Fourth Year Ministries

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17) Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Not to abolish, not to discard it, not to do away with it. To fulfill it. Paul understood this. We must also. The Apostle Paul wrote to the saints in Colossae: Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17) The dietary guidelines had a purpose. So did the festivals and Sabbaths. They were a shadow of what is to come. They pointed to the substance which belongs to Christ. These aspects of the Law were given for a purpose. They revealed in shadow what was coming in the future. They were prophetic. In fact, they still are. Christ has fulfilled much of the Law and Prophets in His first coming. Christ was born according...

Q: Jesus Himself states, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." According to John 19:31, it seems as though Jesus died on the "day of preparation" which was immediately followed by the sabbath, and then followed by the first day of the week. This leads us to when Mark 16:2 happened, the ladies went to the tomb "very early on the first day of the week". It was at this time that the empty tomb was discovered. My question is, according to history and maybe even Greek text, is there any explanation as to why Jesus said that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights when as I am reading the accounts, I am not coming up with three days and three nights? Thank you, as always! A: This question has been raised by many people. Numerous answers have been suggested. The reasons for asking this question are good on...

Q: For the Christians now, after Jesus came, do we need to literally take a day of rest (sabbath) and keep it holy by not doing work? A: Great question! This is a very important and potentially massive area of study for the interested believer. A quick glance through a concordance, such as Strong's Exhaustive , will reveal that the Sabbath is mentioned at least once in 145 different verses of Scripture (I used my Bible searching software, BibleWorks 8 to find these references). While a true “Sabbath theology” can only be constructed and understood after careful study of all of these passages in their context, the question above can be answered without such in-depth consideration. For the purposes of this answer, we will cover a basic understanding of Sabbath theology with an emphasis on how this relates to the New Testament follower of the Messiah Jesus. If you are interested in a more in-depth study of the Sabbath as it was revealed through the Hebrew Bible (our “Old Testam...