A Friday Crucifixion
There is much discussion about the time line involved in the crucifixion of Jesus, by those who wish to prove the Bible false. Their arguments are based
on the fact that Jesus could not have been in the grave for exactly three days and three nights. He died at three o’clock in the afternoon, and was buried
before sun down, as was the Jew’s tradition. But he was resurrected on Sunday morning, a great fact which the apostles memorialized in appointing Sunday
morning as the time for true believers to meet together breaking bread and drinking wine in commemoration of his resurrection.
Critics point out this could not have been three days and three nights. If the crucifixion took place on Friday, then it would be three days and two
nights, or if on Thursday as argued by some, then this would be four days and three nights. Still others argue that this means precisely 72 hours, and these
have Jesus resurrected on Saturday evening but not discovered till Sunday morning. This is impossible based on the multitude of testimonies that he was to
be resurrected in the "day."
(If some wish to argue that the term "day" can be general, then we ask why they insist upon such a precise requirement of 72 hours for three days and
three nights, but are willing to accept a vague and general term in other passages?)
All who argue over these things as a way to disprove the Bible, or even those who argue, as do some, that the day of crucifixion is a fundamental point
in belief of the Truth miss the most important point. Jesus was raised from the dead. That was the sign. That sign was fervently believed in those long ago
days. Literally thousands of individuals who were contemporary with this event believed it and suffered many social persecution, even accepting death as a
result of their belief in it.
As Jonah was saved from the ocean in the belly of the whale, Jesus was saved from death through his resurrection to life. The wicked and adulterous
generation who asked Jesus for this sign, denied it then, and their followers still seek to discount Jesus’ work. But the sign remains as clear as ever.
Jesus was raised from the dead, as a testimony against this world, and to save the faithful from death; and to bring forth a new world that would not
tolerate those who now control the world. The exact and precise time frame involved is not relevant.
So as a matter of interest, and why I believe the crucifixion was on Friday, I present the following. Please keep in mind, this is not presented to be
believed as a point of faith necessary for salvation, as sadly elevated by some, but only as an interesting discussion.
Point 1. The most likely date for the crucifixion is April 11th AD
27, and the Jews would have celebrated Passover that year, on Friday. The
date for the crucifixion is taken from the fact that only 7 BC fits all the
clues that we have for the birth of Christ. This would have been in Christ’s
34th
year by their counting method, and 331/2 by our counting method.
Point 2 A. The Friday crucifixion would also be consistent with the types exhibited in the cleansing from death under the Mosaic Law. Anyone
contaminated by death was to be washed with the water of separation ashes of the red heifer on the third day. We read of this in Numbers 19:
Num 19:9-13
And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be
kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer
shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for
a statute for ever. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on
the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead
body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the
water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
So the water of separation, which was also called the living water, prophesied of Jesus being resurrected and cleansed through the living water, or the
Holy Spirit on the third day. A man in this position would be cleansed after three days and two nights in a literal sense, not after precisely 72 hours.
Point 3. The wave sheaf which was the firstfruits of the field and thereby the type of Jesus who was the firstfruits
(some times explained by early Christadelphians to be the first of the first
fruits) of them that slept, was
always waved on Sunday. It didn’t matter when the firstfruits of the field was brought in, it was always waved on Sunday, or "the morrow after the Sabbath."
Lev 23:11
"And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it."
Jesus was the firstfruits of them that slept, and therefore antitype of the firstfruits of the field.
The Sabbath in question is the weekly Sabbath, not the 15th day of the first
month Sabbath. This is clear from the New Testament name "Pentecost."
(Acts 2:1, 20:16 1 Cor 16:8) If Holy Convocation
Sabbaths were to be counted, it would never be "Pentecost" or 50 days, for
the feast of the 15th and 21st would always have reduced the number, as also
would the feast of the new moon. (Lev 23:7)
1 Cor. 15:22-23
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."
While this does not prove that Jesus was in the grave for three days and two nights, as the wave sheaf could have been held by the priest for a much
longer time period, it does show that the precision of exactly three days and three nights was not possible. Jesus was to be crucified and buried before the
sun went down, which would be in the day; and the sheaf was to be waved in the day. So there would always be more days than nights.
There were no sacrifices offered after 4:30 PM according to Edersheim.
Night in the Temple
by Alfred Edersheim: The Life and Times of Jesus
Christ, chapter 7
For the service of the officiating ministers was
not only by day, but also 'at night in the
Temple.' From Scripture we know that the
ordinary services of the sanctuary consisted of
the morning and evening sacrifices. To these the
Rabbis add another evening service, probably to
account for their own transference of the
evening service to a much later hour than that
of the sacrifice. *
* The Rabbinical statement about a
correspondence between that service and 'the
burning of the yet unconsumed fat and flesh'
of the sacrifices (which must have lasted
all night) is so far-fetched that we wonder
to see it in Kitto's
Cyclopaedia,
third edition (art. Synagogue), while
Gratz's assertion that it corresponded to
the closing of the Temple gates (Gesch,
vol. iii. p. 97) is quite unsupported.
There is, however, some difficulty about the
exact time when each of the sacrifices was
offered. According to general agreement, the
morning sacrifice was brought at the 'third
hour,' corresponding to our nine o'clock. But
the preparations for it must have commenced more
than two hours earlier. Few, if any, worshippers
could have witnessed the actual slaying of the
lamb, which took place immediately on opening
the great Temple-gate. Possibly they may have
gathered chiefly to join in the prayer 'at the
time of incense' (Luke 1:10). In the modified
sense, then, of understanding by the morning
sacrifice the whole
service, it no doubt coincided with the
third hour of the day, or 9 a.m. This may
explain how on the day of Pentecost such a
multitude could so readily 'come together,' to
hear in their various tongues 'the wonderful
works of God'— it was the third hour (Acts
2:15), when they would all be in the Temple. The
evening sacrifice was fixed by the Law (Num
28:4,8) as 'between the evenings,' that is,
between the darkness of the gloaming and that of
the night. *
* Sunset was calculated as on an average at
6 o'clock p.m. For a full discussion and
many speculations on the whole subject, see
Herzfeld, Gesch.
d. V. Is, vol, iii.
Excurs
Such admonitions as 'to show forth thy
faithfulness every night upon an instrument of
ten strings and on the psaltery' (Psa 92:2,3),
and the call to those who 'by night stand in the
house of the Lord,' to 'lift up their hands in
the sanctuary and bless the Lord' (Psa 134),
seem indeed to imply an evening service—
impression confirmed by the appointment of
Levite singers for night service in 1 Chronicles
9:33; 23:30. But at the time of our Lord the
evening sacrifice certainly commenced much
earlier. Josephus puts it down (Ant.
xiv. 4, 3) as at the ninth hour. According to
the Rabbis the lamb was slain at the eighth hour
and a-half, or about 2:30 p.m., and the pieces
laid on he altar an hour later— 3:30 p.m. Hence,
when 'Peter and John went up together into the
Temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth
hour' (Acts 3:1) it must have been for the
evening sacrifice, or rather half an hour later,
and, as the words indicate, for the 'prayer'
that accompanied the offering of incense. The
evening service was somewhat shorter than that
of the morning, and would last, at any rate,
about an hour and a-half, say till about four
o'clock, thus well meeting the original
requirement in Numbers 28:4.
After
that no other offering might be brought except
on the eve of the Passover, when the ordinary
evening sacrifice took place two hours earlier,
or at 12:30 p.m. *
* Accordingly the Rabbis laid down the
principle that evening prayers (of course,
out of the
Temple) might be lawfully said at any time
after 12:30 p.m. This explains how 'Peter
went up upon the house-top to pray about the
sixth hour,' or about 12 o'clock (Acts
10:9)— to what was really 'evening prayer.'
Comp. Kitto's
Cycl. iii. p. 904.
|
Point 4. Jesus resurrection had to be in the day, not in the night, so as he had to be buried before the night, or also in the day, the formula of
equal days and nights was impossible. This is clear from the multitude of times he told his followers that he would rise again the third "day."
Matt
. 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised again the third day.
Matt. 17:22-23 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall
kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
Matt. 20:17-19 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to
the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him:
and the third day he shall rise again.
Joh 2:19-21 Jesus answered
and said unto them,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and
wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his
body.
Mat 26:61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of
God, and to build it in
three days.
Mar_14:58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with
hands, and within three
days I will build another
made without hands
Mat_27:40 And saying,
Thou that destroyest the temple, and
buildest it in three days,
save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Mar_15:29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads,
and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and
buildest it in three days,
Mat_27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was
yet alive, After three
days I will rise again.
.
Mar_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 priests, and scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise
again.
Luke 13:31-32 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he
said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and
the third day I shall be perfected.
Luk 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have
redeemed Israel: and beside all this,
to day is the third day since
these things were done.
What Things?
Luk 24:19-20 And he said unto them, What things? And they said
unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in
deed and word before God and all the people: And how the
chief priests and our rulers
delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
Luke 24:45-46 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Acts 10:39-40 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Point 5. There is such a thing as "idiom" in translating from one language to another. English tends to be a language which requires mathematical
precision, but not all languages share this characteristic. We don’t use double negatives in sentences, because we have been taught that two negatives make
a positive. But many languages use double negatives with no such reservations.
As an example of idiom, consider this. In the Spanish language there is an idiom "jugar la casa por la ventana." This corresponds to our English idiom
"roll out the red carpet". But if literally translated from Spanish to English, it would mean "throw the house out the window."
In faithful translating, there must always be an attempt to accompany the idiom. And a point that is very clear is that those Christians in the first
century who saw the original texts, and spoke the languages the text was written in, saw no contradiction. They left us their own works on this subject, and
believed that Friday was the day of the crucifixion, and Sunday was the morning of the resurrection, and saw no contradiction in these things.
Point Six, The women came to the grave after sunrise Sunday morning
Joh 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when
it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from
the sepulchre.
Joh 20:1 Now on the first [day] of the week [i.e. Sunday], Mary the
Magdalene goes early in the morning ([there] being yet darkness) to the
tomb, and she sees the stone having been taken away from the tomb.
Luk 24:1-2 Now upon the first day of the week,
very early in the morning,
they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had
prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled
away from the sepulchre.
Luk 24:1-2 Now on [the first [day] of the week [i.e. Sunday],
at early dawn, they came
to the tomb, carrying the spices which they prepared, and some [others]
with them. But they found the stone having been rolled away from the
tomb.
Mar 16:1-4 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary
the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they
might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulchre
at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from
the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone
was rolled away: for it was very great.
Mar 16:1-4 And the Sabbath having past, Mary the Magdalene and Mary
{the} [mother] of James and Salome bought spices, so that having come
they should anoint Him. And very
early in the morning on the first [day] of [the] week [i.e.
Sunday morning], they come to the tomb,
the sun having risen.
[Verb --Aorist Participle Active] And
they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us
from the entrance of the tomb?" Then having looked up, they see that the
stone had been rolled away—for it was extremely large.
Mat 28:1-2 In the end of the sabbath, as it
began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see
the sepulchre. And, behold,
there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat
upon it.
Mat 28:1-2 Now after [the] Sabbaths,
at the dawning into [the] first
[day] of the week [i.e. early Sunday morning], Mary the Magdalene
and the other Mary went to see the grave.
And look! A great earthquake
occurred, for an angel of the Lord having come down out of
heaven, having come to [the tomb], rolled away the stone from the
entrance and was sitting on it.
Comparing the texts, we see that Mary Magdalene left her house before
dark, (John 20:1) with the intent to buy spices (Mark 16:1). She next
meets up with other women with whom she goes to. the tomb. Prior to arriving
at the tomb, while they are on the way, they experience an earthquake
(Matt. 28:1-2). The earth quake was in fact, the angel rolling away
the stone from the grave. They reach the tomb "at the dawning," or
"very early in the morning on the first day of the week" or when "the sun
having risen." In other words, while she left her home while it was
still dark, the sun had already risen by the time they reached the tomb, to
discover the stone rolled away.
Is it not likely that the stone rolling away, occurred at or immediately
after the sun rise, and that the earthquake, rolling away the stone was the
resurrection?
