Good Thursday?
- Thread starter hornetguy
- Start date
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B
I agree and this only happens because we make adjustment to the calander with leap years and the like, some months only have 30 days some with 31 days and only a leap year every four. If we don't make adjustment to the modern calander the date would be over the place.
Fun Fact: Between 2016 and 2048, March 19 Equinoxes will happen every leap year in Central, Pacific and Mountain time zones in the United States. In the same period, the years between the leap years will see a March 20 Equinox.
Fun Fact: Between 2016 and 2048, March 19 Equinoxes will happen every leap year in Central, Pacific and Mountain time zones in the United States. In the same period, the years between the leap years will see a March 20 Equinox.
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The Special Sabbath
In regards to Yom Kippur, the Bible says: "It is a sabbath of complete rest
for you. You shall humble yourselves. Beginning on the evening of the ninth
of the month, you shall keep your sabbath from evening to evening." (Lev
23:32}
That verse is useful for proving that Saturday doesn't have a lock on
sabbaths.
Two more special sabbaths like Yom Kippur's are Feast of Trumpets (Lev
23:23-25) and the beginning and the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
(Ex 12:16, Lev 23:5-8)
When people are unaware of the existence of special sabbaths, they
invariably misunderstand John 19:31 to be speaking of the usual Saturday
sabbath instead of the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; which
commences at night with the Passover dinner of roasted lambs that were
slaughtered and cooked that afternoon prior to sundown. (Ex 12:8, Ex
12:18)
NOTE: John 19:14 verifies that John 19:31 is speaking of the Feast's
sabbath instead of the usual Saturday sabbath.
Seeing as how Lev 23:32 reveals the existence of sabbaths other than
Saturday's, then I'm convinced in my own mind that two sabbaths occurred
during the week of Christ's crucifixion.
There was the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread which commenced
at sundown the day that Christ was crucified, and there was the regular
Saturday sabbath spoken of at Matt 28:1 and Mark 16:1-2.
A Catholic once suggested to me that the two sabbaths were together, i.e.
they fell on the same date. So I countered that the suggestion would not
work to Catholicism's advantage seeing as how the standard Good Friday
model is short by one night.
With a little creative accounting it's possible to produce three days with the
Good Friday model by counting all day Saturday as one of the three days
Christ predicted at John 2:19, and then counting Friday afternoon and
Sunday morning as two days; thus adding up to three. But no amount of
accounting can produce three nights as per his prediction at Matt 12:40.
The only way that Good Friday's one-night deficit can be rectified in a
sensible manner is by giving the Feast's sabbath and Saturday's sabbath
their own dates; viz: have them run consecutive instead of coincident, i.e.
back to back; viz: as one was ending, the other was beginning so that the
Jews had two sabbaths in a row to contend with that year; a situation that,
although uncommon, is not all that rare. For example in 2008, Passover fell
on Sunday. So the usual sabbath began with sundown Friday followed by the
Feast's sabbath beginning with sundown Saturday.
Two consecutive sabbaths-- the first on Friday and second on Saturday -
would push Jesus' crucifixion day to Thursday; which we have no choice but
to do in order to come up with those three days and three nights or be the
laughing stock of the entire non Christian world because even a third grader
can see right off that the standard Good Friday model's arithmetic doesn't
add up.
However, Friday is pretty much set in concrete as the traditional, as well as
commercial, day of Christ's crucifixion; so I expect that we're stuck with it
now even though defending Good Friday's chronology makes about as much
sense as insisting that NASA has been lying to us and the moon really is
made of green cheese.
/
The Special Sabbath
In regards to Yom Kippur, the Bible says: "It is a sabbath of complete rest
for you. You shall humble yourselves. Beginning on the evening of the ninth
of the month, you shall keep your sabbath from evening to evening." (Lev
23:32}
That verse is useful for proving that Saturday doesn't have a lock on
sabbaths.
Two more special sabbaths like Yom Kippur's are Feast of Trumpets (Lev
23:23-25) and the beginning and the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
(Ex 12:16, Lev 23:5-8)
When people are unaware of the existence of special sabbaths, they
invariably misunderstand John 19:31 to be speaking of the usual Saturday
sabbath instead of the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; which
commences at night with the Passover dinner of roasted lambs that were
slaughtered and cooked that afternoon prior to sundown. (Ex 12:8, Ex
12:18)
NOTE: John 19:14 verifies that John 19:31 is speaking of the Feast's
sabbath instead of the usual Saturday sabbath.
Seeing as how Lev 23:32 reveals the existence of sabbaths other than
Saturday's, then I'm convinced in my own mind that two sabbaths occurred
during the week of Christ's crucifixion.
There was the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread which commenced
at sundown the day that Christ was crucified, and there was the regular
Saturday sabbath spoken of at Matt 28:1 and Mark 16:1-2.
A Catholic once suggested to me that the two sabbaths were together, i.e.
they fell on the same date. So I countered that the suggestion would not
work to Catholicism's advantage seeing as how the standard Good Friday
model is short by one night.
With a little creative accounting it's possible to produce three days with the
Good Friday model by counting all day Saturday as one of the three days
Christ predicted at John 2:19, and then counting Friday afternoon and
Sunday morning as two days; thus adding up to three. But no amount of
accounting can produce three nights as per his prediction at Matt 12:40.
The only way that Good Friday's one-night deficit can be rectified in a
sensible manner is by giving the Feast's sabbath and Saturday's sabbath
their own dates; viz: have them run consecutive instead of coincident, i.e.
back to back; viz: as one was ending, the other was beginning so that the
Jews had two sabbaths in a row to contend with that year; a situation that,
although uncommon, is not all that rare. For example in 2008, Passover fell
on Sunday. So the usual sabbath began with sundown Friday followed by the
Feast's sabbath beginning with sundown Saturday.
Two consecutive sabbaths-- the first on Friday and second on Saturday -
would push Jesus' crucifixion day to Thursday; which we have no choice but
to do in order to come up with those three days and three nights or be the
laughing stock of the entire non Christian world because even a third grader
can see right off that the standard Good Friday model's arithmetic doesn't
add up.
However, Friday is pretty much set in concrete as the traditional, as well as
commercial, day of Christ's crucifixion; so I expect that we're stuck with it
now even though defending Good Friday's chronology makes about as much
sense as insisting that NASA has been lying to us and the moon really is
made of green cheese.
/
B
I like this Hornetguy but I have one issue, they say they have done the math from tracking the lunar moon cycles backward.
But they fail to show their math paper the actual calculation they used and just merely place the out come of there investigation.
This isn't science but deluded science without any actual calculation. what I'm saying is anybody can say they did the homework but without a paper it's just hot air to me.
But they fail to show their math paper the actual calculation they used and just merely place the out come of there investigation.
This isn't science but deluded science without any actual calculation. what I'm saying is anybody can say they did the homework but without a paper it's just hot air to me.
The Bible does not explicitly state on which day of the week Jesus was crucified. The two most widely held views are Friday and Wednesday. Some, however, using a synthesis of both the Friday and Wednesday arguments, argue for Thursday as the day.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, “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.” Those who argue for a Friday crucifixion say that there is still a valid way in which He could have been considered in the grave for three days. In the Jewish mind of the first century, a part of day was considered as a full day. Since Jesus was in the grave for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday—He could be considered to have been in the grave for three days. One of the principal arguments for Friday is found in Mark 15:42, which notes that Jesus was crucified “the day before the Sabbath.” If that was the weekly Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, then that fact leads to a Friday crucifixion. Another argument for Friday says that verses such as Matthew 16:21 and Luke 9:22 teach that Jesus would rise on the third day; therefore, He would not need to be in the grave a full three days and nights. But while some translations use “on the third day” for these verses, not all do, and not everyone agrees that “on the third day” is the best way to translate these verses. Furthermore, Mark 8:31 says that Jesus will be raised “after” three days.
The Thursday argument expands on the Friday view and argues mainly that there are too many events (some count as many as twenty) happening between Christ's burial and Sunday morning to occur from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Proponents of the Thursday view point out that this is especially a problem when the only full day between Friday and Sunday was Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. An extra day or two eliminates that problem. The Thursday advocates could reason thus: suppose you haven't seen a friend since Monday evening. The next time you see him it is Thursday morning and you say, “I haven’t seen you in three days” even though it had technically only been 60 hours (2.5 days). If Jesus was crucified on Thursday, this example shows how it could be considered three days.
The Wednesday opinion states that there were two Sabbaths that week. After the first one (the one that occurred on the evening of the crucifixion [Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52-54]), the women purchased spices—note that they made their purchase after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1). The Wednesday view holds that this “Sabbath” was the Passover (see Leviticus 16:29-31, 23:24-32, 39, where high holy days that are not necessarily the seventh day of the week are referred to as the Sabbath). The second Sabbath that week was the normal weekly Sabbath. Note that in Luke 23:56, the women who had purchased spices after the first Sabbath returned and prepared the spices, then “rested on the Sabbath.” The argument states that they could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath, yet prepare those spices before the Sabbath—unless there were two Sabbaths. With the two-Sabbath view, if Christ was crucified on Thursday, then the high holy Sabbath (the Passover) would have begun Thursday at sundown and ended at Friday sundown—at the beginning of the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. Purchasing the spices after the first Sabbath (Passover) would have meant they purchased them on Saturday and were breaking the Sabbath.
Therefore, according to the Wednesday viewpoint, the only explanation that does not violate the biblical account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40, is that Christ was crucified on Wednesday. The Sabbath that was a high holy day (Passover) occurred on Thursday, the women purchased spices (after that) on Friday and returned and prepared the spices on the same day, they rested on Saturday which was the weekly Sabbath, then brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday. Jesus was buried near sundown on Wednesday, which began Thursday in the Jewish calendar. Using a Jewish calendar, you have Thursday night (night one), Thursday day (day one), Friday night (night two), Friday day (day two), Saturday night (night three), Saturday day (day three). We do not know exactly what time He rose, but we do know that it was before sunrise on Sunday. He could have risen as early as just after sunset Saturday evening, which began the first day of the week to the Jews. The discovery of the empty tomb was made just at sunrise (Mark 16:2), before it was fully light (John 20:1).
A possible problem with the Wednesday view is that the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did so on “the same day” of His resurrection (Luke 24:13). The disciples, who do not recognize Jesus, tell Him of Jesus' crucifixion (24:21) and say that “today is the third day since these things happened” (24:22). Wednesday to Sunday is four days. A possible explanation is that they may have been counting since Wednesday evening at Christ's burial, which begins the Jewish Thursday, and Thursday to Sunday could be counted as three days.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified. If it were very important, then God's Word would have clearly communicated the day and timeframe. What is important is that He did die and that He physically, bodily rose from the dead. What is equally important is the reason He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. John 3:16 and 3:36 both proclaim that putting your trust in Him results in eternal life! This is equally true whether He was crucified on a Wednesday,Thursday, or Friday.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, “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.” Those who argue for a Friday crucifixion say that there is still a valid way in which He could have been considered in the grave for three days. In the Jewish mind of the first century, a part of day was considered as a full day. Since Jesus was in the grave for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday—He could be considered to have been in the grave for three days. One of the principal arguments for Friday is found in Mark 15:42, which notes that Jesus was crucified “the day before the Sabbath.” If that was the weekly Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, then that fact leads to a Friday crucifixion. Another argument for Friday says that verses such as Matthew 16:21 and Luke 9:22 teach that Jesus would rise on the third day; therefore, He would not need to be in the grave a full three days and nights. But while some translations use “on the third day” for these verses, not all do, and not everyone agrees that “on the third day” is the best way to translate these verses. Furthermore, Mark 8:31 says that Jesus will be raised “after” three days.
The Thursday argument expands on the Friday view and argues mainly that there are too many events (some count as many as twenty) happening between Christ's burial and Sunday morning to occur from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Proponents of the Thursday view point out that this is especially a problem when the only full day between Friday and Sunday was Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. An extra day or two eliminates that problem. The Thursday advocates could reason thus: suppose you haven't seen a friend since Monday evening. The next time you see him it is Thursday morning and you say, “I haven’t seen you in three days” even though it had technically only been 60 hours (2.5 days). If Jesus was crucified on Thursday, this example shows how it could be considered three days.
The Wednesday opinion states that there were two Sabbaths that week. After the first one (the one that occurred on the evening of the crucifixion [Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52-54]), the women purchased spices—note that they made their purchase after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1). The Wednesday view holds that this “Sabbath” was the Passover (see Leviticus 16:29-31, 23:24-32, 39, where high holy days that are not necessarily the seventh day of the week are referred to as the Sabbath). The second Sabbath that week was the normal weekly Sabbath. Note that in Luke 23:56, the women who had purchased spices after the first Sabbath returned and prepared the spices, then “rested on the Sabbath.” The argument states that they could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath, yet prepare those spices before the Sabbath—unless there were two Sabbaths. With the two-Sabbath view, if Christ was crucified on Thursday, then the high holy Sabbath (the Passover) would have begun Thursday at sundown and ended at Friday sundown—at the beginning of the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. Purchasing the spices after the first Sabbath (Passover) would have meant they purchased them on Saturday and were breaking the Sabbath.
Therefore, according to the Wednesday viewpoint, the only explanation that does not violate the biblical account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40, is that Christ was crucified on Wednesday. The Sabbath that was a high holy day (Passover) occurred on Thursday, the women purchased spices (after that) on Friday and returned and prepared the spices on the same day, they rested on Saturday which was the weekly Sabbath, then brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday. Jesus was buried near sundown on Wednesday, which began Thursday in the Jewish calendar. Using a Jewish calendar, you have Thursday night (night one), Thursday day (day one), Friday night (night two), Friday day (day two), Saturday night (night three), Saturday day (day three). We do not know exactly what time He rose, but we do know that it was before sunrise on Sunday. He could have risen as early as just after sunset Saturday evening, which began the first day of the week to the Jews. The discovery of the empty tomb was made just at sunrise (Mark 16:2), before it was fully light (John 20:1).
A possible problem with the Wednesday view is that the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did so on “the same day” of His resurrection (Luke 24:13). The disciples, who do not recognize Jesus, tell Him of Jesus' crucifixion (24:21) and say that “today is the third day since these things happened” (24:22). Wednesday to Sunday is four days. A possible explanation is that they may have been counting since Wednesday evening at Christ's burial, which begins the Jewish Thursday, and Thursday to Sunday could be counted as three days.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified. If it were very important, then God's Word would have clearly communicated the day and timeframe. What is important is that He did die and that He physically, bodily rose from the dead. What is equally important is the reason He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. John 3:16 and 3:36 both proclaim that putting your trust in Him results in eternal life! This is equally true whether He was crucified on a Wednesday,Thursday, or Friday.
-
Resurrection Day
A very popular theory alleges that Christ's crucified body was restored to life
sometime between sunset Saturday afternoon and sunrise Sunday morning.
However; according to the passages listed below; Christ's crucified body was
restored to life on the third day rather than during the third night, so it just
won't do to insist he recovered before sunrise Sunday morning.
Matt 17:22-23
Mark 9:31
Luke 9:22
Luke 24:46
Acts 10:40
1Cor 15:4
Seeing as how that's the case, then translations whose wording suggests
that the women arrived at the cemetery prior to sunrise have to be
understood to indicate their travel to the cemetery instead of their arrival.
For example Matt 28:1
"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the
week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher."
The Greek word translated "came" is horribly ambiguous. It can not only
mean came, but also went. Here's the same verse from another translation.
"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb."
Seeing as how the preponderance of evidence testifies that Jesus rose on the
third day rather than during the third night, then I must accept, in this case
at least, that "went" is the appropriate translation of the Greek word
erchomai.
/
Resurrection Day
A very popular theory alleges that Christ's crucified body was restored to life
sometime between sunset Saturday afternoon and sunrise Sunday morning.
However; according to the passages listed below; Christ's crucified body was
restored to life on the third day rather than during the third night, so it just
won't do to insist he recovered before sunrise Sunday morning.
Matt 17:22-23
Mark 9:31
Luke 9:22
Luke 24:46
Acts 10:40
1Cor 15:4
Seeing as how that's the case, then translations whose wording suggests
that the women arrived at the cemetery prior to sunrise have to be
understood to indicate their travel to the cemetery instead of their arrival.
For example Matt 28:1
"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the
week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher."
The Greek word translated "came" is horribly ambiguous. It can not only
mean came, but also went. Here's the same verse from another translation.
"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb."
Seeing as how the preponderance of evidence testifies that Jesus rose on the
third day rather than during the third night, then I must accept, in this case
at least, that "went" is the appropriate translation of the Greek word
erchomai.
/
This is a bit lengthy but helps me better understand the distinction between Sabbaths and Passover which is not itself a Sabbath according to what is written here:
We know that Jesus celebrated the Passover in obedience to the commandments to do so given in Leviticus 23, Exodus 12 and Numbers 28:16-25. He began the events leading to His death by celebrating this event for which He instructed His disciples to prepare:
And the disciples went out, and came to the city, and found it just as
He (Jesus) had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Mark 14:16
After eating the Passover meal, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples to pray. (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46)
And they came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples,
"Sit here until I have prayed." Mark 14:32
After praying, Jesus was arrested, tried and on the cross by 9 a.m. the next day.
And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest... Luke 22:54
Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesusto put Him to death; [SUP]2[/SUP] and they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate. Matthew 27:1-2
And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. Mark 15:25
As most everyone knows, Messiah died, was buried and resurrected. The traditional teaching says that Jesus died on Friday, the weekly Sabbath, (good Friday) and arose on the following Sunday. However, Jesus said,
for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40
Is it possible to get three days AND three nights from Friday to Sunday? No, it is not. Therefore, from Jesus' own words we can see that this teaching cannot be correct. Therefore, exactly what did happen?
Leviticus 23 gives us the important and “missing” information in the traditional teaching. Therefore, to understand what happened, let’s look at this missing info.
[SUP]5[/SUP]In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is God's Passover.
[SUP]
6[/SUP] 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to God; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
[SUP]
7[/SUP] 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.
[SUP]
8[/SUP] 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to God. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'" Leviticus 23:5-8
This passage tells us that the Passover is on the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the 15[SUP]th[/SUP]; they are back-to-back. The first day (and the last day) of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a Sabbath. This is a “special” Sabbath, also called a “high Sabbath.” Therefore, the Sabbath for which Jesus had to be removed from the cross was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, not the weekly Sabbath. (The weekly Sabbath does play a part in Jesus' timeline, which we will shortly see.) Unlike the weekly Sabbath that is every Friday night to Saturday night, this special Sabbath can fall on any day of the week.
There are New Testament Scriptures that give us this information about this special Sabbath:
[SUP]52[/SUP]…this man (Joseph of Arimathea) went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
[SUP]
53[/SUP] And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a
tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
[SUP]
54[/SUP] And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Luke 23:52-54
[SUP]31[/SUP] The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the
bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath
was a high day) John 19:31
[SUP]42[/SUP] Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because
the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John 19:42
Passover is not a Sabbath. It is the day of preparation for the High Sabbath that is the first day of the (seven day) Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus died on Passover, but was removed from the cross before sunset, which began the High Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
[SUP]7[/SUP] 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.
On a Sabbath no work is done, therefore, the women could not prepare Jesus' body
for burial. Jesus was removed from the cross, wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb.
[SUP]46[/SUP] And Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mark 15:46
Because of the encroaching High Sabbath, the linen wrapping was all that time allowed to be done for Jesus. Under the Torah (law) one could not buy or sell on a Sabbath.
As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day; Nehemiah 10:31
Therefore, the women could not obtain the necessary items to properly anoint His body and bury Jess. However, once the High Sabbath was over, the women could buy what they needed for this task.
And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Mark 16:1
Since there were no food processors or machinery during the first century, this was a time consuming, laborious task. On the day after the High Sabbath, the women purchased the spices and spent the day preparing them to anoint Jesus' body. However, they were once again delayed, this time by the weekly Sabbath.
[SUP]
55[/SUP] Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after,
and saw the tomb and how His body was laid.
[SUP]
56[/SUP] And they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
[SUP]
1[/SUP] But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. Luke 23:55 - 24:1
Thus far, Jesus has died, been placed in a tomb as the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. The women were forced to wait for that evening and day to pass. The next morning after the Sabbath when the shops were open, they purchased the spices and prepared them to anoint Jesus' body. They then had to rest for the weekly Sabbath to pass. Since there were no electric lights to enable them to work at night, they waited until morning on the first day of the week, Sunday, to go to the tomb to prepare His body. When they arrived, the tomb was empty. Does this mean that Jesus arose on that day, or was tomb empty because He had already arisen?
To make all of these events fit, we can count backwards from the weekly Sabbath and figure out what evening Jesus and the disciples had the Passover meal and what day He was crucified. The timeline of events would look like this:
Tuesday night – Passover Seder (meal), prayer in
Gethsemane, arrested, brought before the Jews
Wednesday morning – before Pilate, on the cross by 9 a.m., dead by 3 p.m.
Wednesday night – Jesus in the tomb – first night, High Sabbath begins
Thursday – Jesus in the tomb – first day, High Sabbath,
Thursday night – Jesus in the tomb, second night, end of High Sabbath
Friday – Jesus in the tomb, second day, spices bought & prepared
Friday night – Jesus in the tomb, third night, weekly Sabbath begins
Saturday – Jesus in the tomb third day, weekly Sabbath
Saturday Night – Jesus NOT IN THE TOMB, End of weekly Sabbath
The Two Sabbaths of Passover
We know that Jesus celebrated the Passover in obedience to the commandments to do so given in Leviticus 23, Exodus 12 and Numbers 28:16-25. He began the events leading to His death by celebrating this event for which He instructed His disciples to prepare:
And the disciples went out, and came to the city, and found it just as
He (Jesus) had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Mark 14:16
After eating the Passover meal, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples to pray. (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46)
And they came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples,
"Sit here until I have prayed." Mark 14:32
After praying, Jesus was arrested, tried and on the cross by 9 a.m. the next day.
And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest... Luke 22:54
Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesusto put Him to death; [SUP]2[/SUP] and they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate. Matthew 27:1-2
And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. Mark 15:25
As most everyone knows, Messiah died, was buried and resurrected. The traditional teaching says that Jesus died on Friday, the weekly Sabbath, (good Friday) and arose on the following Sunday. However, Jesus said,
for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40
Is it possible to get three days AND three nights from Friday to Sunday? No, it is not. Therefore, from Jesus' own words we can see that this teaching cannot be correct. Therefore, exactly what did happen?
Leviticus 23 gives us the important and “missing” information in the traditional teaching. Therefore, to understand what happened, let’s look at this missing info.
[SUP]5[/SUP]In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is God's Passover.
[SUP]
6[/SUP] 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to God; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
[SUP]
7[/SUP] 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.
[SUP]
8[/SUP] 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to God. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'" Leviticus 23:5-8
This passage tells us that the Passover is on the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the 15[SUP]th[/SUP]; they are back-to-back. The first day (and the last day) of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a Sabbath. This is a “special” Sabbath, also called a “high Sabbath.” Therefore, the Sabbath for which Jesus had to be removed from the cross was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, not the weekly Sabbath. (The weekly Sabbath does play a part in Jesus' timeline, which we will shortly see.) Unlike the weekly Sabbath that is every Friday night to Saturday night, this special Sabbath can fall on any day of the week.
There are New Testament Scriptures that give us this information about this special Sabbath:
[SUP]52[/SUP]…this man (Joseph of Arimathea) went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
[SUP]
53[/SUP] And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a
tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
[SUP]
54[/SUP] And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Luke 23:52-54
[SUP]31[/SUP] The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the
bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath
was a high day) John 19:31
[SUP]42[/SUP] Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because
the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John 19:42
Passover is not a Sabbath. It is the day of preparation for the High Sabbath that is the first day of the (seven day) Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus died on Passover, but was removed from the cross before sunset, which began the High Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
[SUP]7[/SUP] 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.
On a Sabbath no work is done, therefore, the women could not prepare Jesus' body
for burial. Jesus was removed from the cross, wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb.
[SUP]46[/SUP] And Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mark 15:46
Because of the encroaching High Sabbath, the linen wrapping was all that time allowed to be done for Jesus. Under the Torah (law) one could not buy or sell on a Sabbath.
As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day; Nehemiah 10:31
Therefore, the women could not obtain the necessary items to properly anoint His body and bury Jess. However, once the High Sabbath was over, the women could buy what they needed for this task.
And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Mark 16:1
Since there were no food processors or machinery during the first century, this was a time consuming, laborious task. On the day after the High Sabbath, the women purchased the spices and spent the day preparing them to anoint Jesus' body. However, they were once again delayed, this time by the weekly Sabbath.
[SUP]
55[/SUP] Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after,
and saw the tomb and how His body was laid.
[SUP]
56[/SUP] And they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
[SUP]
1[/SUP] But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. Luke 23:55 - 24:1
Thus far, Jesus has died, been placed in a tomb as the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. The women were forced to wait for that evening and day to pass. The next morning after the Sabbath when the shops were open, they purchased the spices and prepared them to anoint Jesus' body. They then had to rest for the weekly Sabbath to pass. Since there were no electric lights to enable them to work at night, they waited until morning on the first day of the week, Sunday, to go to the tomb to prepare His body. When they arrived, the tomb was empty. Does this mean that Jesus arose on that day, or was tomb empty because He had already arisen?
To make all of these events fit, we can count backwards from the weekly Sabbath and figure out what evening Jesus and the disciples had the Passover meal and what day He was crucified. The timeline of events would look like this:
Tuesday night – Passover Seder (meal), prayer in
Gethsemane, arrested, brought before the Jews
Wednesday morning – before Pilate, on the cross by 9 a.m., dead by 3 p.m.
Wednesday night – Jesus in the tomb – first night, High Sabbath begins
Thursday – Jesus in the tomb – first day, High Sabbath,
Thursday night – Jesus in the tomb, second night, end of High Sabbath
Friday – Jesus in the tomb, second day, spices bought & prepared
Friday night – Jesus in the tomb, third night, weekly Sabbath begins
Saturday – Jesus in the tomb third day, weekly Sabbath
Saturday Night – Jesus NOT IN THE TOMB, End of weekly Sabbath
The Two Sabbaths of Passover
