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Mark 10:34

ESV And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise."
NIV who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."
NASB And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.'
CSB and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days."
NLT They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.'
KJV And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
NKJV and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

What does Mark 10:34 mean?

Mark says Jesus will be resurrected after three days while Matthew and Luke say, "on the third day" (Matthew 20:19; Luke 18:33). The timeframe of Jesus' crucifixion has been discussed for centuries, so an in-depth analysis isn't appropriate here.

First, it's crucial to understand that to Jews, a part of a day is counted as a full day when reckoning time. So, if Jesus was crucified just prior to Friday evening, then Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday morning would fulfill the three days. Another alternative is that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday and the "Sabbath" mentioned in Mark 15:42 wasn't Saturday but the Passover on Thursday. That would place Jesus in the tomb for three full days: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The truth is, we don't know the specific day of the crucifixion. And debate over the minutiae completely misses the point of the miracle: Jesus not only comes back from death, but He does so in exactly the manner He predicted. Whatever length of time Christ was in the tomb, it was entirely compatible with Old Testament prophecy, His words, and Jewish language.

While Mark and Matthew's accounts end here, Luke adds some insight as to the disciples' misunderstanding: "But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said" (Luke 18:34). God hid the full meaning of Jesus' words from the disciples, but we aren't told why. We know the disciples understand something; as Jesus left Perea, Thomas fatalistically said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John 11:16). Still, the disciples didn't remember and understand Jesus' words until after the resurrection (Luke 24:6–8).

God does this to us as well. As much as we think we would like to know what will happen in our lives or what decisions we should make, we're not always ready to hear the truth. Sometimes we need to grow a bit first, in knowledge, maturity, or faith. Sometimes we don't understand how strong we are and how well we will be able to handle what's coming. When God doesn't answer our prayers for clarity, we can always pray that He will prepare us for the future. Knowing we need to trust Him may be all the preparation we require.
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