IT DID NOT
HAPPEN THAT WAY!
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It is a generally accepted idea that Christ was crucified on a Friday afternoon near sunset. It is also traditionally believed that Christ resurrection occurred on a Sunday morning. A minute few, however, believed otherwise. They contend that the Friday afternoon crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection was a hoax, one of those great lies that had deceived the minds of the unsuspecting world. It is not true and never was that it happened that way.
The whole chapter twelve of Mathew‘s account pictures a series of situations proving that Christ was the Messiah. The Scribes and the Pharisees, on the other hand, challenge Him on this very point and asked for a sign to prove that He truly is as He claimed to be. His answer was very clear, direct and understandable to those whose minds have been opened to the truth. Christ said, “ An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew12:39-40).
Take a moment to consider what is at stake in Jesus’ statement in Mathew 12:39-40. Jesus placed His identity on the line by this sign. If He fails to make good of His declaration based on this sign, then He is not our savior and nothing that He spoke can be relied upon as God’s revelation to man. He is then a fraud, an impostor and a false prophet.
Since no one directly witnessed His resurrection, then we will try to examine the only available authority on this miraculous event – the Bible. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thess 5:21). After all, the Bible is the revealed words of God. And as we scan through the sacred pages of the Holy book we will come to know one of the most shocking hidden truths of our lives that will set us free from the bondage of religious hypocrisy.
And one other thing, please do not confuse the fact of the resurrection as being the sign that will prove that Christ was the Messiah. Rather, it was a question of “how long”- the precise length of time He would be in the grave
before His resurrection took place that was to be the test of His sign as the Messiah and the Savior of mankind.
Can we know for certain or must we speculate on the definition of a day or the meaning of a night? Does the Bible leave this definition open to any man’s opinion with any man’s point of view as good as the other?
Jonah 1:17 plainly says; “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” There is no doubt that Christ understood what HE was talking about. In John 11:9 He ask, “Are there not TWELVE HOURS in the day?” verse 10 continues, “But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth.”
The Bible mentions in a number of places that Christ rose “the third day.” How long was this? In the opening chapter of Genesis verses 4 to 13 in revealing His Sacred Calendar God plainly says that He “divided the light from darkness.” And God called the light day and the darkness He called night. And the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) was the first day …… and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) was the second day ……and the evening ( now three period of darkness called nights- three nights) and the morning (now three period of light called day – now three days ) were the third day.
There can be no doubt that we have already accounted the length of time contained on the phrase “the third day.” It spanned three periods of darkness and three periods of light. We also know that by Bible definition each of these periods is twelve hours. Any elementary grader would tell you that six times twelve equals 72 hours. A three twenty four hour day. How plainer can one get!
Undoubtedly we have now examined Matthew and Jonah and established the exact duration of Christ time in the tomb as a 72-hour period. Indeed, He was there for three days and three nights “as Jonah was….” We will shortly examine additional scriptures that speak of the same thing as further proof.
In Mark 7:13, Christ strongly warns us against “making the word of God of none effect through your tradition.” How did it happen that intelligent, well educated and learned Bible scholars just seem to accept that Christ was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday? How can they reconcile a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection- a time period which is only half that much? How is it despite of this clear, straightforward sign yet such men can just simply accept it knowing also by heart that the words of God is the foundation of knowledge, and the Scripture cannot just simply be broken? The answer lies in the comfort of long-held false traditions introduced by the people entrusted to preserve the oracles of God. Just follow the line, swim with the current and when in Rome, be a Roman. A practical expression of old that is still true even to this day.
One of the most important rules of Bible study is to gather all other related scriptures on the subject to get its complete picture.
Thus, we present here other scriptural proofs which could further prove the 72-hours duration of Christ time in the tomb and crash that great and popular Sunday morning resurrection in a heap of rubbles.
John 2:19-21 states, “Jesus answered and said unto them. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…..But He spoke of the temple of His body.” Plainly, the use of the phrase “in three days ” means that Christ time in the tomb could not exceed 72 hours-nor it could be any minute less otherwise it would not be in the three day time period.
Consider! If Jesus was crucified and buried late on “Good Friday,” then one day after would be Saturday evening, and two days after would be Sunday evening and three days after would be Monday evening. But Jesus rose long before Monday evening. Either Jesus was not crucified on “Good Friday” or He did not fulfill His sign and He is therefore an impostor and not the Messiah.
Conversely Matthew 27:63, established Jesus’ time in the tomb as not less than three days, or in 72 hours, for it says, “After three days I will rise again.”
Mark 8:31, “And He began to teach them, that the son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priest, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again”.
Mark 9:31, “they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise the third day”.
In all of these additional proofs, a three day period could only mean that a late Friday afternoon crucifixion would also mean a late Monday afternoon resurrection and never on a Sunday morning. It is as simple as counting one-two-three.
While hanging there on the cross, after “the ninth hour” (three o’clock in the afternoon) the Bible records that Christ “cried out“ (see Matthew 27:46-50: Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46) and died. Luke 23:44 also makes reference to “the sixth hour, and there was darkness in all the earth until the ninth hour.” The sixth hour is six hours after sunrise-or noon! This would make the ninth hour three o’clock.
These event occurred on the day before the “Sabbath” – the day called “the preparation day” as mentioned in Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; and Luke 23:54. We should be aware that the Bible count days covering the period from evening to evening or sunset to sunset. (Lev.23:32).
John 19:42 explains, “There laid the Jesus therefore because of the Jews preparation day.” Jewish burial law (19:31) forbade the bodies of the dead remaining unburied at the close of the Sabbath day or of any feast day. Remember, Luke 23:46, explained that Christ died at about, or shortly after three o’clock in the afternoon. He would have been buried soon thereafter- prior to sunset. We have not yet established the day of the week that this occurred. However, with all the available scriptural data in our hands we can safely conclude that Christ must have risen at about or shortly after three o’clock in the afternoon –on what had been the weekday that was three days later.
We have now reached an important crux at the heart of the issue of when to start counting the 72-hour period of Christ’s sign. It involves the Sabbath - but what Sabbath? The answer to this question will put to rest the wrong universal assumption of a Friday crucifixion. We all know from all four gospels that the day of Christ’s crucifixion was called “the preparation.” Thus, the world assumed it was a Friday preparation for the weekly Sabbath, right?
Wrong! John 19:14 explains that it was rather “the preparation of the Passover.” Verse 31, even goes further by stating, “for that Sabbath day was an high day.” What does this mean? What is a Sabbath that is a high day? Any Jew will tell you that a high day is a feast day or an annual holy day. Leviticus 23, describes seven of these days that the nation of Israel was commanded to keep year after year. A review of this chapter (verses 24, 26-32 and 39) will make plain that God considered these days to be Sabbaths. Notice also the Leviticus 23:2 refers to all these Sabbaths as “the feast of the Lord.” and “even these are My feast.” The same verse calls them” holy convocations” meaning commanded assemblies. These days do not fall on the same day, year after year just like the world’s calendar today.
Matthew 26:2 states, “You know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the son of man is betrayed to be crucified.” The original Passover is described in the 12th chapter of Exodus. A lamb was slain and the blood of this lamb was stricken over the doorpost of all the Israelites’ houses. It was this blood that caused the death angel to pass over their houses thus saving the first born of that house from death. Failure to comply with this simple but delicate instruction could have meant death for the first born of the houses without blood on its doorpost.
When God called His nation out of slavery under Moses, it was for the express purpose of “sacrificing the Passover.” “ And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh. Thus saith the Lord, God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” (Exodus 5:1-3).
The perfect helpless little sacrificial lamb is a type of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:7). The shed blood of the lamb on the lintel and door post of the Israelites houses is a symbol Christ shed blood atoning for our sins, causing the penalty of death (Romans 6:23) to pass over those who call upon Christ for forgiveness.
The Old Testament Passover as it has been observed even to this day always preceded the annual Sabbath called the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This day was a high day or a feast day to be celebrated each year. Notice Numbers 28:16-17, which states, “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast This feast was the first day of Unleavened Bread. Jesus Christ was slain by crucifixion on the exact same day that the Passover Lamb had been slain every year. This is confirmed in I Corinthians 5:7 which says; “Christ our Passover is sacrifice for us” (John 1:29). Plainly, we may now state that Christ was crucified on the Passover and the next day would automatically be then the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread. This means that the following day, Thursday, was an annual Sabbath or a high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was this Sabbath that was approaching and thus requiring the swift burial of Jesus body prior to its arrival. The weekly Sabbath or Saturday was to occur two days later.
In the year of Christ’s crucifixion according to the Hebrew calendar as compiled by Dr. Herman Hoeh in his article “The Crucifixion was not on Friday” the Passover occurred on a Wednesday, April 25, 31 A.D. Lately, however, thorough study and research made on this matter belied this long held belief. They have found out that the only possible date for the Passover to occur is on a Wednesday April 1, 33 A.D.
The supposed title of this article is Christ’s Resurrection was not on Sunday. If not, then when was it? In John 20:1 it says, “The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher.” Compare this verse with Mark 16:2 and Luke 24:1. It is now very early Sunday morning (it is still dark) and the tomb is open.
Christ is no longer there. How can anyone in his right mind claim that there was such an event of Christ resurrection on that Sunday morning when He is no longer there and has been gone from the tomb long before sunrise? Now notice Luke 24:6. Here Mary Magdalene and the others with her are described as finding two angels standing before them. These angels stated plainly to these women. “He is not here, but is risen”. Also see Mark 16:6 and Matthew 28:5-6. Christ was no longer there – He has already risen! Notice the past tense of the two angels’ statement. Furthermore, how can anyone, even consider a morning resurrection knowing for a fact that Christ was buried in the afternoon? Let us recall to mind that is was the length of time of three days after Christ entered the tomb that will determine the exact moment and time of day of His resurrection. He was entered in the tomb late in the afternoon, therefore for the three day period to be completed expect him to be resurrected also in the afternoon of what was to be three days later. Given this information it does not make sense to even expect for a Sunday morning resurrection when the time of His burial was in the afternoon before sunset of what was three days earlier.
It is clearly demonstrated from the Word of God that Christ was not crucified on a Friday afternoon neither was there a Sunday morning resurrection. It is also clearly revealed by the Word of God that the Crucifixion took placed on a Wednesday afternoon “in the midst of the week” when Christ was prophesied to be cut off by the prophet Daniel 9:24-27
The true Lord’s Day of the Bible is actually the Day of the Lord – the day of His Wrath (Joel 2:1-11; Rev. 1:10, 25:1, 7) The term, “The Lord’s Day” has come to be synonymous with Sunday for one simple reason. If Sunday can be established as the day that Christ resurrected, it can also be a means of validating and authorizing the keeping of Sunday by the churches of the world instead of God’s true Sabbath day. Undeniably, we have proven beyond any shadow of doubt that the Friday crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection is a hoax, a deceptive assertion from blinded guides whose end have been meant to be.
It is not true and never was that it happened that way and unless we have closed our eyes to this reality then this attempt to clear this matter is but a simple exercise in futility.
Romeo Samudio
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