May 2002
I often wonder why Christians celebrate holidays- otherwise known as holy days. The Bible never commands us to observe special days commemorating specific events. In fact, the Bible speaks against the observance of special days:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God— or rather are known by God— how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (Ga.4:8-11)
If we even concede to the celebrating of special days, I
find it strange that the days being observed are really not being celebrated on
the day, or even season when they originally occurred. For instance, Jesus’ birth was not in the
winter but rather in the spring; however, when Constantine Emperor of
A friend was once witnessing to someone of Christian descent who claimed that the Bible was full of contradictions. He cited the Biblical fact that Christ was to be in the grave for three days; but according to our celebrated tradition, was only in the grave for a little over a day. For it is clear that Christ rose from the grave on the first day of the week:
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. (Mt 28:1 note Jn.20:1; Mk.16:1; Lk.24:1)
Every gospel establishes that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, however there is no discussion as to the day of his resurrection. The debate comes in regard to the day of his death. Historically, the church has celebrated it on Good Friday; however if he died on Friday at ninth hour and arose on Sunday early in the morning, we would have Jesus in the grave for less then two full days. Hence, the man’s argument as to the contradiction of the scripture:
Mt.12:39-40 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Since the Bible contains no error, we must assume the day which the church has historically held Jesus’ death is incorrect. To understand the true day of Jesus’ death, we need to know some of the differences between Western concepts and Biblical concepts:
The first concept we need to be
aware of is the start of the day. In Western
thinking, the day starts at
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning— the first day. (Ge.1:1-5)
There was darkness and then there was light- the first
day. This became the pattern for the
Biblical day that was commanded at the time of the Passover in
Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of
The day, starting in the evening, can be clearly seen in the teaching of the Day of Atonement:
The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. …
You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come, wherever you live.
It is a sabbath of
rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening
you are to observe your sabbath." (Le.23:27, 31-32)
This concept is important for Jesus celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month
Le 23:5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the
fourteenth day of the first month.
What is generally called “The Last Supper”, in that it was the last supper Jesus ate, was the celebration of the Jewish Passover:
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Lk.22:13-15)
On that same 14th day after eating the Passover,
Jesus, after eating the Passover, went out to the
Mk.14:26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the
While still in the evening of the 14th day, Jesus
was arrested while praying in the
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. (Lk.22:54-56)
Peter’s denial of Christ took place the night, of the 14th day, and at day break, we read:
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the
teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound
Jesus, led him away and handed him over
to Pilate. (Mk.15:1)
The same morning of the 14th day, Pilate, after questioning Jesus, sent him to Herod:
When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him
to Herod, who was also in
Since Jesus would not entertain Herod, Jesus was sent back to Pilate:
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. (Lk.23:13-15)
Finally, Pilate gave in to their demands and handed Jesus over to be crucified:
For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. (Lk.23:22-24)
It was at the third hour of daylight on the 14th day that Jesus was crucified:
Mk.15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified
him.
Christ died at the ninth hour:
Mk.15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, <"Eloi, Eloi, lama> <sabachthani?>"— which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Mark’s account was based on the Jewish hour, which divided the day into twelve parts but the night was divided into three watches:
Jn.11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A
man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light.
It was still on the Jewish 14th day that Joseph placed Jesus and the tomb:
Mk.15:42-43 It was Preparation Day (that is, the
day before the Sabbath). So as evening
approached, Joseph
of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who
was himself waiting for the
Therefore, from the time Jesus ate the Passover to the time Jesus was laid in the tomb, all took place on the 14th day from sunset to sunset.
The second concept we need to be aware of is the Jewish concept of the Sabbath. It was a day when no one did any work- hence the literal translation: “intermission”. Every seventh day was a Sabbath, when no work was done. However, many people do not realize that there were special holy days when the Jews were not to do any work:
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. "‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD. "
‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’" (Le.23:1-8)
Jesus died on the 14th day of the first month, a day of preparation for a special Sabbath. The 15th day was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a special Sabbath. John’s account clearly points this out:
Jn.19:31-33 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
It was not a day of preparation for the regular Sabbath, but rather the preparation for the 15th day, the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread
Jn.19:13-16 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
Jesus died on the day of preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The 14th day of the first month, the next day, or the 15th day, started soon after Jesus was placed in the tomb at sunset- a day on which no one could do any work. The next day, the 16th, had to be the regular Sabbath, for the women came on the 17th day the first day of the week:
Mk.16:1-2 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
Since Jesus died on the 14th day and rose on the 17 day, 17-14=3 days:
Jn.2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy
this temple, and I will raise it again
in three days."
Therefore, Jesus died on the day of Passover and was in the heart of the earth for both Sabbaths before he was rose on the first day of the week.
Now,
all we need do is resolve the difference between our day
based on
Lk.22:15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer.
However, if we would consider John’s gospel, it depicts the Last Supper as taking place before the Passover, the preparation day:
Jn.13:1-2 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
John implies that the disciples thought that Judas was going out after the Last Supper to buy something for the Passover feast:
Jn.13:27-30 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
Some imply that Jesus ate the Last supper on the day of preparation for the Passover and not the Passover day itself:
Jn.19:13-14 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
However,
scripturally speaking Passover was one day followed by seven days referred to
as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Also,
it is important to note that John used the Roman measurement of time which
divided the day into 24 hours; while the other gospels used the Hebrew method
of time, hence the difference in hours between the gospels. Furthermore, John’s gospel clearly teaches that the
Jewish leaders did not enter the palace because they did not want to become ceremonially unclean, and be unable to
eat the Passover.
Jn.18:28-29Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?"
If this be the case, then the Last Supper was on the 13th of Nisan (Tuesday night), and our Lord must have been crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover. He lay in the grave on the 14th day which was the Passover; the 15th would be a special Sabbath; as well as the 16th was a regular Sabbath (unless the weekly Sabbath coincided with the special Sabbath). Then on Sunday, prior to dawn of the 17th, Jesus arose. In this way, Jesus would have been in the grave for a little longer then three full days.
If either case, we must concede, if Jesus was supposed to be in the grave
for three days, then he must have celebrated the Passover on Wednesday night. That is unless he ate the Last Supper on the
preparation day which would make it Tuesday night. In either case, we know that it probably did
not happen on Thursday night, for he would have only been in the grave for a
little over one day. The reason for this
study is to concede that Christian tradition is not always founded on Biblical
truth. Therefor,e when one conflicts with the other, we must always
side with Biblical truth and correct those Christian practices which are have
no Scriptural foundation.