Easter Facts (Part 2)

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Tuesday March 11, 2008

John 19:31 (NIV)
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 Jews observed a number of "special Sabbaths." These Sabbaths did not have to fall on a saturday, but were based on the calendar for their religious feasts. One common misinterpretation of scripture is that Jesus died on a friday. The argument people give is that the next day was a saturday Sabbath.

But John tells us in the scripture above that it was NOT a saturday Sabbath, but a SPECIAL Sabbath. According to the Old Testament law, the passover has two such special Sabbaths, and they could fall on any day of the week:

Leviticus 23:5-8 (NIV)
5. The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6. 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. 7. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8. 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.'"

The reason we know that Jesus could not have possibly died on a friday is because of one of His own statements:

Matthew 12:40 (NIV) (Jesus speaking)
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.

There is no way you can get three days and three nights out of a friday and a saturday! We also know from Jesus' own words that He would be raised on the third day:

Matthew 16:21 (NIV)
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

So Jesus told us He would be raised on the third day, and that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Counting backwards from Sunday morning, we can count back three nights and it would bring us to Thursday. That means Jesus was in the heart of the earth on Thursday night, so He couldn't have died on friday!
The Bible tells us that He died BEFORE DUSK, so He would have to have died on Thursday, since it would count as one of the three days, adding up to three days and three nights.

John 19:31-33 (NIV)
31. 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. 32. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

Jesus was already dead, and the special Sabbath, which started at dusk, had not yet begun, so Thursday would have to count as one of the three days. That would also put Sunday morning into the category of the third day in terms of 24-hour periods, thus fulfilling both Jesus' statements in scripture.

Contrary to religious tradition, Jesus died on a Thursday!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your wonderful, life-giving Word. Help me comprehend Your Word and rightly divide it so I can allow You to govern my life completely.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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