Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As indicated by the verse cited in the question, the Passover associated with Jesus' death and resurrection began at sundown on the day now commonly called Maundy Thursday by Christians. The first day of Passover thus lasted from sundown on Thursday until sundown on the day that Christians refer to as Good Friday (the day prior to the weekly Jewish Sabbath, which ran from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday)(John 19:31).

March 09 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt

According to the Gospels, the Passover took place on Friday the year Christ died. Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42, all mention the ‘Day of Preparation,’ which was when preparations were made for the Sabbath as no work was supposed to be done on it. ‘Preparation’ or the Greek word ‘paraskeue’ is the name for Friday in modern Greece. 

Luke 23:52-56 shows that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus before the Sabbath and the women prepared spices and fragrant oils as the Sabbath drew near and then rested. This was the weekly Sabbath. John 19:31 indicates this Sabbath day was a “high day’ meaning it was also a holiday, specifically the first day of unleavened bread, which was the day after Passover. 

The resurrection of Christ was on the third day, Acts 10:40 and I Corinthians 15:4, early on the first day of the week (Sunday), Mark 16:9. This raises a problem especially in light of Matthew 12:40, the sign of Jonah, when Jesus said He would be, “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Because of this, it is usually assumed the Passover was on an earlier day of the week such as Wednesday or Thursday so it will fit. 

However, this is the only New Testament reference to the “three days AND three nights.” Three days can be understood but not the three nights. The Jewish saying, “The portion of a day is as the whole of it,” does not help in this case either. 

The phrase ‘heart of the earth,’ is only found here. It is usually thought of as the grave, but it is not. Jesus equated Himself being in the ‘heart of the earth’ to Jonah being in the ‘belly of the fish.’ Jonah did not die but was captive. In like manner, Jesus was captive starting when He was arrested and brought to the ‘heart of the land,’ that is, to the authorities. A comparison would be Deuteronomy 11:3 which describes what God did in “the midst [or heart] of Egypt,’ specifically to the ruler, “Pharaoh king of Egypt.” This means Jesus was captive from the moment of betrayal. The timeline looks like this:

1st night – betrayal, arrest
1st day – crucifixion, burial
2nd night – in the tomb
2nd day – in the tomb
3rd night – in the tomb
3rd day – resurrection soon after dawn

An examination of the predictions of Jesus show the three days begin with being “delivered over” to the authorities and “suffering may things” while in their hands, Matthew 16:21, 17:22, 20:18-19, and parallel accounts, and then being raised on the third day. Thus the time period is from the betrayal until the resurrection. In fact, the two traveling to Emmaus claimed that day was the third day since the arrest of Jesus and being in the hands of authorities, Luke 24:20-21. 

The conclusion is that in the year Christ was crucified, the Passover was on a Friday, and the resurrection was Sunday morning.

March 06 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Guy Gifford Actually: An Apostle & Prophet chosen by God

God declared the first month of the Hebrew year to be Abib (Adar), which is to start on the new moon, and each week last seven days ending with the seventh day, the weekly sabbath (Saturday).

God declared Passover preparation day to be the 14th of Abib (Adar). All Hebrew days begin when the light of the sun disappears with night, then lasting the 24 hours. From sunset to no remaining sunlight in the sky is called twilight. There is an evening and a morning twilight. Evening twilight is the last of the previous day. God declared Passover to take place at evening twilight on the 14th (Saturday evening twilight).

However, we see that the Jews at the time of Jesus, did not choose to restart the work week at God's New Year on the 1st of Abib each year, so the days don't work out as they should.

However, At the time of Jesus, because of the large throng of people in Jerusalem, the priests had the people celebrate the Passover meal on two nights, as is keenly illustrated by the Bible passages that record that the following day after Jesus' last Passover meal, the Jewish accusers of Jesus were simultaneously trying not defile themselves by staying outside Roman governor Pontius Pilot's gentile court so they could eat the Passover meal, while simultaneously falsely accusing innocent Jesus to have him murdered; showing that for them, murder was OK, but touching something once touched by a gentile was considered by them to be much worse.

Thus Jesus and the disciples celebrated Passover on the 13th, while the more elite Jews celebrated Passover on the 14th, the same day which Jesus was executed, which I believe should have been a Saturday, had they restarted their weekly sabbaths with their new year. 

The best information which we have is the actual written account, which says that Joseph of Aramathia had to hurry to get Jesus body buried before nightfall (during twilight), and Mary arrived to the empty tomb in the dark on the day (night) on the first day of the week (gentile Saturday after dark), after the Sabbath. If we believe that the recorded prophesy of Jesus came true, that He would be in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights", then we must back up by three days and three nights to find the actual day of their (can I say "messed-up") week to find what day Jesus died. Days of the week are very arbitrary by those in power (see the 12 days of Christmas). Presuming that Jesus' declared "three days and three nights" didn't count just a couple of minutes of twilight as one of the three days, then Jesus would have resurrected at twilight on the third day. 

Counting backward three full 24 hour days (72 hours), we arrive at evening twilight on Wednesday, and that Jesus died on a Wednesday.

But it is far easier to simply use God's calendar, on which Jesus died on the 14th of Abib, 14 days after the new moon, ie. At the time of the full moon. So that year it would have fallen on a Wednesday, but God had the Hebrews using a lunar calendar, rather than our solar calendar.

July 30 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report