2. When a whole natural day, consisting of twenty-four hours, is spoken of in scripture, it is generally called a day and a night, or an evening and a morning. The Jews have no compound word to express this by, as the Greeks[[231]] have: thus it is said, Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, Dan. viii. 14. The word which we render days, in the Hebrew, signifies, as our marginal reference observes, evening morning, or so many spaces of time, each of which consists of evening and morning; and elsewhere it is said, that Moses was upon the mount forty days and forty nights, Exod. xxiv. 28. that is, forty of those spaces of time, which we call days, each of which make a day and a night; so that a day and a night, according to the Hebrew way of speaking, imports no more than a day; therefore, when our Saviour is said to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, it is an hebraism, which signifies no more than three days, or three of those spaces of time, each of which being compleated, consists of a day and a night.
3. It is a very common thing, in scripture, for a part of a day to be put for a day, by a synecdoche of the part for the whole; therefore a part of that space of time, which, when completed, contains day and night, or the space of twenty-four hours, is called; therefore that which is done on the third day, before it is completely ended, is said to take up three days in doing: thus Esther says, Fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go unto the king, Esth. iv. 16. whereas it is said after this, that on the third day Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the court of the king’s house, chap. v. 1. therefore she could not be said to fast three whole days, but a part thereof; for, before the third day was ended, she went to the king. Therefore a part of three days, or that which is said to be done after three days, or three days and three nights, which is all one, that may be said to be done on the third day, though not completely ended. Therefore our Saviour may be said to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, that is, a part of those spaces of time, which, if completed, would have contained three days and three nights.
VI. Christ raised himself from the dead by his own power. Here let it be considered,
1. That no power but what is divine, can raise the dead, since it is a bringing back the dissolved frame of nature into the same, or a better state than that in which it was before its dissolution, and a remanding the soul, which was in the hand of God that it may be again united to its body, which none can do, but God himself. Accordingly the apostle mentions it as a branch of the divine glory, and God is represented, as he who quickeneth all things, 1 Tim. iv. 13. therefore the body of Christ was raised by divine power: thus the apostle says, This Jesus hath God raised up, Acts ii. 32. and, when he mentions it elsewhere, he makes use of a phrase that is uncommonly emphatical; he wants words to express it, when he speaks of the exceeding greatness of his power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.[[232]]
2. Since the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are God, as has been observed under a foregoing answer,[[233]] it follows, that this infinite power belongs equally and alike to them all, and therefore all these divine Persons may be said to have raised Christ’s body from the dead. That the Father raised him, no one denies that speaks of the resurrection; and the apostle expressly says, that he was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, Rom. vi. 4. And it is farther said, that he raised himself from the dead: thus he tells the Jews, speaking of the temple of his body, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, John ii. 19. And that the Holy Ghost raised him, seems to be implied in that expression, in which it is said, He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Rom. i. 4. that is, the Spirit, by this act of divine power, declared him to have been the Son of God, and to have finished the work he came about; and elsewhere he is said to be quickened by the Spirit, 1 Pet. iii. 18.
3. Christ, by raising himself by his own power, declared that he was the Son of God, that is, not only a divine Person, which his Sonship always implies, but his mission and authority to act as Mediator; and also that he had accomplished the work that he came into the world about.
As to what our Saviour says, concerning his raising himself by his own power; the Socinians apprehending this to be an argument tending to overthrow the scheme they lay down, who deny his divinity, are forced to make use of a very sorry evasion, when they pretend to give the sense of that scripture before mentioned, Destroy this temple, and after three days I will raise it up. They suppose, that the meaning is only this, that the Father put life into his dead body, and united it to the soul, and, after that, he lifted himself up out of the grave, which is certainly a very jejune and empty sense of the words: Is it so great a matter for a Person, who was quickened by divine power, to lift up himself from the grave, in which he lay? In this sense, any one may be said to raise himself up, as well as Christ, or any one might raise the dead after this, by taking him by the hand, and lifting him up from the ground. This shews how much men are sometimes put to it to support a cause that is destitute of solid arguments for its defence. According to this method of reasoning, the whole world may be said to raise themselves at the last day, when God has put life into their dead bodies: but certainly more than this is implied in Christ’s raising himself up, inasmuch as it is opposed to his body’s being destroyed, or the frame of nature’s being dissolved in death; therefore he certainly intends that he would exert divine power, in raising himself from the dead, and hereby declare himself to be a divine Person, or the Son of God.
VII. We are next to consider the effects of Christ’s resurrection, either as they respect himself or his people.
1. As to what concerns himself. This was a demonstrative evidence that he had fully satisfied the justice of God, or paid the whole price of redemption, which he had undertaken to do; for hereby he was released out of the prison of the grave, not only by the power, but the justice of God, and received a full discharge; and accordingly was, in this respect, justified, and a full proof given that the work of redemption was brought to perfection.
It is also observed, that hereby he conquered death, and destroyed him, that had the power of it, to wit, the devil, Heb. ii. 14. and so procured to himself a right to be acknowledged as the Lord both of the dead and the living, Rom. xiv. 9. This is, in some respects, different from that universal dominion which he had over all things, as God, which was the result of his being the Creator of all things and was not purchased or conferred upon him, as the consequence of his performing the work which he came into the world about: I say, this dominion, which we are considering, is what belongs to him as Mediator; and it includes in it a peculiar right which he has, as Mediator, to confer on his people those blessings which accompany salvation; and his right to give laws to his church, defend them from their spiritual enemies, and bestow all the blessings on them, which were promised to them in the covenant of grace, and also in his ordering all the affairs of providence to be subservient thereunto. Had he not designed to redeem any of the race of mankind, he would have had a dominion over the world, as God, the Judge of all; a right to condemn and banish his enemies from his presence: but he could not be said to exercise dominion in such a way, as it is displayed, with respect to the heirs of salvation; for that would have been inconsistent with his divine perfections. Had he not died, and rose again, he would, indeed, have had a right to have done what he would with his creatures; but as he could not, without this have redeemed any, so he could not confer, upon a peculiar people, that possession, which he is said hereby to have purchased.