The Road to Emmaus

"Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened." Luke 24:21b

I recently exchanged a few e-mails with a gentleman who thinks this passage actually supports the Wednesday crucifixion and Saturday resurrection. He writes:

“…although Jesus clearly said he would rise on the third day, the disciples had no context in their worldview to understand a literal resurrection (cf. Luke 24:11). Therefore, they looked for a spiritual kind of resurrection, perhaps of the nation or maybe of the Lord’s work led by a new prophet. It seems clear that the Apostles and disciples with them struggled to understand what might occur on the third day after Jesus was crucified. The two on their way to Emmaus claimed “this is (G71) the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21). Literally, the Greek is “this leads (G71) the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21). In other words, this day, the first day of the week, is the first day after the third day, so hope was fading, because nothing happened! The disciples had been looking for something to occur on the third day, which would have been the weekly Sabbath (Saturday), but they were losing all hope, because it was now after the third day.”

The disciples did have context with which to understand a literal resurrection; they had been witnesses to the resurrection of Lazarus, after all (John 11). The words of the women might have appeared as nonsense to the disciples (Luke 24:11), but nevertheless they had been witness to a couple resurrections performed by Jesus (Luke 7:11-17; 8:52-56). So quite clearly, and to the contrary, they did have context in their worldview to understand a literal resurrection.

Whether a physical or spiritual resurrection, the disciple on the road to Emmaus said, "today is the third day since these things happened." Luke 24:1 identifies this day as the first day of the week—Sunday. If you count backward, using the concept of zero, which was foreign to their minds, you arrive at Thursday. If you count backward using the concept of inclusion, which is how the Greeks, Romans, Jews, and others during that time counted, you arrive at Friday. In either case, you cannot get a Wednesday crucifixion out of it.

In Kenneth Wuest's Expanded Translation of the New Testament, it reads, "But also with all these things it is the third day since these things took place." In Jay P. Green's Interlinear Bible, it likewise reads, "But then with all these things, this third day comes today since these things happened" (literal translation). In other words, "this third day comes today" means "today is the third day."

In the Textus Receptus, the text reads: ἀλλά γε σὺν πᾶσι τούτοις τρίτην ταύτην ἡμέραν ἄγει σήμερον ἀφ’ οὗ ταῦτα ἐγένετο. The Greek word semeron (σήμερον) [4594], which means "on this day, now, at present, this day, today," is contained in the Alexandrinus, Bezae, Basileensis, Hableianus, Hamburgensis, Cyprius, Camplanus, Guelpherbytanus A, Vaticanus 354, Nanianus, Mosquensis, Monacensis, Tischendorfianus, etc., manuscripts. In the Nestle-Aland Greek text, the text reads: ἀλλά γε καὶ σὺν πᾶσιν τούτοις τρίτην ταύτην ἡμέραν ἄγει ἀφ’ οὗ ταῦτα ἐγένετο. "It is" is contained in the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus 1209, and Regius manuscripts.

The Greek word this gentleman referred to is ago (ἄγο) [71], which properly means "to bring." Its usage in Luke 24:21 means "to pass a day, keep or celebrate a feast, etc.: τρίτην ἡμέραν ἄγει sc. ὁ Ἰσραήλ, Lk. xxiv. 21" [Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, p.9] and "To pass, to spend. Luke 24:21" [The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p. 77]. The use of ἄγει is impersonal. Even if you take it to mean "brings," the word immediately after means "away from" or "since," so the third day "brings away from" the events that happened. No matter how you attempt to dice it, the day these disciples were walking to Emmaus was the third day—not "this day, the first day of the week, is the first day after the third day." That is false, and a deliberate twisting of Scripture!

Now, if you want to employ the meaning of "to bring" to the word ἄγει, your rendering would be this: "this day, the first day of the week, brings the third day." In other words, "today is the third day." Or, by the use of "to bring," it would mean the third day is to follow, which would also be the case if you used "to carry," making Monday the third day. Even if you attempted to take the meaning of "to lead," the gentleman fails to understand precisely what leading means. Leading does not mean "after." "To lead" as an intransitive verb means "to go before," while as a transitive verb it means "to guide, to direct, to serve as a channel (such as water into a house)." A synonym for "to lead" is "to preceded." So, if Sunday was leading (preceding, going before) the third day, that means that Monday would have to be the third day. No amount of grammatical gymnastics will allow "to lead" to be rendered as "after." Saturday guides Sunday. Saturday directs Sunday. Saturday serves as a channel to Sunday. Saturday goes before Sunday.