Roman Catholicism has dictated the dates of many Christian events and distorted the meanings of others. Baptists who ought to know better continue to celebrate Good Friday without ever questioning why.
The fact is that Christ was not crucified on Friday at all. nor did he rise on Sunday morning as Baptists have been taught by Roman Catholics to believe.
Yet in spite of the truth, we continue to cling to the traditions of men and in so doing, miss the tremendous type and symbol contained in the historical accuracy of the Passover. This paper will attempt to correct error while pointing to the Lamb of God as Savior.
"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." (Matt 12:40)
According to tradition, Jesus died on the cross at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and rose very early Sunday morning. Many have wondered how three days and three nights can be compressed into such a short time span, especially since Christ was so clear in His statement in Matthew 12:40 . Most Christians simply ignore the obvious problem and hold the traditional view.
Most commentators argue that ancient Jews reckoned a fraction of a day as a whole day; so they say that a very small part of Friday, all of Saturday, and a smail part of Sunday can be figured this way. Jesus, however, was clearly stating that He would remain in the grave exactly the same length of time that Jonah spent in the whale's belly.
The solution to the problem is clear: Nowhere in the Bible does it say or imply that Jesus was crucified and died on Friday. It is said that
Jesus was crucified on "the day before the Sabbath"; (Mark 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,)
The Jewish weekly Sabbath came on Saturday, commencing at sunset, Friday, the evening before. But what we forget is that the Jews had other Sabbaths beside the weekly Sabbath.
For example, the first day of the Passover week, no matter what day that may be, it was always a Sabbath (Exodus 12:16; Lev 23:7; Num 28:1-18).
Knowing this, ask whether the Sabbath immediately following Christ's crucifixion was the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) or the Passover Sabbath, falling on the 15th of Nisan, which came on Thursday the year that Christ died.
Even though history should cause us to consider that our tradition is wrong, our first hint that something is missing from our tradition is the wonderful symbolism expressed in the Passover Lamb.
It was not accidental that Christ died during Passover. The Bible Itself tells us clearly when Jesus died.
John tells us plainly that the day on which Jesus was tried and crucified as "the preparation of the Passover"; (John 19:14).
Christ then was not tried and crucified before the weekly Sabbath which is(Friday), but the day before the Passover Sabbath, in that year the Passover fell on Thursday.
Therefore, the only conclusion we can make is that Christ was crucified on Wednesday, the day of preparation.
John makes this fact crystal clear.
John's Gospel was written later than other accounts and seems to clarify (for obvious reasons) areas that may lead to possible error.
One false impression that we have accepted
by our ignorance of Biblical truth is that
Jesus ate the Passover at the regular time of the Passover.
To correct this false impression, John clearly states that Jesus ate it the evening before and that He Himself died on the cross at the very moment that the Passover lambs were being killed "between the two evenings" on the 14th Nisan (Exodus 12:6). God's real Paschal Lamb-Jesus,of Whom all other lambs offered through the centuries were only types, was therefore slain at the very time appointed of God.
He would not therefore eat the Passover Lamb on the Passover day. for He WAS the Passover Lamb on that day.
Everything about the Passover Lamb was a picture of Jesus:
1. He was a Lamb without spot or blemish
(Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats
2. He was chosen on the 10th day of Nisan
(Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel saying, In the tenth day of this month
they shall take to them every man a lamb, accordings to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house
, for it was on the 10th day of the month.
The preceding Saturday, is when the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was made,and not on "Palm Sunday"; as tradition suggests.
This fact is made abundantly clear since Jesus came from Jericho to Bethany six days before the Passover
(John 12: 1 Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.)
Six days before Thursday would have been a Friday that He made the trip from Jericho to Bethany.
If the Roman Catholic's Palm Sunday is historically COrrect, it would mean that Jesus made the trip on Saturday (six days before Friday) in violation of the Law(Exodus 16:29) which was interpreted to allow Jews to travel no more than 2,000 cubits on the Sabbath.
Bethany however, was a Sabbath's Day journey from Jerusalem
(Acts 1: 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. compare to
Luke 24:50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.)
Jesus entered Jerusalem on "the next day ".
(John 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem), and following verses.
It was also the same day that Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matt 26:6-16; Mark 14:3-11).
That evening (Friday night, before sunset) Jesus and His disciples ate dinner at Simon the leper's house. That same night (now Saturday after the sun had set , 10th of Nisan--remember that the next day begins at sunset) Judas sold Jesus. This was an exact fulfillment of prophecy in
Zechariah 11: 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price;
and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Exodus 12:3-6 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel.
saying. In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house:
And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor
next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls;
every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year:
ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same mOnth:
and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
3. Jesus was killed on the 14th of Nisan between the evens, just before the beginning of the 15th of Nisan at sundown
(Exodus 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month:
and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.)
We ought to accept what the Bible says: Jesus was not crucified on the Passover day but on "the preparation of the Passover,"
and that he was to be three days and three nights in the grave,
and as "the preparation of the Passover" that year would be Wednesday
and His resurrection early on the first day of the week,
this allows exactly three days and three nights in the grave.
It seems inarguably correct that Jesus died around sunset time on Wednesday.
It seems inarguably correct that exactly 72 hours later, exactly three days and three nights, at the beginning of the first day of the week (Saturday at sunset becomes Sunday after the sun had set), He arose from the grave.
When the women came just before dawn on Sunday morning, they found the grave already empty.
There is no need to fumble with fractions of days or to twist our Lord's words to mean something other than what He said.
The statements of Jesus were literally true. Three days and three nights His body was dead and lay in the sepulcher.
He Himself however went into Paradise and declared that the perfect sacrifice had been made and then led the Old Testament saints out of that place and into the presence of God the Father.
(1 Pet 3: 18-19 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust; that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison;)
