Preface to Chapter 11

The flow of this book is designed to point ever to Christ and the point by point events leading to and through his death and resurrection. The hope has been that every reader would feel almost as if he were there, on the sidelines, watching it happen, feeling the emotion of it all.

Rather than break that train of thought with a chapter pointing to more technical information, I deemed it best to include this chapter as a sort of "P. S." to the book. It is really relevant to the subject under consideration, and needs to be included.

It is my sincere hope that the information included here will prove enlightening, and strengthening to every reader.

It is generally assumed that Christ was crucified and buried on Friday. In fact, Good Friday is supposed to be a memorial celebration of his death day. Since it is a religious holiday, and is supposed to be a strictly Christian holiday; and since it is celebrated with great pomp and fanfare by numberous churches; the average person just knows in his heart that the day of the Crucifixion of Christ must have been Friday. Futhermore, Good Friday is right there on the calendar just like Christmas, Easter and July 4th. So it seems official that the Saviour died on Friday.

I. THE DEATH OF THE SAVIOUR ON FRIDAY WOULD INVALIDATE THE CLAIMS OF JESUS, AND UNDERMINE THE INTEGRITY OF THE SCRIPTURES:

A. Jesus was very emphatic in his claims that he would be in the grave 3 days and 3 nights:

1. Listen to Matt. 16:21, "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day".

2. Lest anyone think just a part of 3 days and 3 nights was meant, Jesus said in Matt. 12:40 he would be three days and three nights, just like Jonah was in the whale's belly for 3 days and 3 nights. "For as Jonah 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".

3. Jesus also spoke of a 3rd day resurrection in Matt. 20:19, "And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again".

4. Listen to him foretell 3 days and 3 nights in the grave in John 2:19, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up".

5. There are 24 hours in one day and night. Three days and nights is simply 3 days x 24 hours which equals 72 hours.

B. Now we know conclusively when Jesus rose from the grave:

1. Luke 24:1-7 says, "upon the first day of the week" the disciples found the tomb empty, and the Saviour risen.

2. That the resurrectionwas upon "the first day of the week is specifically stated in John 20:1-18, Mark 16:1-13, and Matt. 28:1-8.

3. The first day of the week is Sunday. For us today, it begins at midnight Saturday night. For the Jews it began at 6:00 P.M. Saturday evening. In either case, the first day of the week is Sunday.

C. So, we have a fixed and definite point for the resurrection; and we also have a definite time period as to how long Jesus was in the grave:

1. Given that basic, fixed information, it doesn't take someone with a higher math degree to figure out when the Crucifixion and burial had to be. Startinq at 6:00 P.M. Saturday evening (the start of the first day of the week for the Jews) or midnight (the start of the first day for us) and counting backwards 3 days or 72 hours - you'll come to Wednesday around 6:00 P.M. or 12:00 P.M., depending upon whether you go with the Jewish or Roman calendar. In either case, you get Wednesday as the day of the crucifixion.

2. This is not a matter of speculation. It is a proven fact. If mathematics are accurate (and math is called a "pure science"), then Wednesday has to be the day.

3. If we had no other proof than this, that Wednesday is the day of the crucifixion, there would be no doubt in evidence considering then that Good Friday is not the day of the crucifixion, but that Wednesday is.

D. To hold to a Friday crucifixion simply contradicts Jesus' claims and the mathematical evidence:

1. We know from Matt. 27:57 that it was the evening of the day of the crucifixion when Jesus was buried. If that day was Friday, the maximum time Jesus spent in the grave would be no more than 24 hours to 36 hours Count it up. From 6:00 P.M. Friday until 6:00 A.M. Sunday would be only 36 hours. At best, with a Friday crucifixion and burial, we're looking at only a day to a day and a half of grave time for Jesus. A Friday crucifixion and burial could mean only a part of 2 nights (Friday night, and a part of Saturday night), and one day (Saturday) of grave time for Jesus.

2. To hold to a Good Friday Crucifixion says Jesus didn't know what he was talking about when he predicted a 3 day and 3 night burial. It also says something bad about the prophecy of Jonah.

3. Furthermore, to hold a Good Friday Crucifixion says you can't take the scriptures at face value. Thus, all the claims of scripture are placed in question.

II. THE FALSE ASSUMPTION OF THE GOOD FRIDAY MYTH:

A. Nearly everybody knows that for the Jews, Saturday is a sabbath day:

1. In six days, God created the heaven and the earth; but he rested on the seventh day. He sanctified the seventh day, which is Saturday; and established it as a day of rest. Gen. 1:1 - 2:3.

2. This seventh or Saturday day was established by God as "the sabbath", and many restrictions were given to be kept on this Sabbath day. Ex. 20:8, Ex. 16:23-26, etc.

3. On a weekly basis, this sabbath day was to be kept, Ex. 31:15-17.

B. Jesus was crucified on the day before the sabbath.

1. Luke 23:54 says, "And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on".

2. Since Saturday was the weekly Sabbath day, most people assume that the day before the sabbath was Friday. Thus they conclude that Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday. So the Good Friday memorial celebration came into existence.

3. It is true that the day before the sabbath usually is Friday; but not always. As we shall see, there were other Jewish sabbaths besides the regular Saturday sabbaths. To assume the day before the sabbath to always be Friday is not a valid assumption; and can lead to false conclusions, as in the case of Good Friday

III. LET US NOW CONSIDER THE SABBATHS OF SCRIPTURE WHICH POINT TO THE WEDNESDAY CRUCIFIXION OF THE SAVIOUR:

A. The Jews annually observed many sabbaths:

1. There was, of course, the weekly Saturday sabbath mentioned in Ex. 20:8 and Ex. 23:12. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were constantly giving him resistance and scorn over this sabbath day as in Mark 2:23-28.

2. There were many other sabbath days in addition to the weekly Saturday sabbath. In different years, their sabbath could fall on any day of the week, Sunday through Saturday. All of these were "holy" or sabbath days. See Leviticus 23:1-3

a. The first and seventh days of the feast of unleavened bread were sabbath days, Lev. 23:6-8. The first day of the feast of unleavened bread followed the day of the passover. The Passover was April 14, and the feast of unleavened bread began April 15.

b. Oct. 1 of each year was a sabbath, Lev. 23:24-26.

c. Lev. 23:27-32 specified Oct. 10, the day of atonement to be a sabbath day.

d. Lev. 23:34-36 specifies the first and 8th days of the feast of tabernacle to be sabbaths.

e. This is not intended as a complete examination of all the sabbaths of Israel; but rather proof that the Jews observed more Sabbaths than the weekly Saturday sabbaths; and that each sabbath did not occur on Saturday every year.

B. With this basic knowledge of sabbaths in mind, let us now look at the week of Jesus' crucifixion:

1. At the time the chief priests and scribes plotted and sought the death of Jesus, "The feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread" was near at hand, Mark 14:1. They were eager to complete the execution of Jesus, and get him off the cross before sundown (or 6:00 P.M.) because at that time a sabbath began. Listen to John 19:14, 30-31, "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 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 a high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away"

2. Christ, who fulfilled the typology of the passover, was crucified on the day of the Passover, I Cor. 5:7. You will note from Matt. 26:17-26 that on the night before his crucifixion, he ate the Passover with his apostles. This of course was done in the day of the Passover, which began at 6:00 P.M. Tuesday, April 14, and continued through 6:00 P.M. April 15. It was on that day of the Passover that Jesus died as our passover.

3. The next day after the Passover was a sabbath day, and no work, executions, burial etc. were lawful on that day. It began Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. and continued through Thursday at 6:00 P.M. That was April 15. That is the holy day or sabbath, which the Jewish executors of Jesus were trying to beat. To distinguish it from the regular weekly sabbath, John called it "an high day" John 19:31. Of course, since the next day after the passover was always the sabbath of unleavened bread; then we know the sabbath the Jews were trying to beat was not the weekly sabbath, but the sabbath of unleavened bread. There is no valid reason to assume it was the weekly sabbath, and thus that the day before it was Friday.

C. We believe that "high day" or sabbath was the first sabbath of the feast of unleavened bread, which was annually the day after the passover:

1. We believe also that sabbath occurred on Thursday in the year Jesus died, which means his death and burial on the day before was on Wednesday.

2. On that Wednesday, he was crucified at the 3rd hour (9:00 A.M.), Mark 15:25. He died at the 9th hour (3:00 P.M.), Luke 23:46. Between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. (beginning time of the "high day" or sabbath), he was taken from the cross and buried in a nearby tomb, John 19:39 and Matt. 27:57-60. This occurred probably about 6:00 P.M.Wednesday evening (or by the Jewish calendar, the beginning of Thursday).

3. Jesus was in the grave all of Thursday, April 15; all of Friday, April 16, which was the preparation day for the regular weekly sabbath, which was the next day; and all of Saturday, April 17, which was the weekly sabbath. He then rose 72 hours after his burial, which would have been around 6:00 P.M., Saturday for us (or the beginning of Sunday for the Jews).

4. Thus, when the disciples went to the tomb at daylight on Sunday morning (for them or us), they found it empty As Jesus had promised.

5. There is no need to try and explain away Jesus' promise of 3 days and 3 nights. There is every reason to believe he did just what he said he'd do; and no reason to believe he did any less. When he said 3 days and 3 nights he was accurate: Wednesday evening until Saturday evening, Lev. 23:32. That's 72 full hours, which Friday evening until Sunday morning is not.