Good Friday....or Good Wednesday

[Brother Jerry]

Good Friday has always been a day when people feel we are in rememberance of the day that Christ was crucified.  And we all know that Sunday was the day He was risen.  So how is it that the we get 3 days and 3 nights out of Friday to Sunday? 

Simple answer is we don't.  I went to one website and Good Friday in Germany was originally called Mourning Friday, because that was the day the discipled mourned the death of Jesus.  Making Friday the day of commemoration of the death of Christ was an invention of the church.  And one they made in error as for the timing.  Let me take the time to explain

Ok we have to look at the entire event and the scriptures that reference specific time frames.  I like to start with one of the only ones that has a set day listed.  That is when the women come to the tomb and find it empty.  Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1 all indicate that it was the first day of the week.  First Day, what we now call Sunday.  This is the only day specifically mentioned in the events of Jesus' death.  And based on this account we know that Jesus had risen from the grave before early Sunday morning.

Now Matthew 12:40, and others, indicate Jesus will be in the grave 3 days and 3 nights.  The other verses are more general in stating "3 days later", "on the third day", etc.  So we know Jesus was up by dawn of Sunday.  We also know that Jesus died before sunset as well.  We know that Joseph came to pull him from the cross before the sun went down, because it was the day before the sabbath (more on that later) and no work could be done after sunset.  And to the Jews the day was from sunset to sunset.  So Jesus died and was put in the tomb before sunset. 

Now counting backwards from Sunday you would get Night 1=Sat Night, Day 1=Saturday, Night 2=Friday Night, Day 2=Friday, night 3=Thursday Night, Day 3=Thursday...uh oh...we really cannot claim that Jesus died early enough in the day to have Thursday count as a full day can we?  No we cannot since Jesus was in the tomb near sunset.  So how can we justify that we need another night in there?  Easily enough in that nothing else in the Bible stated that Jesus actually rose Sunday...He could have risen Saturday before sunset or even just after sunset.  This could easily have been done.  So that would put Jesus death on Wednesday.

So what other evidence do we have of this?

We need to really look at some of the information that we have and what we think we have.  We have to realize some very common misconceptions that we have today as well, traditions of man that do influence us.

One of these misconceptions is that the "Last Supper" was a passover supper.  This is incorrect.  Think about it...Jesus was our passover lamb, the sacrifice for the passover.  How could he partake of the passover lamb if He was to be dead?  Logically He could not...but let us not rely upon human logic alone...let us look into the Bible for the answers.  And after watching WAY to much CSI and Without a Trace I know the best thing to do is build a timeline with the evidence and knowledge we have.

What we know:
Passover takes place on the 14th of Nissan.  Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 9:1-5, Numbers 28:16-17, Exodus 12:6.  The sacrifice happens on the 14th.  The meal following the sacrifice happens on the 15th this is what is called the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened bread.

We also know that Jesus was risen by the first day of the week after His death. 

Jesus said 3 days and 3 nights in the ground

So with those tidbits let us get started.

9 Nissan - John 12:1 6 days before the Passover they are in Bethany.  They stay the night, becasue the verses there mention Lazarus' family is fixing supper.
10 Nissan - Mark 11:11 / Matt 21:1 / John 12:12 Jesus enters Jerusalem riding an ass.  Mark later mentions they went back to Bethany
11 Nissan - Mark 11:12 / Matt 21:17 Jesus is traveling back to Jerusalem.  Cursing of the Fig.  Again Mark 11:19 mentions them going back to Bethany.
12 Nissan - Mark 14:1-2 / Matt 26:2,5 Back in Jerusalem.  After 2 days will be feast of the passover is mentioned.  Keep in mind the sacrifice is the 14th.  The feast does not start until technically the 15th...which is "after" 2 days from the 12th.
13 Nissan - Mark 14:13 / Matt 26:18 / Luke 22:7  Jesus sends 2 disciples into town to reserve a room basically for the feast.
13 Nissan - Mark 14:17 / Matt 26:20 Jesus and the rest come into town that evening.
14 Nissan - Jesus has a meal with mates.  There is nothing that specifies that the meal Jesus had with the disciples we the Passover meal.  The lambs have not been slaughtered yet so it could not be the Passover.  Even in John 13:26-29 when Jesus sent Judas away, the disciples thought it was something like work..to go get stuff for the feast or something similar.  If this was the passover they would have already had all the things prepared for them and ready.  So this was just a supper.  Also this would have been the night after the passover was killed thus making it the 15th which is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread.  And the first day is a sabbath so no work would be done.  Lev 23:7

Now let me stop right there for a minute.  The rules for the passover is that on the 10th of the month the family is to go and get a lamb for sacrifice.  They are to bring it close to their home and keep it near.  Then on the 14th during the twilight they are to slaughter it, and that very night, the 15th they are to feast.  Notice when Jesus entered Jerusalem...the 10th.  4 days before slaughter.

And before we start getting flustered because we have already stated Jesus did not eat the Passover...let me continue on with other evidence.

[Brother Jerry]

Pt 2

We all know that the same night that Jesus at with the disciples that He was captured.  So nothing exciting there.  Until we get down to when they go to take Jesus to Pilate.  Mark 15:1 / Matt 27:2/ Luke 23:1 / John 18:29 all mention Jesus being taken to Pilate.  But look at John 18:28 it says that the Jews did not want to enter the hall of judgement lest they be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.  This right here lets us know that the passover meal has not even been eaten yet.  So it is still just the 14th of Nissan.  We also see later in John 19:14 it states "it was the preparation of the passover" so again passover meal had not happened yet.

14 Nissan - we continue on throughout the morning and such with what we already know.  Jesus is crucified.  Let us note here that Jesus death was around the 9th hour of the day.  That would have been at what we call 3pm.  Josephus lets us know about when the sacrifices begin for the Passover.  "So these high priests, upon the coming of their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour until the eleventh..."

15 Nissan - Jesus is in the tomb.  Already there because Joseph put him there.  The Feast of unleavened bread has commenced.  This day is a sabbath day and now work is to be done. 

16 Nissan - Jesus is still in the tomb.  Mark 16:1 states that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James ahd bought sweet spices, that they might come and annoint him. 

17 Nissan - Jesus is still in the tomb.  Jesus arises before or at nightfall to fulfill prophecy of 3 days and 3 nights.  This day is a sabbath.

18 Nissan - Mary and others find Jesus missing in the tomb.  First day of the week.  Mark 16:2 notes that this is very early in the morning.

OK so now comes a question.  Mark 16:1 and Mark 16:2 we know logically cannot be talking of the same day.  Even the Jews of the time would have approximate times to open up their shops.  And "very early" in the morning is more than likely not opening time for the spice vendor.  So logically we can conclude that these were two different days.  Now vs 1 says it was after the sabbath.  Now if Jesus was gone by Sunday, buried Wednesday, and Thursday was a sabbath...that leaves possibly buying the spices on Friday.  Now Saturday is still a sabbath so no work would have been done then either. 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread occurs on Aviv/Nisan 15 and lasts for seven days through Nisan 21. The first and the last days are Sabbath days which means no regular work should be done. The interim days are called Chol HaMo'ed and, although they are Holy, regular work may be performed. Usually during the Chol HaMo'ed is another Sabbath - the weekly Sabbath.
http://www.derech.org/hamatzot.html

According to the calculated Hebrew Calendar, Passover can fall on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Sabbath.
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/68/Days-of-Unleavened-Bread.htm

There are certain dates on the Jewish calendar that are confined to certain days of the week: for example the first day of Passover (Nissan 15) Nissan 15 indicates first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Passover is actually only one day so could not be first day. cannot fall on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.  But this is only because our calendar today follows a preset systems, and is configured so as to avoid certain undesirable confluences of the two cycles (For example, if the seventh day of Sukkot would fall on Shabbat, we would not be able to fulfill the mitzvah of aravah).  IN essence, however, if our months were guided solely by the phases of the mooon, any monthly date could fall on any day of the week. ( http://www.meaningfullife.com/torah/holidays/7a/The_Great_Shabbat.php ).  Matter of fact apparently Abib (Nissan) 21 is the only Holy Day that can fall on a Friday. ( http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/holy-days/holy-day-calendar-new-moons.html)

Emphasis mine.

The question to be raised before would have been why did not the ladies go to the tomb on Friday sometime in order to annoint the body.  The answer comes from coments made earlier on.  We can trace origins of Good Friday to Gallican roots (modern day France and Germany).  Basically from Karfreitag which means Friday of Lamentation.  It could be that the disciples and followers took Friday as a day of lamenting.  So stunned by what had happened they only purchased spices needed for annointing.  it was important to clean the body, the Jews felt that clean you came into the world and clean you should go out. ECC 5:14.  So it was important to ensure the body was clean.  However there were 2 sabbaths in between the burial and first day.  Friday was the only day of they could have possibly done this, however a day of mourning and preparing was probably taken.

So in a nutshell you have that Friday could not possibly be the day of Christ's death.  There is no way to feasibly try and explain 3 days and 3 nights between Friday at dusk to Sunday at dawn.  It just cannot happen. 

And we cannot move the death up to Thursday because Jesus died on the Passover day, the day the lambs were killed, not the day of the feast which is actually the first day of the feasts of unleavened bread.  We cannot move the death to Thursday because Passover cannot fall on a Thursday it is limited by the Jewish Calendar to fall on what would be classified as a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday.  So that means that we have to move the death to Wednesday.  And the only issues to account for there are Jesus rising by Saturday night...not a problem.  And why did they not come to annoint the body on Friday?  Again not an issue either.

So remember come this following Easter season that if you wish to remember the day that Jesus died it was Wednesday, they mourned on Friday and He was risen by Sunday...amen!!!