Beginning with this Sunday, Jesus guided His disciples to gather every
Sunday. Jesus appeared to the disciples on the following Sunday.
The first statement you gave is not found evidenced anywhere in scripture. It is simply you citing "you" and the book
II Opinions What:4 is non-Canonical.
The second statement is also untrue by a simple reading of the texts:
Jesus met with the Disciples
the 2nd day of the week here, since he spent a great deal of time with the two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus on the first day [see Luke 24:21, "...beside all this,
to day is the third day since these things were done"],
it came to be evening [which eventually at the other 'evening' begins the next day, when the sun sets at even, Mark 1:32; Leviticus 23:32; Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31, etc ], and then they sat down to dinner, and as Jesus vanished before them, they ran back to Jerusalem at night and then Jesus met with them again, all together [thus no longer the 'first [day] of the week', but rather the second [day] of the week]:
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is
toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. Luke 24:29
And it came to pass, as he
sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed
it, and brake, and gave to them. Luke 24:30
And
they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Luke 24:33
And
as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. Luke 24:36
In scripture, though, there are
several "evenings". The "evening" of about 3 PM to sunset, known as the "going down of the sun":
Exo 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer
at even:
Mat_16:2 He answered and said unto them, When
it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for
the sky is red.
Then there is another and final "evening" which brings the next day as in
Genesis 1, this "evening" is known as the beginning of the "day", see
Genesis 1, etc.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
the evening and the morning were the first
day.
Therefore, when we are reading Mark, Luke and John, we need to take that into consideration. Look again:
Luk_24:29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for
it is toward evening, and
the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
Luk 24:30 And it came to pass, as
he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
We can see that they (disciples and Jesus) were still walking to Emmaus while it was yet "day" (light out, with the sun still out), and yet it began to grow late in the day, and the sun was beginning to go down. It was getting near supper time. It was not yet night (sun down). Yet, while they eat, Jesus makes known who He is, and vanishes from their sight (no, Jesus is not aethereal, He is simply invisible to their eyes), and they being astonished, run all the way back to Jerusalem where the other disciples were hiding behind closed doors. Now the distance from Emmaus to Jerusalem, we are told, is "threescore furlongs" ("A Greek measure of length, being 600 Greek ft., or 100 orguiai equal to 606 3/4 English ft., and thus somewhat less than a furlong, which is 660 ft." -
Link and thus is about 7-8 Miles as we would know them).
7-8 Miles is a long way to run when the sun is setting, going back uphill (Jerusalem, the city on a hill). This would take several hours. It would be dark, by the time these reached Jerusalem and the other disciples, being the final "evening" (when the sun did set, see Mark 1:32).
Therefore, when John says, "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."
We know the timeframe it refers to. It was the end of the first day of the week, in the "evening", when the sun was set, which in reality, is another way of saying the 'second [day] of the week', contextually. The text refers to the "evening" at the end of the "first [day] of the week" which scripturally means the actual "second [day] of the week". I am not rewriting the text here. I am simply demonstrating that John is using a parallel language to say the same thing another way. It would be akin to saying the "Robe is purple.", and another person saying, the "Robe is a combined mixture of the shades of red and blue."
Thus is was in actuality the second 'day' of the week (first night/dark portion) that Jesus appeared to them. Then we see another appearance "
after eight days", which would place the following meeting, again, no matter how it is calculated (inclusive or exclusive), not upon the "first [day] of the week", but either the second or third:
Joh 20:26 And
after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
No matter how that is calculated, whether inclusive or exclusive, "after" 8 days later doesn't bring you back to the same day of the week. To think otherwise is a disservice to intelligence and mathematics.
There is
no consistent meeting only upon the "first day of the week" in all of the New Testament. Jesus met with the disciples for 40 days. Jesus met with the disciples 10 days before Pentecost (if we say it is the first [day] of the week, which is properly fine), then this is not a first [day] of the week.
Jesus also stayed for 40 days after His resurrection, His first ascension and return:
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: Acts 1:3
Thus, since Jesus ascended for the Second time, this time from the Mount of Olives, he was there with them exactly 10 days before Pentecost [first [day] of the week], which means, we see again that Jesus was with them not merely upon the first [day] of the week.
Now, to address Pentecost, was a one time event fulfilled in Acts:
Act 2:1 And when the day of
Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
It is not a weekly event. It was in type, a yearly one day (after 7x7 sabbaths, or after 49 days) event. In anti-type, it was a once in the life of the world event, seen in Acts 2:1-3,33 (Psalms 133:1-3; Revelation 5:6, etc).
Therefore, how do you (personally) get from the typical Yearly event, or from the anti-typical once in world event, to a weekly event? Same thing for the Resurrection (anti-type of Firstfruits/Wavesheaf)???
Do you want to know what Jesus gave to remember the resurrection? It's in the Bible. Here it is, the anti-type of the Laver of the Sanctuary (Psalms 77:13):
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15
What then? shall we sin [1 John 3:4], because we are not under the law, but under grace?
God forbid.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
