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Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was not in the tomb during
only one day and two nights; because He said (Mt. 12:40):
"As Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so
shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three
nights." But He was in the heart of the earth while He was in the
grave. Therefore He was not in the tomb for only one day and two
nights.
Objection 2: Gregory says in a Paschal Homily (Hom. xxi):
"As Samson carried off the gates of Gaza during the night, even so
Christ rose in the night, taking away the gates of hell." But after
rising He was not in the tomb. Therefore He was not two whole nights
in the grave.
Objection 3: Further, light prevailed over darkness by Christ's
death. But night belongs to darkness, and day to light. Therefore
it was more fitting for Christ's body to be in the tomb for two days
and a night, rather than conversely.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De Trin. iv): "There were
thirty-six hours from the evening of His burial to the dawn of the
resurrection, that is, a whole night with a whole day, and a whole
night."
I answer that, The very time during which Christ remained in the
tomb shows forth the effect of His death. For it was said above
(Question 50, Article 6) that by Christ's death we were
delivered from a twofold death, namely, from the death of the soul and
of the body: and this is signified by the two nights during which He
remained in the tomb. But since His death did not come of sin, but
was endured from charity, it has not the semblance of night, but of
day: consequently it is denoted by the whole day during which Christ
was in the sepulchre. And so it was fitting for Christ to be in the
sepulchre during one day and two nights.
Reply to Objection 1: Augustine says (De Consens. Evang.
iii): "Some men, ignorant of Scriptural language, wished to
compute as night those three hours, from the sixth to the ninth hour,
during which the sun was darkened, and as day those other three hours
during which it was restored to the earth, that is, from the ninth
hour until its setting: for the coming night of the Sabbath follows,
and if this be reckoned with its day, there will be already two nights
and two days. Now after the Sabbath there follows the night of the
first day of the Sabbath, that is, of the dawning Sunday, on which
the Lord rose. Even so, the reckoning of the three days and three
nights will not stand. It remains then to find the solution in the
customary usage of speech of the Scriptures, whereby the whole is
understood from the part": so that we are able to take a day and a
night as one natural day. And so the first day is computed from its
ending, during which Christ died and was buried on the Friday; while
the second. day is an entire day with twenty-four hours of night and
day; while the night following belongs to the third day. "For as the
primitive days were computed from light to night on account of man's
future fall, so these days are computed from the darkness to the
daylight on account of man's restoration" (De Trin. iv).
Reply to Objection 2: As Augustine says (De Trin. iv; cf.
De Consens. Evang. iii), Christ rose with the dawn, when light
appears in part, and still some part of the darkness of the night
remains. Hence it is said of the women that "when it was yet dark"
they came "to the sepulchre" (Jn. 20:1). Therefore, in
consequence of this darkness, Gregory says (Hom. xxi) that Christ
rose in the middle of the night, not that night is divided into two
equal parts, but during the night itself: for the expression "early"
can be taken as partly night and partly day, from its fittingness with
both.
Reply to Objection 3: The light prevailed so far in Christ's
death (which is denoted by the one day) that it dispelled the darkness
of the two nights, that is, of our twofold death, as stated above.
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