Featured Christ Died on what day?

From 3 years ago...wow

This is an interesting study, and one that can lead to 3 different answers depending on what evidence you use.

Interesting is the chronology for the feasts in Leviticus 23:

Nisan 14 - Passover
Nisan 15 - Sabbath
Nisan 16 - First Fruits

Jesus raised as first fruits on Sunday, could indicate Friday Passover.

But definitely much more to consider

 

According to Scripture, Jesus died on Friday, at about the same hour as many Jewish families were slaughtering their "Passover lamb." Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

 

Wednesday.

 

Van, the Passover lambs were butchered on Wednesday. Christ died at the very time the lambs were slain. A man spent time digging through calendars and came up with the thinking that Christ died on the exact same day the first Passover lambs were slaughtered in Egypt.

No telling if there is accuracy in the work, but it was an interesting thought.

 

When did Jesus die?

Two difficulties have been raised concerning the timing of the death of Jesus. First, since Jesus said he would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, and scripture indicates he arose on Sunday sometime before sun up, it appears He was crucified on Thursday, to yield Thursday day before 6 PM, Friday night starting around 6 PM. on our Thursday, Friday day, from around 6 AM to 6:00 P.M, then Saturday night (6 PM to 6 AM) then Saturday day (6 AM to 6 PM), then Sunday night (6 PM to 6 AM). Jews considered a day to start near sundown and run until the next dusk, so their Friday begins on our Thursday evening either at sundown, twilight or late afternoon, at the whim of whoever is making the call in an age before wristwatches. But the difficulty is that most people accept that Jesus was crucified on Friday, not Thursday.

The answer to Matthew 12:40 (three days and three nights) is to accept that Jesus was using a colloquialism, three days and three nights only referring to three days or part days rather than 72 literal hours. In 1 Samuel 30, verse 12, the account of a starving servant is recorded as follows: “…For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.” But in verse thirteen, his problem had started three days ago. This passage therefore suggests, and I accept that “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to days or parts of days and not to a literal 72 hours or a literal three daylight periods and three darkness periods because three days ago would only include two darkness periods. If you compare 2 Chronicles 10:5 (return to me in three days) with 2 Chronicles 10:12 (came to Rehoboam on the third day) you will see that three days and on the third day mean the same thing, indicating that both inclusive counting was used and parts of days were counted as days in the pre-scientific culture. Inclusive counting means that you count today as the first day when saying something happened three or any number of days ago or in the future. Therefore, “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to three days ago, and three days ago is the day before yesterday or literally only two nights ago. The point of Matthew 12:40 was not to create conflict with the many scriptures that say “on the third day” but only to draw a parallel with Jonah by using the terminology of Jonah 1:17.

Similarly, the reference to “after three days” in Mark 8:31 refers to parts of days such that the hours between His death and sundown represents one day and the hours of darkness on Sunday until He arose before sunup represents the third day. Using this interpretation the idea that Jesus was crucified on Friday can be supported. Note that the parallel passages to Mark 8:31 in Matthew (16:21) and Luke (9:22) say “on the third day.”

The idea that “on the third day” refers to the day after tomorrow (Friday to Sunday) is supported by Luke 13:31 to 33. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem (v. 22) and says in verse 32 that He will reach His goal (reach Jerusalem in my opinion) on the third day. Jesus then clarifies His itinerary in verse 33 by stating, “I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.” Therefore, in the idiom of the day, “on the third day” means the day after tomorrow or in our period of interest, from Friday to Sunday.

The second difficulty is with the Last Supper. Jesus and His disciples ate a Passover meal, the Last Supper, the night before the day of His crucification but John says the people testifying against him after sunup were planning on eating the Passover meal.

The answer is that more than one meal can be called the Passover meal. This Passover, Nisan 14, started at sundown on our Thursday. The Last Supper was eaten after sundown in the first hours of Nisan 14, the Jews Friday. Friday is also called preparation day because the Jews had to get ready for the Sabbath, a day when everything pretty much shuts down. Also note that Saturday, Nisan 15 is a high Sabbath because of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was this feast, this Passover meal that the Pharisees were preparing to celebrate (John 18:28). Note that at the Last Supper, the disciples considered the need to buy things for the feast (John 13:29), clearly indicating two separate meals

Lets start with Mark 14:12 which says, “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” This verse is very difficult to understand in a way that does not create the difficulty. First, the phrase, “when the Passover was being sacrificed” indicates this is the day before the Passover meal where the lamb is eaten, rather than the day of the meal. This is because the lamb is killed in the afternoon, which is the end of the day. The meal is eaten in the first few hours of the next day, which begins at sundown. So this question was asked of Jesus on our Thursday right about sundown or the start of the day (Friday) when the Passover lamb is killed.

Now lets consider whether the lamb could be slaughtered after sundown in the first hours of Nisan 14 rather than in the afternoon. We must consider this because the term “evening” is used both for the last hours of their day (late afternoon) and the first hours of their day (after sundown). Exodus 29:38-39 indicates that on a “day” (about 12 hours of darkness followed by about 12 hours of daylight) one lamb shall be offered in the morning (after the 12 hours of darkness had passed) and one lamb shall be offered at twilight (prior to sundown and the start of the next day).

Now lets consider Mark 14:17, which says, “And when it was evening He came with the twelve.” This verse appears to indicate that the meal was prepared before evening (on their Thursday) but such an understanding is not necessary. All it might indicate is that Jesus joined the twelve after sundown, because some of them (perhaps including Peter and John) had gone to the house and prepared the Passover, which did not include lamb. Viewed in this light, the Last Supper could have been prepared “on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover was being sacrificed....” Thus, and consistent with Exodus 12:18, the first meal that occurs on the Lord’s Passover, Nisan 14, is comprised of unleavened bread but not the Passover lamb which is killed in the afternoon of Nisan 14 and eaten on Nisan 15. Hence the Last supper occurred on our Thursday night, in the evening (after sundown), which is the Jew’s Nisan 14, a Friday and a preparation day for the high Sabbath where the roasted Passover Lamb is eaten. It should be noted that about the time the Jews were killing their unblemished lambs, about the ninth hour, our Jesus died on the cross. Behold the Lamb of God.

 

My questions are these.
Is the Son of Man, will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, relative to the soul in Hades/Sheol or the body in the tomb?
When we consider the three days and three night should we give consideration to the number of hours Jesus said were in the day relative to night in John 11?

Those two are relative to scripture where as this last I don't know about unless it would be inclusive of seasons.

How close was the day of the Passover to the spring equinox? Just how exact was the three days and three nights relative to hours?

Were the Jews at the time of Christ or before aware of the equinox?

BTW I think Wednesday.

 

Again, Christ died on Wednesday.

T.Cassidy said so. Twice in a row.

Therefore, the question has been answered.

 

agedman,
re: "Again, Christ died on Wednesday."

How do you reconcile that with Luke 24:21?

 

Van,
re: "The answer to Matthew 12:40 (three days and three nights) is to accept that Jesus was using a colloquialism..."

Was this a common colloquialism of the time?

 

Does determining *exactly* which day He died strengthen or weaken the main point (being Christ's resurrection) in any way?

 

I do not know how "common" it was, but I provided the scriptural basis for accepting that it indeed was a colloquialism.

 

I don't see any conflict.

Could you elaborate?

 

Don has laid out the single question that matters here, the one question anyone not totally devoted to the Christ does not want to be asked, "What does it matter,l which day?" Too many, today, want Sunday and some, many more, want Easter or Passover Sunday to be the LORD's Day. Such senescence! God has not called us to be devoted to him on Easter, Passover or Sunday. God has called for complete devotion!

Deu 13:4 after Jehovah your God ye walk, and Him ye fear, and His commands ye keep, and to His voice ye hearken, and Him ye serve, and to Him ye cleave. (YLT)

 

I agree that God has called for complete devotion.

Romans (14) says this about those who are day choosing:

5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.​

 

ageman,

re: "I don't see any conflict. Could you elaborate?"

If by "Wednesday" you mean the 4th day of the week, then Luke 24:21 seem to conflict with that.

It was the first day of the week, and Cleopas and another were traveling to Emmaus. While they were going, they talked about the things that had recently transpired. (Luke 24:13-14)

The Messiah - in disguise - met up with them and asked what they were talking about. Cleopas answered: "...have you not known the things which happened there [in Jerusalem] in these days?" (Luke 24:15-18)

Cleopas was then asked: "What things?" (verse 19) To which he replied: "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth...and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him...Indeed besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened." (verses 19-21)

So if the first day of the week was" the third day since these things happened" and since the last thing mentioned was the crucifixion, then the seventh day of the week would have been the second day since it happened. This would make the sixth day of the week the first day SINCE it happened, which would make the fifth day of the week the day that the crucifixion occurred and not the fourth day.

 

Translators take the cumbersome literal translation and make it flow , taking some liberty with it, but trying to retain accuracy. The 4th day is "away from" the third day. So it is apparent that the verse is literally saying they were walking and talking after the third day, which was Sunday. However, have other translators understood this point too? Yes, let's look at 3 of them. (Luke 24:21)

Moffatt Translation--by James Moffatt
....but he is dead, and that is three days ago!

The New Berkeley Version in Modern English-- Gerrit Verkugl
Moreover, three days have already passed, since all these events occurred.

The Syriac New Testament Translated Into English From The Peshitto Version -- James Murdock
...and lo, three days have passed since all these things have occurred.

The Syriac Reading can be confirmed by 2 of the oldest manuscripts in Estrangelo Aramaic: the Sinaitic Palimpset and the Curetonian Syriac.

There is exceedingly ample evidence that the correct translation for Luke 24:21 is that the KJV should read,"today is after the third day since these things were done." As the information above shows, the oldest and multiple original manuscripts show that "away from" is the correct word for since, and shows us that they were talking about Sunday being the 4th day since Yeshua was laid in the grave.


Roy A. Reinhold prophecy truths

Whoever that is, explains.

 

There are those that suppose that there was more than a single calendar used 2000 years ago.

 

I see the poll is closed, but if I had voted I would have voted "Wednesday".

 

rivaughn,
re: "I see the poll is closed, but if I had voted I would have voted 'Wednesday'."


And the resurrection would have been on what day?

 

rivaughn,

You have a question directed to you in post #39.