(Why Jesus Did Not Die on a Friday. And Why 'Easter Sunday' Resurrection is a Myth)
MOST nominal Christians will be surprised to know that Jesus didn't die on a Friday afternoon and rose on a Sunday! This can be shocking to many, but the Bible reveals an irrefutable proof about the perfect timing of Christ's death and resurrection. This truth will dramatically change your faith and discover how Jesus was truly the Saviour (Messiah) that He is!
On the other hand, Satan seems to be successful in subverting organized Christianity and in convincing people that God's Commandments are no longer binding, and to follow God is to actually reject His "outdated" Laws, including His holy days which are too "Jewish"!
Not surprisingly, with the personal freedom and rights under the guise of a woke culture today, people will just defend what they believe and feel whether it's true or not. The battle for God's truth is more uphill than ever before, exactly as Jesus prophesied (Matt.24:11-12)!
So for the record and edification of everyone, the chronology below is presented to show proof that Jesus is the true Messiah and that His words prove the point.
First, let's recall that Jesus was challenged by the authorities of His day (the Scribes and Pharisees, the custodians of the law). This was a serious allegation, His Messiahship was questioned, and His ONLY proof is His own death and resurrection!
"But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.'" (Matt.12:39-40)
This promise is unequivocal--having only one meaning, no room for interpretations!
Easter traditions taught that Jesus’ crucifixion took place on 'Good Friday' and that Christ was risen early on a Sunday morning, hence the Easter "sunrise" services Catholics do. The Evangelicals (Baptists, Anglicans, Lutherans, etc.) just followed suit.
Unfortunately, by promoting this fallacy (a 36-hour entombment), their teachings disproved the very words and proof of Christ! In fact, if the crucifixion took place on 'Good Friday' and the resurrection on Sunday morning, then Christ (based on the prophecy HE gave) is NOT the true Messiah!
So did Christ mean what He said? Did He really expect his burial in the earth to last 72 hours (three days and three nights)? Note that Jesus did not say, "After two nights and one day I will rise again." He meant that for three COMPLETE days he would be dead and buried, a full seventy-two hours! Upon Jesus’ crucifixion, the Jewish leaders who hated him remembered this sign (see Matthew 27).
Why the Easter confusion? Because since it's widely believed that the Jewish Sabbath came on Saturday, theologians simply ASSUME that Mark 15:42-43 was referencing to a weekly "Sabbath" when Christ was laid on a tomb, ergo Jesus died on Friday--thus promoting a 'Good Friday' myth! Not undertanding that the gospel of John parallels the same event by clearly stating that the Sabbath to come was a "high-day" Sabbath (John 19:31), meaning that there are TWO Sabbaths occurring that week--the annual (Passover feast), and the weekly Sabbath. Those familiar with Biblical feasts understand the Jews kept OTHER holy times or annual Sabbaths besides the weekly Sabbath. They also kept seasonal festivals God had given Israel for a sign (Exodus 23:14-17, Leviticus 23, Numbers 28-29, etc.).
So let's now dig in and discover the truth in plain sight of the New Testament chronology. Here is the sequence of events during the week of Jesus' death and resurrection:
1) Jesus' betrayal (by Judas) and arrest occured on Tuesday night (Roman time), immediately after a supper He has with the disciples. This was not a 'Seder' proper meal. Passover lamb wasn't offered or killed yet at this time. Scholars suggest that this supper was in a form 'havdalah' meal for a departing person (prototype of modern-day 'kiddush'). Others suggest that it was a 'chagigah' (or 'sacrificial meal') that can be partaken early. Whatever meal it was, it's obviously partaken too early for a celebratory 'Seder' meal of Passover (John 13:1-2; 18:28; 19:14).
2) 14th of Nisan during the week of Jesus' crucifixion was a Wednesday (April 3), 30 AD (He literally died as our Passover sacrifice, around 3PM or 3 hours before the Passover feast, observed after sunset)
3) Jesus was crucified Wed. at 9am, died at 3pm, buried before sunset, the beginning of Passover feast/DUB (John 19:31).
4) From the evening of Nisan 15 (Jewish day reckoning starts at sunset), Jesus was in the grave for '3 nights and 3 days'. Counting==>Nights: Wed, Thu, Fri. Day: Thu, Fri, and Sat (Sabb.). Thursday was the begining of Feast of Unleavened Bread (a 'High-day' Sabbath).
5) Jesus was resurrected on a Saturday just before the Sabbath day ends! Exacly "three days and three nights" or a full 72 hours!
6) Therefore, when the 2 Mary's went on Sunday morning (bringing aromatic spices), the tomb was already "empty". Jesus was risen already and nowhere to be found. (Matt.28:6; Mark 16:6;Luke 24:3; John 20:2)
7) Fact: The resurrection of Jesus from the dead took place at sunset Saturday, April 6, 30 A.D., which is seventy-two hours after he died and was placed in the 'heart of the earth' (i.e. tomb). This fulfilled the sign of Jonah the prophet He gave in Matthew 12:38-40 and PROVED He was the TRUE Messiah of mankind!
Why the 72-hour period is crucial? Not just as proof of Jesus' messiahship, but the witness of the law must also be fulfilled. Notice:
"According to Jewish law, to be declared legally dead, a person had to be dead for three FULL days or more. Therefore, if Jesus had risen from the dead before 3 PM on the afternoon of Nisan 17, a weekly Sabbath (Saturday), He would not have been considered legally dead. As a result, His return to life would not have been considered a true resurrection from the dead.
"If He had been crucified on a Friday and restored to life on Sunday morning at sunrise (what Christianity calls Easter morning), His death WOULD NOT have been 'valid' since only two nights and one day would have passed between Friday sunset and Sunday morning. In order for His death to be publicly recognized and acknowledged, it was necessary for Jesus to remain in the grave for three nights and three days before He was raised from the dead." (Holy Bible in Its Original Order [HBFV], 2009, Appendix J)
The facts are clear and unambiguous! On both counts Jesus words were true and fulfilled, the witness of the law confirms it.
Comments