Death & Resurrection Of Jesus

Does it matter what we teach about the death of our savior? Does it matter when we celebrate the aspect of his death? Do prophesies matter when it comes to what is said about how we will know it is our Savior?

The answer to the above questions are yes, no , and yes.

What does Jon 1:17 “Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.” have to do with Christ? A lot!

Mat 12:40 Jesus said, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”

Have you ever thought about how this could be if Jesus died on Friday and was put in the tomb as the NLT says, Luk 23:54-54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin. As His body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where His body was placed. (NLT)

The key is that the area of verse 54 where I placed in bold print, was added/changed to make it more understandable according to tradition. Tradition is not always fact.

As if this is or was factually true, Jesus could not be the one he spoke of in Matthew12:40.

What most forget when translating this to Friday from the day before the sabbath or Preparation Day, is that it was passover week. During that week there would have been two Sabbaths. The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a High/Sabbath Day which was celebrated by the Jews. That High Sabbath would of fell on Thursday that week, not on Saturday the weekly Sabbath.

The NIV puts it, Luk 23:54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Infuses(Bold) is mine. There is always a Preparation Day before any Holy Day, and all the Feasts start and end with a High/Sabbath Day. Or in some cases, as Pentecost, The Feast of Trumpets and Atonement were only one day observances and were High/Sabbath Day no matter what day it fell on.

If Jesus was the the replacement passover, which he claimed to be, the passover lamb was offered yearly on the passover for the sins of the people, and annual event. He would have been put to death about the same time, the lambs would have been slaughtered for the passover offering on Wednesday and would have had to be taken down and buried before the High Day of the Feast which would have been Thursday. Placed in the tomb before sundown on Wednesday, and been in the grave Wednesday night(1night), Thursday(1day), Thursday night(2nights), Friday day(2days), Friday night(3nights), Saturday day(3days). 3 days and 3 nights fulfilling Matt 12:40. Jesus would have been resurrected just before night fall/sundown Saturday night, and so the tomb would have been empty when the women came the next morning.

The Lord's supper was the 'Night to be much Observed' when Israel remember that the Death Angle passed over their houses in Egypt to kill the first born of Egypt. That day was the time of preparing for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember their day's starting at sundown, and the High Feast holy day would not start until the next night at sundown. Jesus had to be taken from the cross, before sundown and the sabbath started. So That week, Thursday would have been a High/Sabbath Holy Day, and Friday would have been just a regular day with in the feast. There also wouldn't be a need to prepare for the Sabbath Seventh day, as there had been a Sabbath/Holy Day on Thursday and they would of clean their homes before it completely to remove all leavening from it in preparation of the Feast. Wednesday being that day of preparation.

Mat 27:62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, (KJV) This would not likely be correct, as they would never of went to Pilate on the Sabbath day which would have been the day following but if they went to Pilate on Friday between the two Sabbath's , after the feast holy day, would be more likely.

Realize that the tomb didn't have to be open for Jesus to be resurrected, but it had to be open the next morning for those that saw it was empty to see in it. So he probably was resurrected just at sundown Saturday evening. As he said only 3 nights not 4 in the grave.

It is very clear on the fact that it was the first day of the week which is Sunday, the day following the seventh day of the week, which the women came to the tomb and found it empty, and Peter with several others went to investigate following. True to their lack of faith, they thought someone had taken the body. The Pharisees thought and promoted the same thing, that his followers had stolen his body, which couldn't of happened as the tomb was being guarded by Roman Soldiers.

Good Friday is just a representation, the day we celebrate and remember the death of Christ. It is not the day he was put to death. And Easter Sunday is not the time of his resurrection, but the day we celebrate for his resurrection. We have to be careful how we teach this, as many unbelievers no the Bible as good and sometimes better than many of us, and will use the above scripture to disprove what we believe and celebrate.