Summary
The Number Three in Scripture
The number three runs throughout Holy Scripture. We worship the triune God—one God in three persons. Noah had three sons; Daniel prayed three times a day; Satan tempted our Lord three times, and each time Jesus answered, "It is written." Peter denied the Lord three times. Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months. Paul preached boldly in Ephesus for three months, pleaded three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed, and suffered three shipwrecks. Moses' mother hid him for three months. Again and again, three appears.
Three matters in everyday life as well. A parent's count of "one… two… three" gives a child time to decide. A couple on a high ledge join hands and leap on three. A family gathered around a surprise gift opens it on three. When the count reaches three, things change.
A First Easter Morning of Despair
The Easter narrative in Matthew 28 begins not in triumph but in grief. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary—the wife of Clopas, mother of James and Joseph—came at dawn to a tomb, not to a risen Lord. Luke 24 tells us they brought spices they had prepared. John 20:11 describes Mary standing outside the tomb, weeping. They expected the worst because the worst had happened.
It was a far cry from the triumphal entry, when crowds shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David" Matthew 21:9. It was a far cry from the feeding of the five thousand, when the people were so satisfied they wanted to make Jesus king. The silence of that morning was broken only by sobs. Our own lives know that silence—those bleak stretches when we, too, anticipate the worst.
When Heaven Began to Count
Jesus had foretold this moment many times. In Matthew 16:21, He told the disciples He must suffer, be killed, and on the third day be raised. He said it again in Matthew 17:22-23, in Mark 10:34, and in Luke 18:33. Even the chief priests remembered it, warning Pilate, "After three days I will rise" Matthew 27:63.
So when Jesus cried, "It is finished," bowed His head, and died, heaven began to count. Friday: Joseph of Arimathea took the body, wrapped it in linen, laid it in his own new tomb, and rolled a great stone across the door Matthew 27:57-60. One. Saturday: the Sabbath, marked in ancient practice when the rabbis could no longer distinguish a light thread from a dark one against the sky. Two. And as the first day of the week was dawning—three—the earth shook, an angel descended, the stone was rolled away, and the women heard the words: "He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said" Matthew 28:6.
The Empty Tomb as God's "Yes"
We should have been counted out. By our sin—by all we have done and left undone—we were down for the count. But God did not count us out; He counted to three. The empty tomb is the validation that the shedding of the Savior's blood on the cross for the sin of the world was accepted. Death was overcome. The sacrifice was received. This is why the Church sings, "I know that my Redeemer lives," and "The strife is o'er, the battle done," and "Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son."
By Holy Baptism, God has joined that victory to you. He has washed you clean, called you His own, and made His decision about you. He holds you in His hand for all eternity, while the Church on earth and the Church in heaven sing, "Worthy is the Lamb."
Trust the One Who Counted to Three
Until we join the heavenly choir, every day is in God's hand. When we count our problems, our challenges, our obstacles—when the day looks like that first Easter morning before the angel spoke—the counsel of the Easter proclamation is simple: trust the One who counted to three. Because when He got to three, things changed. It was Sunday. It is Sunday still. Hallelujah.
Video citations
- "1-2-3" 3-31-24 — Would you open please your Scriptures to the 28th chapter of the gospel of Matthew? You'll find a copy of Holy Scriptures in the Pew Rack in front of you or underneath you. The 28th chapter of the…