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According to Matt 17:22-23, Mark 9:31, Luke 9:22, Luke 24:12-24, Luke
24:41-46, Acts 10:39-41, and 1Cor 15:4; Christ recovered on the third day.
The third day fell on the day that Christ met with two men traveling on the
road to Emmaus.
†. Luke 24:21 . .We had hoped that he was the one who was going to
redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
According to the events recorded in Luke 24:1-21, the self same day that
Christ met with the men traveling to Emmaus is the day when the women
went out to the cemetery. That day was not the seventh day of the week; it
was the first.
†. Luke 24:1 . . On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the
women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
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Your misunderstanding is in not looking at the motivations behind what the two disciples are actually saying, my friend. Put yourself in the mind of a detective for a moment and think about the two disciples mood and what they might have been thinking. Put yourself in their shoes. If what you suggest is true, the two disciples could not think the prophecy for Jesus to rise on the third day had failed yet because the third day was not over yet. For if what you say is true, then they would be jumping the gun in being all upset before they could give the prophecy a chance to fulfill itself. They would at least give Jesus the benefit of the doubt in showing up on the third day to them at some point. But seeing Jesus did not appear to them on the third day of the Saturday Sabbath, they were having doubts about Christ's prophecy on the following first day of the week (Sunday). They were all sad because they were leaning towards the thinking that Christ failed to keep His promise because they did not see Him on the third day as they were expecting.
The statement in Luke 24:21 where Cleopas, a disciple says, "today is the third day since these things happened" fits. To say the "third day since" means the same thing as the "third day after". How so?
Well, if you were to look at the origin of the word "since" it has the word "afterward" in it's definition.
Online Etymology Dictionary
Also, if you were to look at the word "since" in the King James Online Dictionary, it also defines it as "after."
SINCE - Definition from the KJV Dictionary
In other words, the Jews understood that "three days after" is the same as saying the "third day"; And seeing the English word "since" can be understood as "after", it is saying "three days after"
To put it to you another way, it would be like a person telling you that they were going to keep a promise within three days and they would fail to keep it. Let me give you an example: Let's say Rick told his older brother Steve (Who plays college football) was going to join the football team after graduation and that there was only three days Rick would have in order to sign up. Now, lets say Rick promised his brother that he was going to sign up at least by the last third day after graduation. That he was going to sign up sometime between these three days but he was going to absolutely do so by the third day as a part of his promise. Now, lets say Rick failed to keep his promise and did not sign up by the last third day for the team. The conversation between Rick and Steve could easily go like this,
Rick: "Steve, I hate to break this to you but I did not sign up on the third day as I promised." "Maybe I can talk to the coach and he can make an exception or something."
Steve: "Dude! Today is three days since all these things are done already!" "You can't sign up after three days!" "You know coach Brown will not go for such a thing and you know it!"
In other words, Luke 24:21 says the same thing.
Luke 24:21
"But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since [three days after] these things were done."
Let's examine this.
"But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel."
They had doubts. Why would they doubt if the three days was not over yet?
"Today is the third day since (after) these things have been done."
What things were to be done?
Well, one of the major things that needed to be done was Christ's resurrection!
For Luke 24:7 are the very words of Jesus that prophesied His promise to them. His promise was that He was going to rise three days later; And He kept that promise (Just not in the way they were expecting).