days of death and resurrection of Jesus

[redhotmagma]

A friend of mine posted this on facebook about "easter".  I think he may come to discuss it if anyone is interested.

Contrary to what you and I were probably both taught, Messiah was not crucified on Good Friday nor did He rise from the dead on Easter Sunday.  That may come off as a bit shocking to some, maybe even blasphemous, but before anyone gets all riled up let's look at what the Scriptures have to say.

In the next few paragraphs (sorry, it apparently turned into pages) we'll look into the scriptures and lay out a Scriptural time line using a few "fixed points" as reference.  Something to keep in mind- we did not grow up living according to Yahweh's Lunar calendar, but instead our concept of time based on the Sun.  This plays out in how we view the days of the week and when we think day and night start.

Most people, with an open mind and a Google search, will come to see that the Hebraic calendar is based on the Moon.  The first of the month is a New Moon (i.e. the Moon is not visible at night) and the center of the month (i.e the 14th) is always marked by a Full Moon.  In addition, the Hebraic days are also slightly different in that unlike "us" who start their day with the AM and transition into the PM, they start their day in the PM and transition into the AM.  Lastly, which I feel is a key part to understanding this, is the term "Twilight" which in Hebrew refers to a specific time (more on that below) and not a horrible over produced knock off of Romeo and Juliet meet Dracula and Wolfman.  This may seem a bit foreign to you so you can thank Rome for messing us up and taking us off Yahweh's clock :)

You can also thank Rome, more specifically Pope Pius around 147 A.D. that tried to make change the day for Passover to correlate with the pagan holy day of Easter, but the official credit goes to the "great" Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 at the First Council of Nicea.  That's an entirely different "Note", but I you'll find his official ruling somewhere in the text below :) that officially introduced the concept of Easter into Christendom, in exchange for the removal of Passover.

Getting back on track with the time line around Messiah's death...so here's what we know from Scripture:

Mat 28:1 ESV - Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

Two things to see here are A) it was After the Sabbath (i.e. Sundown on Friday to Sundown on Saturday) and that it was B) "toward the dawn of the first day of the week"...meaning early Sunday morning long before I would willingly get up.

Mar 16:1-2 ESV - When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 

Again we see that the Sabbath was over and it was early on the first day of the week (Sunday)

Luk 24:1 ESV - But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

Jhn 20:1 ESV - Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

More of the same...I'm picking up a trend :)  So let's recap...A) After the Sabbath and B) around 0'dark Hundred they found the tomb empty...on the First Day of the week (meaning Messiah had to have risen from the dead and exited the tomb prior to the First Day of the week) which starts on "today's Saturday evening".

This will be our fixed point, which we will work back from.   It may seem a bit backward but hang on and it will work itself out :)

What other set times do we know?  Well, we know Messiah was in the Tomb 3 full days and 3 full nights...

Mat 12:40 ESV - "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

...we can count back from when our point of reference, the first day of the week.  The First Day starts around 6pm on Saturday night, so let's use 6pm as a general reference point:

6pm Sat - 6pm Fri (one day Sat AM, one night Fri PM)
6pm Fri - 6pm Thur (one day Fri PM, one night Thur PM)
6pm Thur - 6pm Wed (one day Thur AM, one night Wed PM)

3 Full Days, 3 Full Nights from the start of the First Day of the week means that Messiah was put in the Tomb before 5pm.  We can see the reasoning behind the Jews desire for Pilate to order Messiah down off the cross during twilight before 5pm, 3 days and 3 nights prior to the First Day of the week, is from John 19:31:

"Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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." ESV

This verse is the very CRUX of this whole conversation so to speak :)  We can see several key pieces of information here.  First, that it was the day of Preparation (i.e. the day the Passover Lamb was prepared and killed), which we can see in the Torah.

This was the Preparation Day for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which as we read in John 19:31 above, was a Sabbath and a "High Day".  The Preparation Day (Passover or Pesach in Hebrew) occurs on the 14th Day of the month of Aviv.  The following day, the 15th is an Annual High Sabbath and kicks off the week long Feast of Unleavened Bread, which ends on another Annual High Sabbath (the 22nd of Aviv).

Unlike the traditional Sabbath that most people are familiar with, occurring on the 7th day of the week (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown), a High Day or Annual High Sabbath can occur irrespective of what day of the week it falls on.  This is one of the largest errors why so many people think Messiah died on "Good Friday" as Friday is the day before the Sabbath it is logical to conclude, without an accurate view of Hebraic life.  However, knowing what we know now, we can flesh out more of our time line.

Isaiah 53:10 calls our Savior a "guilt offering." John the Baptist calls him the Lamb "who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Paul calls him a "sacrifice of atonement," a "sin offering," a "Passover lamb," a "fragrant offering" (Romans 3:25; 8:3; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2). Hebrews 10:12 calls him a "sacrifice for sins." John calls him "the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 2:2; 4:10)."  Clearly scripture supports Yeshua as our sacrificial lamb, thus we would expect our final Lamb to go through the same process the annual Passover Lamb as laid out in Torah.

Exd 12:6 ESV - "and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Lev 23:5 ESV - "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord 's Passover."

The word Twilight is important to recognize here.  The national Passover lamb for Israel was to be killed in the temple on Aviv 14 at "twilight" (Exo. 12:6), or at the "twain of the evening."  In Hebrew, this is translated, bain haarbayim, or "between the evenings."  The last half of the daylight hours (from about noon to 6:00 p.m.) was further divided into two parts: the minor evening oblation (noon to 3:00 p.m.) and the major evening oblation (3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.).  Thus, "between the evenings" means between these two periods, or about 3:00 p.m.  This was the time midway between the beginning of the sun's descent into the west (about noon) and its setting (about 6:00 p.m.) thus the Passover lamb was killed at about 3:00 p.m. on Aviv 14.

Put the 3pm slaughter of the Passover lamb on the back burner for a minute and let's look back to Gospels.

Mar 15:25 ESV - And it was the third hour when they crucified him.

We know that historically the first hour of sun light was typically at 6am, and can simply add to and from that to understand this time table, which makes the "Third Hour" approximately 9am.

Mat 27:46 ESV - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

The "Ninth Hour" was when Messiah quoted from Psalm 22 and gave up His Spirit.  Adding nine hours to 6am will put you...well I'll be a monkey's uncle (if you subscribe to an impossible theory)...sure enough Messiah gave up His last breath at 3pm, the very hour that the Passover lamb was killed, and I'll be you that it was literally the very same moment down to the millisecond.

So if you just tuned in here's a quick recap:

1) Messiah was killed as our Passover Lamb on Aviv 14, which is the Preparation day for an Annual High Sabbath, the first day of the week long Feast of Unleavened Bread that starts on Aviv 15. 

2) Messiah died at "Twilight, between evenings", or 3pm and was placed in His tomb (NOT on a Sabbath, as no work would have been done on the Sabbath) before 6pm when Aviv 15 started.

3) Messiah was in His tomb for 3 days and 3 nights, the same length as Jonas' stay in the Belly Bed & Breakfast.

4) The "Women" went to visit the tomb after the Sabbath (the 7th day), while it was still dark, early on the 1st Day of the Week.

Ok, this would be a good time to get up and stretch, take a potty break, etc...things are looking good so far, let's look at the Lamb of God a bit more closely to see what other parallels we can find:

Exd 12:3 ESV - "Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.

The 10th day in the month of Aviv is known the Selection Day for the Lamb that is to be chosen for Passover.  The Lamb was then taken into "the house" and tied to a bed post where it would be inspected for impurities and blemishes for 4 days.

Exd 12:6 ESV - "and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

If Yeshua sacrificed Himself on the 14th, which we now know happened specifically at 3pm on Wednesday, then 4 days earlier on the 10th would have been the day He road into Jerusalem or "the House of Israel".

This brings up yet another contradiction to what most people celebrate as part of Easter, that being Palm Sunday (which would have been 3 days earlier had it happened), but lines up perfectly with Shabbat HaGobol or The Great Shabbat.  This was a special Shabbat which is celebrated on the Shabbat directly preceding the Passover.  The Great Shabbat commemorates the day when the Jews were able to purchase lambs from the Egyptian markets without persecution.

We know that before Messiah road into Jerusalem that he was in Bethany near the Mount of Olives:

Mat 21:1 ESV - Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

We also know that Bethphage or Bethany, is approximately 2 miles outside of Jerusalem:

Jhn 11:18 ESV - Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,

So it was very probable that Messiah started His journey on Friday morning (the first half of the 9th) to arrive in Jerusalem for the start of the Great Shabbat, Friday evening (the beginning of the Shabbat).

We now have a full week in focus...we know that the 4 days prior to the 14th (Pesach/Passover/Preparation Day when Yeshua was crucified and gave up His Spirit) the Lamb road into the House of Jerusalem.  The 10th would run Fri-Sat, the 11th would run Sat-Sun, and the 12th would run Sun-Mon, which would mean Yeshua spoke these words during the daylight hours of Monday:

Mat 26:2 ESV - "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."

as the two days would be counted back from the start of Passover Wednesday at 6pm Wed to 6pm Tues, 6pm Tues- 6pm Mon...two full days.

Mon sundown-Tues sundown would have been the 13th, which means sometime after 6pm on Monday (or possibly an early meal on Tuesday before 6pm) would be the day the Last Supper (not the Passover Meal) took place on.  We know that the meal Yeshua shared with His disciples is not Passover due to several statements in the text.  The Passover Feast (or Passover Lamb) was eaten on the 15th, the day AFTER the Preparation Day (when they killed and roasted the Lamb) which we know is the day that Messiah died.

If they were in fact eating the Passover Lamb (aside from the obvious fact that Yeshua would have had to have figuratively been eating Himself) it would have been on the 15th, an Annual High Sabbath which was a day when work (buying/selling) was prohibited.  Yet we clearly see that after although the other disciples didn't see the big picture yet, Judas realized that Yeshua knew he would betray Him, Judas left...

Jhn 13:29-30 ESV - Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.  So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Messiah would not instruct someone to a) go buy something when they were not suppose to cause another man (in this case a store owner) to work and b) get food for the feast that they were suppose to be eating!

Speaking of what they were eating:

Mat 26:26 ESV - Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."

Mar 14:22 ESV - And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body."

Luk 22:19 ESV - And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

In each of these passages, where we read "bread" is translated from the Greek word ARTOS which means common or leavened bread.  This is big deal if someone would say that Messiah decided to use Artos instead of AZUMOS, or Azuma, which are the proper words for unleavened bread.  You could also make the argument that Azuma, or unleavened bread was NOT used because it is specifically used for commemorating the speed at which the Jews had to flee Egypt after the Passover, and Messiah is not referencing that.  Instead, Yeshua is illustrating and talking about how He will be broken and then the Artos is to be eaten together to show a sense of community.

Lastly, Yeshua said that "I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." - Mat 26:29 ESV.  If they were eating a Seder meal, there would have been 4 cups of wine.  The Four Cups represent the four expressions of deliverance promised by God Exodus 6:6-7: "I will bring out," "I will deliver," "I will redeem," and "I will take."  The order of when to drink, or not to drink these cups, has been established for thousands of years before this meal, so it is very clear to those who participate in a Seder that things work in a certain order.

Here is an exert from a website that I thought was both information and hilarious so instead of plagiarizing them I will quote them :)  (Sourced from http://the4thcup.com/)

"In Matthew, it states, "While they were eating," (Matthew 26:26) Timeout. Let's look at this, "While they were eating...," Now we know it's important to realize that the people who wrote this were Jewish, and the people who were reading this were Jewish. And they all know what a Passover meal is. So, it begins, "While they were eating." Now we know that they've already had the festival blessing, because they don't eat in the first part of the meal. They've already told the narrative story and sang the little hallel, because that's the second part of the Passover meal. They haven't yet drunk from the third cup of wine, because that doesn't happen until after the third part of the meal. So we know based on the structure of the Passover that we have in our handout, that we must be between the second and the third cup of the Jewish Passover meal. Now all Jews know this. We don't know this because we're Gentiles and we live 2000 years later. This doesn't cross our path until we study it.

Matthew records, "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." (Matthew 26:26) Now, He told them He was going to give them His body. "Take and eat; this is my body." Circle "this is my body." "Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant." Circle "this is my blood." "For this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many..." (Matthew 26:27-28) Now it says, "Will be shed," Ok, we're talking future; this is a future event, "Which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on..." Now listen to this, it says, "He took a cup." They've had the first two cups. He takes a cup and says drink from it all of you, this is My blood. What cup of the Passover meal are they drinking out of? The third cup. We know it's the third cup, because we just learned the structure of a Passover meal. They drink the third cup and He tells them something that's totally off the wall. He tells them, "I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine..." meaning the fourth cup, "...until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father." "Then, after singing a hymn," which is the great hallel, "they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Matthew 26:29-30) We know that the hymn is the Great Hallel.

Now there's something wrong here. We don't recognize this because we're Gentiles. Jews know what just happened. Jesus didn't close the meal. He did not drink from the fourth cup. The Passover meal is not finished. This would be like a Catholic priest skipping over a major part of the Mass. Have you ever been to a Mass where a priest doesn't offer a final blessing? It would be the same thing during a Catholic Mass, if after Communion the priest were to say before we close this Mass, and before I give you a final blessing, let's all walk over to the gym."

The reason Messiah didn't drink the 4th cup was because Passover was NOT fulfilled...as once again He IS the Passover Lamb.

[redhotmagma]

continued
Although that was a bit of a tangent, we can see that the Last Supper was not "THE" Passover Meal, but took place on the 13th of Aviv (Nissan).

That night (the first part of Aviv 14) after dinner they traveled to the Mount of Olives and Messiah went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.  That was the night of Judas's betrayal leading the chief priests and the elders of the people to arrest Yeshua.

Mat 26:34 ESV - Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

Mat 26:75 ESV - And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

These two verses reveal that it was in the very same night after dinner that these things conspired.  The next verse starts Matthew chapter 27, and shows us that we're still in Aviv 14, but on Wednesday morning.

Mat 27:1 ESV - When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

Remember that Mark has shown us that it was the 3rd hour on this day that Messiah was crucified and Matthew has shown us that it was 6 hours later, on the 9th hour (3pm) that He gave up His Spirit at Twilight.  The disciples then had 3 hours to take the body off the cross and bury Him in the tomb, as they would not be permitted to work during Aviv 15th an Annual High Sabbath.  This would also explain why the women were carrying spices to the tomb early on the First Day of the Week, as they did not have enough time to properly prepare Messiah's body for burial.

Revising our days in the Tomb from above, The 3 days and 3 nights would be more like 3 Nights and 3 Days:

6pm Wed - 6pm Thur (1 night, 1 day)
6pm Thur - 6pm Fri (2 nights, 2 days)
6pm Fri - 6pm Sat ( 3 nights, 3 days)

Which leaves us at Aviv 17, a Sabbath, but not just any Sabbath...this would be the day known as HaBikkurim – The Feast of First Fruits, which is so poetic as He is the First to be raised, He is our First Fruit, this Sabbath would be the day of Yeshua HaMashiach's (Jesus the Christ's) resurrection!

Luk 6:5 ESV - And he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

After the Sabbath, early in the morning...on the First of the Week...Sunday Aviv 18.

Whew, you made it!  Thanks for hanging in there with me ;)  I would be happy to discuss any of this timeline with you.

Blessings & Shalom,

p.s. Below is a calendar that I modified to reflect my findings in Scripture.  I hope you have been blessed by this and had as much fun reading it as I had digging into the Word preparing it!



"The commemoration of the paschal feast {and Easter} being then debated, it was unanimously decided that it should everywhere be celebrated on the same day. It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival.  Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries.  Another way has been pointed out by our Saviour...Therefore this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have anything in common with the parricides and the murderers of our Lord.  Receive, then, willingly, the one regulation unanimously adopted in the city of Rome, throughout Italy, in all Africa, in Egypt, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Libya, Greece, in the diocese of Asia and of Pontus, and in Cilicia."
(History of the First Council of Nice, pg 112.)

For a narrated video tutorial that covers this topic I would HIGHLY recommend checking out the following link: http://vimeo.com/13025115.  Please note that this is the 3rd of a 3 part series covering the Feasts of the Lord.

Should you wish to investigate all of the Set Times that the Father has instructed His children to observe you can check out my friend Scot's page: http://profoundprophecy.com/videos/tutorials/ and scroll down to Part 1: The Annual Feasts Overview.

[WhiteWings]

I have to disagree  :sigh:

6pm Wed - 6pm Thur (1 night, 1 day)
6pm Thur - 6pm Fri (2 nights, 2 days)
6pm Fri - 6pm Sat ( 3 nights, 3 days)

Jesus was buried BEFORE the next day began. That means the day He was on the cross counts as the first day

My take on it:

Around Nisan 14th:
Night 7pm - 5am
Day 5am - 7pm
Ignoring twilight.
He died 3pm let's assume the stone was rolled in front of the grave at Thursday Nisan 14th at 5pm
Day#1: Thursday 5pm  - Thursday 7pm  => Nisan 14th
Night#1: Thursday 7pm - Friday 5am => Nisan 15th
Day#2: Friday 5am - Friday 7pm => Nisan 15th
Night#2: Friday 7pm - Saturday 5am => Nisan 16th
Day#3: Saturday 5am - Saturday 7pm => Nisan 16th
Night#3: Saturday 7pm - Sunday 5am => Nisan 17th
:2c:

[WhiteWings]

Which leaves us at Aviv 17, a Sabbath, but not just any Sabbath...this would be the day known as HaBikkurim – The Feast of First Fruits, which is so poetic as He is the First to be raised, He is our First Fruit, this Sabbath would be the day of Yeshua HaMashiach's (Jesus the Christ's) resurrection!

First Fruits is always on a Monday. The first day of the week.
Saturday is the 7th day on which they would not be allowed to go into the fields and collect the offering. (Work)

/edit added not

[redhotmagma]

I believe he's talking about special Sabbaths, not saturday.  There were other days called sabbaths, not necessarily falling on Saturday.

[WhiteWings]

I know. Nisan 15th is one of them. That's why the originals write that the women went to the grave after the Sabbaths

Consider this: If Jesus died on a Wednesday then there was a Sabbath (passover) on Thursday.
Why didn't the women went to the grave on Friday?
It's only logical the women went to the grave ASAP

But even ignoring that his calculation is wrong.
No work on Sabbath.
So He was buried before the special Sabbath started. That's day time.
So the calculation always has to start with daytime. Say He was buried at 17:00. Sabbath started at 19:00
Then the 1st day in the grave would be Wednesday 17:00-19:00

[redhotmagma]

gotcha

[rstrats]

WhiteWings,
re:  "First Fruits is always on a Monday. The first day of the week. Saturday is the 7th day...

If Monday is the first day and Saturday is the 7th, where does Sunday come in?

[marie glen]

The feast of Firstfruits, I believe always was the day of Spring Holy Week, following the regular weekly Sabbath. Is it the conclusion of all that Jesus rose on Firstfruits? Perfectly fulfilling - with His first advent, the Spring Holy Days? That He is the Passover Lamb, the unleavened bread in the grave/'oven' and "He is the Firstfruit"? Or that is to say "Christ the Firstfruit", 1 Cor 15:23.

I'm thinking since He died as Passover was ending, and was put into the tomb that evening as Unleavened Bread was beginning - Unleavened Bread always the day following Passover, and sometimes called 'Passover' (just to keep us all confused, haha/chuckle:) Then as He said he would be in the grave for 3 nights and 3 days.. So rose three evenings later.. Being Firstfruits which as we know began on Saturday evening after weekly sabbath. (Logically? Making Passover that year fell on Tuesday -- Had Passover meal /last supper Tuesday evening.. Arrested Tuesday night, crucified Wednesday - still Passover.. And died as Passover was ending.. Then in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb Wednesday evening.. to Thursday, to Friday, to Saturday evening, after sabbath and upon Firstfruits.

Passover being a moveable Feast and the other spring holy days dependent upon Passover.. Except "Firstfruits" which always followed the regular weekly sabbath of Holy Week, according to Leviticus 23:11.
  :)

[rstrats]

WhiteWings,

You have a question directed to you in post #7.

[marie glen]

Maybe "Monday" was a typo..?

(Since, as we know, Firstfruits  always followed/s the regular weekly sabbath. A "type and shadow of things to come". Like first day of the week always follows the last.. fitting that He, new life! would fall on a 1st day!) :gsmile:

[eaglesway]

WhiteWings,

You have a question directed to you in post #7.

This is a 5 year old thread, I think WW just typoed/meant to write Sunday is always first-fruits.

[StevenL]

I spent quite a bit of energy trying to resolve this 3-day problem. Every time I thought I had it down to my satisfaction, somebody else would introduce something to destroy my matchstick house. I don't think there is any prove-able solution without first hand knowledge of the ancient ideas of time. (Israel had no Saturn days and Sun days, Woden's days, Thor's days, and that's what 'we' want to resolve this to.) None of these are around now so I'm gonna have to let the mystery be. Heck, I'm not even sure "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" means *in the tomb*. I'm just glad that he got up at the end of this disputed time period. :)

[Lazarus Short]

I'm just glad that he got up at the end of this disputed time period. :)

That is the most important part.  :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[eaglesway]

 :thumbsup: