia dvo nμepwv μéowv. In the same manner he mentions the πεμπταῖον, the ἑβδομαῖον, and ἐνναταῖον : in all which this is constantly observable, that the days of perfect intermission are fewer by two, than the number in the name of the fever: for if the fever be a τριταῖος, the day of intermission is but one, if τεταρταῖος two, if πεμπταῖος three, if ἑβδομαῖος five, if ἐνναταῖος seven. Thus if our Saviour were one whole day in the grave, and died the day before, and rose the day after, he did rise τρι raios: if he were two whole days in the grave, he rose TɛTapTalos. So Aristotle: Διὰ τί ὁ νυκτερινὸς βορέας τριταῖος λήγει; πότερον ὅτι ἀπὸ μικρὰς καὶ ἀσθενοῦς ἀρχῆς, ἡ τρίτη δὲ κρίσιμος. Problem. Sect. xxvi. prob. 15. Ty rpíry therefore and rpiratos is the same. For from τρίτη comes τριταῖος, and from TεTáρTY TεTαρratos, in which uépq is always understood. Tεrupταῖος, τετραήμερος. Suidas. Τριταῖος then is τριήμερος πυρετὸς τριταῖος, διὰ according to the constant language of the Greeks and Hebrews, he cannot be said to rise to life on the third day, who died upon any other day, between which and the day of his resurrection there intervened any more than one day: therefore those other forms of speech which are far less frequent, must be so interpreted as to be reduced to this expression of the third day so often reiterated. When therefore we read that after three days he would raise the temple of his body, we must not imagine that he would continue the space of three whole days dead, and then revive himself; but upon the third day he would rise again: as Joseph and his mother, "after three days found him in the temple," (Luke ii. 46.) that is, the third day after he tarried behind in Jerusalem. And when we read, that he was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, we must not look upon these nights as distinct from the days,* but as Moses spake, τρίτης' and τεταρταῖος, διὰ τετάρτης. to speak of the critical days, gives Thus being Christ did certainly rise notice that by a day he understands Ty TρiTη μρα, he did rise according not that space of time, which is opto the Greeks roiraios' and according posed to the night, but that which to the same then he must also rise comprehendeth both the night and παρὰ μίαν, that is, one day only inter- the day: Ἡμέραν δηλονότι παρ' ὅλον τὸν ceding between the day of his death λόγον εἰρησομένοις, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ἡμέρας and the day of his resurrection. αὐτῆς μόνης συνεστῶσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς χρόνου· καθάπερ οὖν, καὶ τὸν μῆνα τριάκοντα ἡμερῶν εἶναι λέγομεν, οὐ μόνον τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ὃν ὑπὲρ τῆς γῆς ὁ ἥλιος φαίνεται, προσαγορεύοντες ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν τῆς νυκτὸς αὐτῷ προστιθέντες, οὕτως δέ πως καὶ τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν πέντε καὶ ἐξήκοντα καὶ τριακοσίων μɛpwv elvai papev. De Crisibus, 1. ii. c. 2. This is observed by St. Basil to be also the custom of the Scriptures, upon these words in Genesis: Εγένετο οὖν ἑσπέρα, ἐγένετο πρωΐ, τὸ ἡμερονύκτιον λέγει· οὐκ ἔτι προσηγόρευσεν, ἡμέρα καὶ νύξ, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐπικρατοῦντι τὴν πᾶσαν προσηγορίαν ἀπένειμε. Ταύτην ἂν καὶ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γραφῇ τὴν συνήθειαν εὕροις, ἐν τῇ τοῦ χρόνου μετρήσει, ἡμέρας ἠριθμημένας, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ νύκτας perd rovnμepwv. In Hexaem. Hom. 2. Now being generally in all computations of time, as St. Basil observeth, ἐν τῇ τοῦ χρόνου μετρήσει, a day was taken for the whole space of day and night; and as the evening and morning signifieth the same, that is a day: and 2300 evenings and mornings no more than so many days; and so three days and three nights in the computation of time signifieth no more than three days, (For “God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day, and * A night and a day in the Hebrew language, not used to compositions, is the same with the Greek νυχΘήμερον οι ἡμερονύκτιον, η ΤΗΝ “The evening and the morning were the first day.” For though " God called the light day, and the darkness he called night," yet at the same time that day and that night was called day. Gen. i. 5. So that the same word in the same verse signifeth both the natural and artificial day. And the evening and the morning are sometimes put instead of the day; as Dan. vii. 14. ΠΕ 12 13 της " Unto two thousand and three hundred days:” and verse 26, 2 pam which we translate, the vision of the evening and the morning," but might be rather translated in reference to the former, the vision of the days, viz. the 2300 days before spoken of. Now though a day be thus diversely taken, yet in the measuring of any time, which containeth in it both days and nights, a day is always taken in that sense, in which it comprehendeth both day and night. Thus Galen, who is very punctual and exact in all his language, and full of expositions of the words he uses, to prevent mistakes, being 66 "the evening and the morning," that is, the night and the day, 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 quomodo tres dies et tres noctes fuerit 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, πλýodŋoav ǹμépaι OKTά Luke ii. 21. so of Zachary, wc πλýσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς λειτουργίας αὐτοῦ· Luke i. 23. and though the number OKT 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. 6 + 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 dicerc quam exposuit ipse qui passus est. Hoc solum quærimus, in corde terræ. Quidam rapaσkεvijV, |