Could Jesus Be Your Travel Agent?

Let's suppose, just for a moment, that in addition to being King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Wonderful Counselor, Creator, and Savior, that Jesus had come to this world as a Travel Agent!

Now let us suppose that He offered us a nice Caribbean cruise for a modest price, and that the mini-cruise would last three days and three nights. We excitedly get to our departure point, and find out that the cruise will leave Friday night at sundown. Then, we are surprised to find that it will return on Sunday before sunrise.

I think we would all want our money back. Well, first of all, Jesus is all-trustworthy. He would never offer something He did not mean. My first suspicion would be that a self-appointed representative had misrepresented himself.

For at least a thousand years, they have done this. How does someone believe that Jesus, who said He would be in the grave three days and three nights, enter the tomb on Friday night and leave it before Sunday morning? I guess my main problem with this is that I am old enough to remember when they taught simple arithmetic in grammar school, and the story we have been fed does not fit the equation.

It is an easy fix. Matthew 28:1 tells us that the women went to the empty tomb early in the morning "after the sabbaths." No, your translation, none of them, use the plural there, but any first year Greek student can tell you that the word "sabbath" is used as a plural there. Simply, this week that many call "holy week" had an extra holiday in it, in much the same way that happens to us when July 4 falls on a weekday.

The whole "Friday" idea comes from a misunderstanding of why they had to take the bodies down from their crosses "before the sabbath." The sabbath mentioned there was obviously the Passover, which in God's timing was when He offered His Son as the once-for-all Passover Lamb. Sometimes, the Passover coincided with Saturday, but six times out of seven it did not.

On the week of Christ's crucifixion, it is easy to see that the Passover was on a Thursday. If Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, His body would have been put in a tomb on Wednesday evening (Thursday morning to the Jews). The calendar would look something like this:

Nights in the tomb: Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night; days in the tomb were Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. He would haved left the tomb during the early evening hours after sunset on Saturday night. Three days and three nights.

This wouldn't be such an issue for me, except that Jesus, who meant what He said and said what He meant, specifically said "three days and three nights." One time, a very respected and famous Bible teacher tried to "explain" the dilemma to me using the IRS tax code. He noted that if a child were born on December 31, he could be claimed as a dependent for the entire year; if a child, sadly, died on January 1, he could still be claimed as a dependent for that entire year. So since Jesus was in the tomb part of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the whole 24 hours of each counted.

It was a well-researched explanation, but let me tell you: If a travel agent tried that with anyone, he would be in court the next week with a stack of lawsuits facing him.

Yes, Jesus could be my travel agent; in fact, He already is. I have a wonderful tour booked, including all lodging, accommodations, and amenities. It will be an eternal trip, and there is still available space for anyone who wants to join me.

But these people who claim to "represent" Him, who can't do the math -- I will be avoiding their places of business. I don't do "Good Friday" because I don't think the Bible does "Good Friday." Today I will enjoy an amazingly ironic secular holiday from work; I will miss the mail run and the bank that are closed. But outside of that, it is just another day.

The Big One is coming Sunday.