In this short work, Kelly Don Ford uses theological analysis and scriptural detective work to examine what he sees as a centuries-old mystery surrounding the timeframe of Jesus’s death and resurrection.
As Ford notes, it’s traditionally believed that Jesus died on Good Friday and rose from the dead Sunday morning. Yet, Jesus explicitly states that he will die and rise again three days (72 hours) later. If everything that Christ says is true, how do we reconcile that he was only dead for around 36 hours before making an appearance on Easter?
Ford argues that the correct timeframe is critical because Jesus was meant to fulfill prophecy. Anything less than an accurate testament undermines the truth of Christ’s prophetic and messianic role in salvation and causes people to doubt the veracity of the New Testament. As he writes, “[T]he devil knows that the belief and adherence to Good Friday will keep Jesus as the Messiah away from His glorified place in a lot of people’s minds!”
As Ford offers his analysis of the time discrepancies, his prose is feisty, passionate, and well-intentioned. Yet the book suffers from several flaws. We don’t learn the author’s actual thesis until page 7 of a 48-page book, leaving readers wondering what his topic truly is. Moreover, his prose is hampered by verbosity, disjointed arguments, and occasional grammatical errors.
For example, in Chapter 4, Ford discusses our modern-day understandings of Fridays as a day to get paid and a time when “Elixirs of all kind abound, from powders and liquids, to shots and pills.” How does this tie into an examination of Good Friday? It takes a few pages to get to the answer, and with a short book like this, such meanderings are frustrating.
Overall, while Ford’s concept is worthy, his ideas need more fine tuning before they can effectively reach a wide readership.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
