Introducing ‘Passion Play Music’, by Paul Luckraft and Roger Boyce.

Do the biblical accounts of the Passion and the Resurrection agree?

Simon Pease reviews ‘Three Days and Three Nights that Changed the World’ by David Serle and Peter Sammons (2018, Christian Publications International).

Three Days and Three Nights that Changed the World (abbreviated here to ‘Three Days and Three Nights’) is a robust defence of the reliability of the Gospel accounts and their agreement concerning the timing of Jesus’ crucifixion, contrasted with Christianity’s traditional ‘Good Friday’ narrative. Jesus stated that he would be buried for “three days and three nights” which, counting back from his resurrection appearance early Sunday morning, either places his crucifixion on Thursday or possibly Wednesday.

The authors are convinced of the case for Thursday and make a strong argument, presenting compelling evidence against Wednesday on various grounds. For example, if Wednesday was the day, Jesus’ six-mile journey from Jericho to Bethany would have taken place on the Sabbath, violating its regulations. Whilst a Thursday crucifixion does not produce a literal 72-hour period, biblical examples are provided to show how a partial day counted as a day in Jewish thought.

Contradictory Accounts?

John’s Gospel appears to contradict the synoptic accounts; he presents Jesus’ crucifixion as taking place before the Jewish religious establishment celebrated Passover, whilst Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal the previous day. However, extensive research uncovers a fascinating reason for this.

The Judean religious leaders adjusted their calendar following the Babylonian exile, whilst other groups such as the Galileans, Zealots, Essenes and Samaritans retained the one established by Moses. This cultural insight highlights some of the rivalries and tensions described in the New Testament.

Here is a robust defence of the reliability of the Gospel accounts and their agreement concerning the timing of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Perhaps most importantly regarding the Thursday crucifixion is how it fits symbolically with the historical calendar of Jewish worship according to the prescribed format of Leviticus 23. Passover was followed immediately by the Festival of Unleavened Bread, of which the first day was a day of rest, or ‘High Sabbath’. Therefore, immediately after Jesus’ crucifixion on the Thursday (Passover), there would have been a special Sabbath on the Friday (Festival of Unleavened Bread), followed by a normal Sabbath on Saturday, with Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday (the celebration of First Fruits, Lev 23:9-14).

More than a Detective Story

However, the book is much more than just a detective story. It celebrates the wonderful truth of the resurrection and includes a fascinating chapter on Jonah - the one miraculous sign Jesus offered the Pharisees. Several Bible quotations are used to demonstrate that Jonah actually died and was resurrected.

The New Testament writers emphasised strongly not just the importance of Messiah’s death (literally on the day of Passover), but also the symbolic significance of First Fruits - as the very first harvesting of the religious year – as resurrection day. Jesus is the ‘first fruits’ of those raised from the dead: the promise of the resurrection to come.

First Fruits vs. Easter

Three Days and Three Nights usefully includes a summary of Peter Sammons’ ‘The Jesus Pattern’ (which is effectively a prequel), which explores all seven ‘moedim’ (Levitical festivals) as they relate to Jesus and their spiritual significance for believers.

Born-again believers are ‘First Fruits people’ rather than ‘Easter people’. The authors attack institutional Christianity’s choice of a feast day based on pagan fertility rites, especially since the decisions for dating Easter and ‘Good Friday’ were motivated by a profound hatred of the Jews. The historical evidence for this is clearly presented.

By contrast, Scripture indicates that the New Testament Church at the very least kept the Jewish Passover and used all the Levitical festivals as an important part of their teaching about Jesus – a model Christians could learn from.

Born-again believers are ‘First Fruits people’ rather than ‘Easter people’.

Removing the Veils

Three Days and Three Nights is crafted carefully to help readers make sense of a technical subject by providing several diagrams, the most of impressive of which is a fold-out chart tracking all the events of the ‘Passion week’. As well as providing a handy reference point throughout, this shows how the events of the religious calendar relate specifically to Jesus. For example, the Passover lamb was carefully examined for blemish at exactly the same time as Jesus underwent extensive cross-examination regarding his Messianic credentials and sinlessness.

The appendices include Scripture references and a suggested timeline of the events between Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, specifically to repudiate attacks on the authenticity of the biblical narrative.

Ultimately, Three Days and Three Nights provides an important testimony concerning the reliability of the biblical account, at a time when many believers are rediscovering the Jewish context of Scripture. The book makes an important prophetic point: just as the scriptures affirm that Jewish recognition of Messiah has been veiled until his imminent return, so too did Christianity once lose sight of Messiah’s Jewishness and God’s faithfulness towards the Jews. However, the Lord will finally remove both these veils and accomplish his purpose of ‘one new man’ in Christ. Three Days and Three Nights makes a contribution to the unfolding of this plan.

‘Three Days and Three Nights that Changed the World’ (202pp, paperback) is available on Amazon for £16. Find out more about the book and accompanying resources on the Christian Publications International website.

Three books from the well-known Rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford.

Charlie Cleverly is the Rector of St Aldate’s Church in Oxford and has authored several books. Here we feature three that are highly recommended by some of our reviewers.

The Passion That Shapes Nations (Victor, 2005)

Although written some years ago now, this book is timeless in terms of its subject matter and relevance. The author contends that in times when the Christian faith is under fire, what is needed is “a resurrection of the spirit of the witnesses/martyrs” (p17). His book is a contribution towards the ‘unforgetting’ of those who have gone before, whose stories of courage and conviction can easily be overlooked and yet have so often founded a stronger Christian witness in the nations where God has placed them.

By operating within the principle of sacrificial love and often paying the ultimate price of a martyr’s death, their passion for Christ has indeed helped shape nations.

In a sense, this book follows in the tradition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and at times Cleverly quotes from it, but this is no repetition of material found elsewhere or just a catalogue of those who have died for their faith. The author dwells on their lives, not just their deaths, knowing that this will inspire us far more to serve God faithfully in our own circumstances.

This is a contribution towards the ‘unforgetting’ of those who have gone before, whose stories of courage and conviction can easily be overlooked.

Inevitably, selecting which martyrs to include from “so great a cloud of witnesses” is a difficult task. It is no surprise to find chapters on Polycarp, Wycliffe and Tyndale, Latimer and Ridley, Bonhoeffer and Schneider. But there are others, less well known, whose stories also deserve to be told.

The author focusses on James Hannington and the Uganda Martyrs, the Chinese Church (one of the longest chapters) and those suffering under Islamic persecution, which is described as the “third most prolific cause of martyrdom of Christians in history” (p144).

Each chapter tells its own story; it might be that the best approach to the book is not to read it all at once but to consider a chapter a day over a period of time. That way the individual stories can stand out in their own right rather than being lost in a larger wave of information. Each one calls out to us today - their voices still speak across history. We would do well to listen.

The Passion that Shapes Nations (176pp, paperback) is available on Amazon.

The Discipline of Intimacy (Kingsway Publications, 2002)

This is a book on prayer and its principles, written for those who know that prayer is meant to be easy and yet who find it difficult, and for those who need inspiration and encouragement to pursue the deeper levels of intimacy which make prayer more of a joy than a duty.

The book is written “with the conviction that every Christian is called to pray” (p16) but that we do need to be taught (or, rather, disciplined) in order to become more effective in prayer.

The book is in two parts, the first being based upon the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. In this section the author outlines several steps to intimacy as part of the process of developing a more disciplined prayer life. There is also a chapter on the Lord’s Prayer, entitled ‘The Master Plan of Prayer’ - a much better title than simply calling it a ‘model’ prayer!

The second part of the book is much longer and starts by asking ‘what is intercession?’ Each chapter in this section is prefaced by a ‘story of…’ based upon a biblical character such as Abraham, Hannah, Joel, Isaiah. This keeps the Bible continually before us as a guide to prayer.

This book is written for those who know that prayer is meant to be easy but find it difficult, and for those who need inspiration and encouragement in their prayer lives.

The longest chapter is reserved for praying for the nations, and within this is a very well-balanced and informative section on praying for Israel. The aim of praying for a nation is to see its divine destiny fulfilled. The author usefully includes an appendix containing some well-known prophecies for certain nations to help us understand that God does have plans for nations.

Other chapters in Part II include praying for the Church, and the seven prayer burdens of Christ. The latter is based upon John 17 and encourages us to enter into a ‘school of prayer’, with Christ as our Master. There are also reflections on the prayers of Jesus from the Cross - perhaps his shortest prayers to the Father but certainly some of the most deeply felt. He could only pray these prayers at that time because he had learnt the discipline of intimacy during his life. As he lived, so he died, in intimate prayer with his Heavenly Father.

The final chapter tackles the issue of prayer in times of barrenness, when God is silent. The book ends with a useful study guide with questions and reflections on each chapter.

This is not just another book on prayer but one that will last a lifetime, for those willing to engage in an unending journey of discipline and discovery.

The Discipline of Intimacy (238pp, paperback) is available on Amazon.

The Song of Songs (Hodder, 2015)

Charlie Cleverly has also written a detailed commentary on the Song of Songs, subtitled Exploring the Divine Romance. Drawing on a wide range of literary and theological sources, he presents a clear rounded understanding that combines the two different aspects of the Song: a sexually-charged love story and a metaphor of the relationship between God and his people.

A very helpful book for those who have previously neglected this portion of Scripture or who have tried to come to terms with it but found it rather puzzling or off-putting.

The Song of Songs (336pp, paperback) is available from the publisher for £9.99. Also on Amazon.