Justin Kissel wrote:But did the Jewish people at the time use such a method for telling time?
No, the day began at sunset for the Jews as it does for most of the Orthodox Patriarchates. Hence the hurry to bury Christ since the Passover Sabbath (at sunset) was approaching.
Justin Kissel wrote:
Before sundown on Friday would be considered one day (Friday: 1st day)
From sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday would be considered one day (Saturday: 2nd day)
Then, once the sun set on Saturday night, Sunday would begin. (Sunday: 3rd day)
Using inclusive reckoning (which the Jews used then, and still use today) that would be three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (even though "Sunday" would technically begin on what we would consider Saturday night).
Yes, this reckoning gives the Ressurection on the Third day, but how many nights does this give? Our Lord was not in the Tomb on the night of Friday if we count the night of Friday as beginning at Sunset on Thursday, yet He foretold that He would spend "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
In the "Explanation By Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to St Matthew", he explains regarding the verse Matthew 12 40:
"Three days and three nights you must understand as spoken of in part and not in their entirety. For He died on Friday, which is one day. He was dead on Saturday- behold the second day. And the night of Sunday held him still dead. Three days and three nights are counted in parts, in the same way as we often count them ourselves."
But where is the third night if we count the day as beginning at sunset? If the day begins at sunset, "The night of Sunday" begins at sunset on Saturday, the night of Saturday therefore begins at sunset on Friday, and the night of Friday begins at sunset on Thursday. Christ was not in the Tomb on any part of the night which started at sunset on Thurday, and therefore, by this reckoning, He would have spent only two nights in the Tomb contradicting His own prophecy.
But if we reckon the day as beginning from midday, then what we call midnight on Friday seperates the night of Friday from the night of Saturday, and midnight on Saturday seperates the night of Saturday from the night of Sunday. So by tradition, the Jerusalem Church counts the day as beginning at midday so that Christ spent part of the night of Friday, the night of Saturday and part of the night of Sunday in the Tomb.
The Miracle of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem takes place in the Church of the Ressurection at around 2pm in the afternoon of what we call Holy Saturday, but it is already 2 hours into Pascha Sunday by the Jerusalem Church's reckoning. The Holy Monastery of Iveron on Mount Athos also follows Jerusalem time reckoning, as I found out when I visited there as well.
I don't make the rules, I just accept them wherever I go!
