The Sunday News
Rev Paul Damasane Talking Spirituality
IN the last week we interrogated the element of the current tradition of the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. It is the second edition as some celebrate this Sunday as Palm Sunday. This is the Sunday when believers celebrate the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem as the start of what is known as the Holy week. Death and resurrection of Jesus is a true and genuine sign of his veracity as the true Messiah.
While it is not an issue as far as the redemptive purpose of Jesus is concerned on which day he died, it is an issue when we revere and hold sacred a day instead of the Messianic action of the Christ. That is why we can continue to interrogate the issue of the three-day length of time in the prophetic fulfilment of our messiah’s life.
Methinks that our practice should be in line with the truth and recorded practice of the day lest we make the day more important than the action. Tradition should not be the dictate of our doctrine. Further, this issue today seeks to clarify that on Good Friday and Easter Sunday it did not happen that way!
The scriptures do state that he was buried on preparation day which is the day before a Sabbath. This does not mean it was on a Friday. No! It simply means it was before a Sabbath. Why do most churches assume and teach that Christ died and was buried on Good Friday? Tradition and only tradition for one thing! That is what most people have always been taught or grown to know. Also, they assume this is what the Bible teaches. The Scriptures do say that He was buried on “the preparation day,” the day before a Sabbath.
An investigation into the life and practice of the people of Jesus’ time and place was that heavy cooking and house-cleaning were done on the day before a Sabbath in preparation for it. And the weekly Sabbath falls on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Furthermore, according to the Bible reckoning of days begins at sunset (Leviticus 23:32; Genesis 1:5, 8, 13), so all weekly Sabbaths start Friday evening at sunset.
Now the Evangelist Mark in chapter 15: 42-46 does tell us plainly that Jesus was entombed late in the afternoon on the “preparation day,” just before the Sabbath began at sunset: “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marvelled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.”
What few people realise is that the Sabbath spoken of here was not the weekly Sabbath day, which begins on Friday at sunset and lasts until Saturday sunset.
The apostle John specifically tells us that the day on which Jesus was crucified was a special Sabbath, not the regular weekly Sabbath. “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31).
That Sabbath, we see from Scripture, was “a high day.” In addition to the weekly Sabbaths, God also commanded seven Holy Days or annual Sabbaths as we see in Leviticus 23: 5-7, most of which could fall on different days of the week. A number of commentaries and Bible helps will tell you that John is here referring to one of these annual Sabbaths rather than the weekly Sabbath.
The Passover is observed on the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. The next day begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Abib, is an annual Sabbath. The Jews were rushing to finish the burials of the condemned men before the annual Sabbath began at sunset. This preparation day was the day before the first day of Unleavened Bread, a high day or annual Sabbath.
The “Preparation Day” referred to in Mark 15:42 and John 19:31 was the day before the Holy Day that began the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
There were actually two Sabbaths that week — an annual Sabbath “high day” and a regular weekly Sabbath day. This is proven by the Gospels’ statements regarding Mary Magdalene and the other women, who planned to put more spices and ointments on Christ’s body, having been unable to do so because He had been so hurriedly entombed.
In Mark 16:1, we read that they purchased the necessary spices “when the Sabbath was past”— clearly after it was over. Whereas then in Luke 23: 54-56, we are told that they prepared the spices and fragrant oils and then rested on the Sabbath, which means they had to have acquired the spices before that Sabbath on which they rested.
Since it was unlawful to buy, sell or work on the Sabbath, the women had to wait until the annual Sabbath was past before they could purchase the spices. They did this on Thursday evening or early Friday. There was not enough time to buy and prepare the spices plus put them on Christ’s body. So they rested on the weekly Sabbath after purchasing and preparing them, intending to put them on His body early Sunday morning.
In the year AD 31, the year Jesus was crucified, the Passover fell on a Wednesday, 25 April, with the first day of Unleavened Bread following on the next day, Thursday. He died shortly after 3pm on Passover day, Wednesday afternoon. That Wednesday evening began the “high day,” or annual Sabbath beginning the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This annual Sabbath ended Thursday evening at sunset.
The next day, Friday, the two Marys went out and purchased more spices to add to the body of Christ and spent the rest of the day preparing them. “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him” (Mark 16:1).
They then rested on Saturday, the weekly Sabbath, before getting up early Sunday morning to go to the tomb to put the spices on His body. When Mary went to the tomb on Sunday morning, “while it was still dark” (John 20:1), this means before sunrise, Christ’s body was not there. He was not resurrected at sunrise on Sunday morning. Before sunrise His body was already gone!
Jesus Christ said He would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). If He were buried in the late afternoon, then He must have been resurrected at around the same time three days and nights later.
He was placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea in the late afternoon just before the sun went down. Three days and three nights later would have been at approximately the same time of day, just as the sun went down and evening came.
This places Christ’s resurrection on Saturday around sunset — not on Sunday morning! As we have already seen, when Mary went to the tomb “while it was still dark” on Sunday morning, He was already risen!
Christ was buried on Wednesday afternoon, very late, and raised from His grave around sunset three days and nights later. This perfectly fits with the three nights — Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday night — and the three days — Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This is the only time that fits Jesus’ own prediction of how long He would be in the tomb. And, as we have seen, it fits perfectly with all the details recorded in the Gospels.
The sign was fulfilled, just as He said!
The tradition of a “Good Friday” crucifixion and an “Easter Sunday” resurrection are proven from the Bible to be only a tradition — and one without basis in fact.
So which will you believe — a man-made myth, or the only sign that Jesus announced would be proof that He was who He said He was — the true Messiah! I could go on but I would like to pause here for you to think more. Enjoy this Holy Week and may God bless you. Shalom!
