Jesus did not die on "Good Friday"

(note from JMW.. I have the following saved in the My Documents folder on my comp. I do not recall from whom I got it but due to the truth contained, I am posting it here for you.)


No one disputes that Jesus arose on Sunday morning, but there is much debate as to what day He was crucified. Most of us were taught Friday was the day Jesus was crucified and this has been widely accepted as the traditional day of crucifixion. But if Christ was crucified on Friday, how was He in the grave for three days and
three nights as Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 He would be? Some of people began to say that Jesus was the son of David, which is a term for the Messiah, after He had cast a demon out of a man. However, the scribes and Pharisees being alarmed that the people would think Jesus was the Messiah began to openly criticize Him saying He had cast the demon out by the power of Beelzebub meaning Satan. Jesus then rebuked them for their unbelief and blasphemy. Blasphemy is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the Devil and that is what they did by
saying that Jesus casting out the demon was the work of Satan. They showed the hardness of their hearts by then sarcastically demanding that Jesus would give them a sign of who He was. They had just witnessed a sign in the casting out of the demon, but they would not accept it. Jesus them rebuked them by saying no sign would be given by the sign of the Jonah who was three days and three nights in the "heart of the earth." The phrase "heart of the earth" referred to dying and being buried. This passage is the key to understanding when Jesus was actually crucified.

Matthew 12:38-40:

38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."


The traditional explanation mistakenly says that Jesus was crucified on Friday. Trying to justify that Friday was the day of the crucifixion those that whole this view say that the Jews counted any part of a day as a full day. That is, part of Friday is day one; Saturday, day two; and if arose sometime Sunday morning - day three. This explanation has some serious problems.

It is true that the Jewish people did not reckon time the way we do. This is one of the first considerations.

1. The Jewish day ended at sundown and the new day began at sunrise.

2. Their Sabbath Day began at sundown Friday (about 6 p.m.) and ended at sundown Saturday. In Genesis 1:5 after the first day of creation, God said ". . . the evening and the morning were the first day." After the completion of each day of creation the Lord states the ". . . the evening and the morning were the ______day."

If Jesus was crucified on the traditional Friday and rose again anytime after 6 p.m. Saturday (the Jewish Sunday) He could not have been in the tomb ("heart of the earth") three full days and three full nights as He said He would be. Some might try to dismiss the importance of Jesus' statement, but He said it would be a sign to the Jews that He was the Messiah. If He was not actually in the grave three full days and three full nights there would be no way to authenticate the sign, so He had to be in the tomb the full time as He stated.

In the Jewish way of reckoning time, from Friday at 6 p.m. to Saturday as 6 p.m. would have only been twenty four hours if Jesus was buried before 6 p.m. From Saturday at 6 p.m. until Sunday morning at day break would have been a maximum of twelve hours. That gives a total of only thirty six hours, not the seventy two hours the
Bible records that He was in the grave. Jesus said He would be in the grave for seventy two hours and therefore He could not have been crucified on Friday.


Friday afternoon to Saturday 6 PM = 24 hours.

Saturday 6 PM to Sunday 6 AM = 12 hours.

Total 36 hours. (Not enough time)


WERE THESE THREE LITERAL DAYS/NIGHTS?

Some mistakenly refer to the passage where in John 11:9 Jesus asked, " . . . Are there not twelve hours in the day" to explain away the problem with the time. In creation God divided the day and night. The evening and the morning = 1 day. If there were twelve (12) hours in a day then there must have been twelve (hours) in a night and the total would be twenty four hours. Also, anytime in the Bible when the word "day" is preceded by a number, it means whatever number of days is denoted by that number. Day can also be used in the Bible to mean an unspecified period of days such as Day of the Lord.

Dr. Charles Halff, Director of the Christian Jew Foundation, in writing "The Fallacies of Easter" stated:

"Sometimes people ask, 'Didn't the Jews count part of a day as a whole day or part of a night as a whole night?' Let me say this, beloved. Whenever you have the _expression 'day and night' mentioned together in the Hebrew Scriptures, it always means a full day and a full night. . . For instance, if you will turn to Esther 4:16; 5:1; 1
Samuel; 30:12-13, and of course Jonah 1:17, you will find the _expression 'three days and three nights.' And in every instance it means full days and full nights - not part of a day and part of a night."


From Friday to Sunday is not three 24-hour days. Jesus said he would be resurrected after three (3) days. (Mark 8:31: "And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Counting backwards
from Sunday three days, you will not arrive at Friday. Remember to count the way the Jews did.


From Saturday 6 p.m. to Friday 6 p.m. = 1 day;

From Friday 6 p.m. to Thursday 6 p.m. = 1 day;

From Thursday 6 p.m. to Wednesday 6 p.m. = 1 day.

Total 3 days.


HOW COULD WEDNESDAY BE THE DAY BEFORE THE SABBATH?

But if He was crucified the day before the Sabbath, how could He have been crucified on Wednesday? The answer lies in the fact that the Jews celebrated more Sabbaths than just the weekly Sabbath. They had a number of feast days that were "High Sabbaths," or high days. He arose on the first day of the week after the Sabbaths* (plural). Sometime after 6 p.m. Saturday, end of the Jewish day, in Matthew 28:1 we read; "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 sepulchre."

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 ed.) has a center column note which reveals that "Sabbath" in this verse is plural; from the Greek word "sabbata." (Also in Yough's Analytical Concordance) The day after the crucifixion was not the regular (Saturday) Sabbath but a Special ("High" - Greek, "megas", large) Sabbath.

John 19:31 states, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."

The Jews observed several "high" Sabbaths ("holy convocations") in their seasons. Leviticus 23:3-6; "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread."

The first Jewish month (Nisan or Abib) is our April. The Feast of the Passover (a high sabbath) and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (another high sabbath) were celebrated on April 14th and 15th respectively.

The day Jesus died was the preparation day (Wednesday) of the Passover celebration on Thursday (John 19:14, 31: "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he (meaning Pilate) saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!" This was the morning of the crucifixion day. Verse 31 states, "The Jews therefore,
because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."

Therefore, Passover was on Thursday, that year, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was on Friday, and the regular weekday Sabbath was on Saturday. Jesus was crucified in the morning on Wednesday and placed in the tomb before 6 P.M. He arose from the grave sometime after 6 P.M. on Saturday, which would be early Sunday morning, the first day of the week, according to Jewish time-keeping. This explanation fits Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 12:40 that He would be "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

A POINT OF CONJECTURE

If Jesus was born in 5 BC (The Bible Almanac, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980) and if He died about at 33 years of age, that would fix his death around 29 AD. The first Roman calendar was off four (4) years. Today's calendar is a product of the Julian & Gregorian calendars. There was a 1 BC and a 1 AD but there was no "0"
between BC and AD. Counting 33 years forward from His birth in 5 BC would fix his death in 29 AD.

Herod the Great, who ordered the murder of all the babies less that two years old in Bethlehem, died in 4 BC. Therefore Jesus had to be born prior to his death and therefore Jesus probably was born in 5 BC or earlier. (Matt. 2:13-16)

Those special Sabbaths, Feast of the Passover and Feast of the Unleavened Bread, occurred on the 14th and 15th of the first month of the Jewish calendar (about our April). Leviticus 23:5, 6 states, "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread."

According to Encyclopedia Britannica the 14th day of Nisan ( also called Abar "green ears of corn") (Easter 3:7), corresponding to parts of March and April in the year of Christ's crucifixion was the same as our April 7 on our
calendar. ( Julian and Gregorian calendars) The Perpetual Calendar [also from Encyclopedia Britannica] shows that the 14th day of Nisan, 29 AD (Passover), fell on Thursday. Hence, it would be followed by the Feast of the Unleavened Bread on the 15th (Friday), and the regular weekday Sabbath (Saturday). Jesus would have therefore been crucified on Wednesday the 13th.

(Information sources were many, including commentaries of the late Evangelist Dr. Oliver B. Greene; Dakes's Annotated Reference Bible, and the article "Sabbaths All In A Row" by Maret H. Dinsmore, Litt. D., Th.D., in The Bibilcal Evangelist, Vol. 18, No. 8, April 13, 1984.)

Passover was on 14th day of the first month of the Jewish calendar, or Nisan (Abib) 14th no matter what day in the week it fell on as the following passages attest:
Exodus 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty

Exodus 34:18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

Numbers 9:5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Numbers 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.

Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

2 Chronicles 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

 

Let me see if I can explain this properly. I remember this so well because when I wasn't saved, I partied with a bunch of Israeli soldiers (boys and girls) on the beach of the Mediteranean and they started just as soon as the "first star appeared in the sky" which was the End of their Sabbath day.

This is how they would count days.

Day 1) Jesus was hung on the cross on Friday and was taken down before Sunset on THAT day so that he would not be left hanging on the Sabbath. This was considered a "day" that he was dead because if he was dead any part of that day they considered it a day.

Day 2) Started the Sabbath at sunset (or actually the visibility of the first star). That was day two Saturday. Day 2 ended that night when the first star appeared (Saturday night for us)-Sunday for them. This is the reason the Jewish soldiers could "party" because the Sabbath had ended when the first star rose Sat. Night.

Day 3) The third day from roughly 6-7 PM to early morning. How early in the morning? I'm not sure the hour, but it doesn't matter because half the day had passed when the "sun rose". (or should that be ....the "Son rose")

Anyway, they were partial days, but each day was considered a day even if Friday was actually the shortest period. He died THAT day, so at Sunset when the second day began he had technically been dead the day before (or dead one day).

Does that make any sense?

 

Jim Ward: Good work, you are exactly right.
While the Jews do indeed consider any part of the day a day, even they will tell you that this does not work within the context of what Jesus said. Three days and three nights can only mean just that. The Christian Jew Foundation, www.cjf.org
is a great source for information from those who are very well versed in Jewish customs and traditions.

 

"No one disputes that Jesus arose on Sunday morning..."

Actually that's what Caissie is disputing. Taking into account that there were 2 Sabbaths that week, not just one, and not both on one day, Christ was crucified on Wednesday and died at 3pm - He was put in the grave before sunset on that same day. Then count, He rose on Saturday-3 days and 3 nights later-before sundown (before Sunday started).

 

That is the fact of the matter, go and see for yourself what a "High Sabbath" is. It is in fact an additional Sabbath during the week. The Friday that we know of as good Friday, was a High Sabbath. Still today there are High Sabbaths in Judaism.

 

Jesus rose from the dead, and paid the price for my sins. I think that, in the end, that's all that matters. At least for me.

 

Amen, Johnv!

 

Ole lamebrain here, ya'll. Ole Johnv there, he done said sumpin' which we'all agree. But, then, this lamebrain writin' ya'll did a word search for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, thru Sunday and didn't find them words in the whole Bible so I guess we are jis' left with the facts that Jesus stayed in 'at grave a full three days, and three nights 'cordin' to the Scriptures, and that's it. (Gavel slammed !!)

 

Ben W:

Thursday was the High Day.

 

The dean of the theology department at my university gave us a paper showing how Jesus supposedly died on Thursday and how it falls in line with the killing of the passover on that same day (14th of Nissan). Wish I had an electronic copy... it certainly is an interesting proposal.

God bless!

 

Thank you for the clarification, John. As I read this thread, I did not realize we were dealing with two alternate views (Wednesday and Thursday) in addition to the Friday view. At first I thought we were only dealing with one. While I am still confused, this helps

God bless!

 

There is definitely a problem with literalism regardless of what day you think the crucifixion was on::

Matthew 16:21-- From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Luke 9:22-- The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.

However...

Mark 8:31-- And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

So which is it? On the third day? or after 3 days? The one who said He must in the tomb unrisen for "72 hours" is in contradicition of "on the third day."

If both "on" and "after" mean the same thing in these passages-- and they must, unless at least one passage is wrong-- then any argument about this is silly, and He did not have to stay down 3 'full' days.

 

Miss Caisie;
I am not supposed to post here so I beg forgiveness of the moderators in advance; the site you posted on how the Jews believe was from Jew for Judaism; They are notorious anti-missionaries against Messianic Jews! Don't believe for one second they are being honest with that article. You must be as shrewd as a serpent when looking at what they say! They will say and do ANYTHING to combat belief in Y'shua as Messiah!

I applaud the debate here, it has many good responses and questions. But there are some things about this argument that no one here has considered because the arguments are from a Jewish perspective.

Messianic Jewish believers reject many church traditions because we think they contradict biblical teaching, however just because the church teaches doesn't mean its NOT true!

I have researched this topic (hard) since '98. I have gone to Wednesday and back again. There are many reasons that a Friday (or late Thurs evening timeline) work much better than Wednesday.

Please feel free to delete this post; I know I shouldn't have posted here but this battle is severe in Jewish circles, and I hate to see others dragged into possible false doctrine.

Shalom alechim (Peace be unto you)
Cotton

 

Jesus was a Quartodeciman (people who observe Passover on Nisan 14). So were all the Apostles. Quartodecimans were excommunicated from the "church". This whole tradition instituted by Jesus was virtually stamped out.

Messiah had to die in accordance with the law and the prophecies, to fulfil them. Paul said since Christ was our Passover, therefore we should KEEP the feast (1Cor. 5:7-8).

Jewish days start around sundown or nightfall. It was at this time that Jesus met with His Apostles in the upper room to eat the Lord's Supper and to share in the NT Passover symbols of His broken body and blood. "Now when the evening was come, He sat down with the twelve" (Matt. 26:20). "He [Judas Iscariot] having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night" (John 13:30).

Later that evening when Jesus was out walking and praying, He was betrayed: "...That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread......After the same manner also He took the cup....." (1Cor. 11:23-26).


"In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD's Passover" (Lev. 23:5). Jesus died late afternoon on the 14th, and His body had to be quickly taken down because the annual Sabbath of First Day of Unleavened Bread was on the 15th (Lev. 23:6-8).

http://www.ccg.org/english/s/p277.html

 

"How did Easter really happen"

http://www.vision.org/trdl/2001/trdl010420.html

do a google search on some words:

quartodeciman, polycarp, synod of whitby, polycrates


------------------------------------------
God Bless everyone everyday

 

"No one disputes that Jesus arose on Sunday morning..."

"The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre....." (Jn 20:1).

Jesus was gone before sunrise.

----------------------------
uhdum -- http://www.cemnetwork.com --- their "online audio" has two good tapes about the death of Jesus. You might have to register, but it's free.

 

Paul said since Christ was our Passover, therefore we should KEEP the feast (1Cor. 5:7-8).

Galatians 4:9-11-- But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

Now, disregarding all your cult junk, answer this previously posed question about when the resurrection took place: "So which is it? On the third day (Matthew 16:21)? or after 3 days (Mark 8:31)?"

 

It is highly important, else Jesus wouldn't have prophecied concerning it. It's fulfilment is enormously important because if what was spoken does not add up (come to pass), in this case the 3 days and 3 nights prophecy, then Jesus would be considered a false prophet (and has in fact been accused of this at least by some orthodox Jews that I have conversed with when they attempt to do the math from a Friday crucifixion).

It is a doctrine that most people, including unbelievers, have all heard of. It's out there. We need to be sure, so that when the mockers come along, we can put them to silence.

 

uhdum --

The dean of the theology department at my university gave us a paper showing how Jesus supposedly died on Thursday and how it falls in line with the killing of the passover on that same day (14th of Nissan).

I always thought Nisan 14 was a Wednesday.

Nisan 14-Jesus died (late Wed. afternoon)
Nisan 15-Pesach "high day" Sabbath
Nisan 16-Women buy and prepare burial spices
Nisan 17-Women rest on weekly Sat. Sabbath (resurrection late afternoon - 3days & 3nights later)
Nisan 18-Women go to the tomb Sunday (while it was yet dark / at sunrise) and find it empty.

"so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:40).

=========

Also, here's a scenario that might work ---

"...and besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done" (Lk. 24:21). "These things were done" included the sealing of the sepulchre and setting a watch at the tomb -- ordered by Pilate, a day after the crucifixion (Matt. 27: 62-66).

Sunday was the third day from Thursday, making a late Wednesday crucifixion possible.

http://www.centuryone.com/crucifixion.html

 

uhdum -- (if you're still there)

The dean of the theology department at my university gave us a paper showing how Jesus supposedly died on Thursday and how it falls in line with the killing of the passover on that same day (14th of Nissan).


regardless which day of the week Nisan 14 fell on, your professor is correct. Jesus did die on Nisan 14; earlier that day (around midnight,perhaps) Jesus was betrayed in the garden by Judas; and still earlier that day(NIGHT), Jesus and His Apostles took the bread and wine: the symbols of the New Testament Passover - "for this is my blood of the NT".


Decades and centuries later, the Christians who were still keeping Nisan 14 as a remembrance of the Lord's DEATH (1Cor. 11:23-26) were labeled Quartodecimans, and their practice was looked down upon and virtually stamped out.

Origen regarded them as a "mere handful of wrong-headed nonconformists" -- quote is at the end of the first large paragraph - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm.

Perhaps Origen forgot what the Lord said about His followers - "Fear not, LITTLE FLOCK; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give YOU the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).