Was Christ really crucified on a Friday?

Soul Winner

Was Christ really crucified on a Friday?

Please read this very carefully before replying.

OK, we know from scripture that Christ was crucified on the Feast of the Passover.

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." Matthew 26:2-5

"And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour (12 noon): and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!" John 19:14

"And at the ninth hour (3pm) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Mark 15:34

Around the same time:

"And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." Mark 15:37

We also know that after this He was buried and that after three days and three nights He rose again on the First day of the week which is Sunday.

"Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils." Mark 16:9

We also know that the Jewish day starts at 6pm and runs 24 hours until the next 6pm.

Now that means that Christ would have had to be in the tomb by 6pm on Passover in order to begin to fulfill the next feast which was Unleavened Bread which started at 6pm i.e. at the same time that Passover ended.

Again we know this from scripture:

"And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph." Mark 15:42-45

The first and last days of the feast of Unleavened Bread were High Sabbaths i.e. not normal Saturday Sabbaths.

"And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.'" Leviticus 23:6-8

This is what causes a lot of confusion about Good Friday. The day after Christ was crucified was a High Sabbath i.e. it was the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, it was not a Saturday Sabbath. This feast always starts as Passover is ending which is at 6pm on the 14th day of the month of Nissan (March/April on our calender) leading into the 15th. The reason we have verses in scripture which state that after the Sabbath the women bought spices and then were able to get to the tomb after that early on the Sunday morning was because the Sabbath that was being referred to was one which came after Passover i.e the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, which would have been Thursday in this year, which means they bought spices on Friday which was the day before the normal Saturday Sabbath.

"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." Mark 16:1

How could they buy spices if the Sabbath referred to ended at 6pm on Saturday evening? If the Sabbath which is being reffered to is a Saturday Sabbath then that means that the spice stalls and such would have had to have been set up after 6pm on Saturday night so that people could travel and buy spices. Was this common practice? I doubt it. That means that they would have worked through the night and would have missed out on a proper days business the next day.

If Passover (the 14 day of the month of Nissan) fell on a Friday in the year that Christ was crucified then how could Christ have been three days and three nights in the tomb and rise again on Sunday morning at dawn?

From 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday (the Sabbath) we have one day and one night. From 6pm on Saturday to dawn in Sunday morning we have at best twelve hours. So if Christ was crucified on Good Friday as tradition says then He was only in the tomb for 36 hours which is half the time that Jesus said in Matthew 12.

"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." Matthew 12:40

3 days and 3 nights = 72 hours

Is it possible that He might not have been crucified on a Friday after all? And that He actually rose in the evening time (which is when the Jewish day starts as already said at 6pm) instead of the morning? If that is the case then the Passover in the year that He was crucified must have fell on a Wednesday. Just because the women go to the tomb early in the morning does not mean that that's when He actually rose.

If Passover fell on a Wednesday then He could have been in the tomb by 6pm on that Wednesday evening and be there from 6pm Wednesday to 6pm Thursday (1 day and 1 night), then from 6pm Thursday to 6pm Friday (2 days and 2 nights), then from 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday (3 days and 3 nights) and rise just when the Feast of First Fruits would have begun which was 6pm Saturday night just as the normal Sabbath was ending. 6pm Saturday to 6pm Sunday would have been the First day of the week after Passover wihin the feast of Unleavened Bread which would have made it the Feast of First Fruits. Seven weeks after this is Pentecost (the feast of the harvest) which was when the spirit descended on the Disciples which began the harvest of the Church - Acts 2.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Act 2:1-4

Have we made void the Word of God by our traditions like Jesus said to the Pharisees in Mark 7:13?

"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."

Has God been robbed of the glory of this spectacular time keeping? The litteral meaning of the word we translate 'feast' is 'set time'. These feasts or set times of the Lord are amazing and I think it is a shame that they are hardly ever brought up in conversion amongst Christians. Has Satan been so clever as to rob us of this knowledge over the centuries by blinding us with BS traditions that have been grafted into the Church? Which said knowledge can only serve to boost faith?

Or can anyone reconcile all this so that we can be sure from Scripture (not tradition) that Christ was actually crucified on a Friday?

I'm all ears.

santing

How important is this? Friday or Thursday - the names of the day are western, we already use a calendar that's not in synch with the Jewish Calendar anyway.

Good Friday and Easter are not Christian feast per se ... meaning we are not commanded to celebrate these. For me every Sunday is Easter!

Soul Winner

santing wrote: »

How important is this? Friday or Thursday - the names of the day are western, we already use a calendar that's not in synch with the Jewish Calendar anyway.

Good Friday and Easter are not Christian feast per se ... meaning we are not commanded to celebrate these. For me every Sunday is Easter!

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday [festival], or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Col 2:16-17

In other words, these feasts of God are but shadows of things to come but it is Christ which casts those shadows. They have their fulfillment in Him

I think its important to see God's faithfulness to His Word. It shows how important to God His set times really are.

"Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready." John 7:6

"Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come." John 7:8

Of all the days during the year that Christ could have been taken and crucified He made sure that it happened at this particular feast of Passover. A passover that fell on a Wednesday so that He could be in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights and rise on the first day of the week that just so happened to fall on the feast of First Fruits in that year.

So if the feasts which went before were important for God to make sure were fulfilled right on time, then we can be sure that the feasts (set times) that remain will also be fulfilled right on time. Those feasts are Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles.

The feast of Trumpets involved two silver trumpets being blown all day long. This occurred on the new moon of Tishrei (September) to celebrate Rosh Hashanah i.e. the feast of Trumpets. Silver is always the symbol of redemption in God's book. And the number 2 was always to do with adequate witness.

Deuteronomy 17:6
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.


Deuteronomy 19:15
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

1 Kings 21:10
And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him...

1 Kings 21:13
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

Matthew 18:16
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Matthew 26:60
But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

2 Corinthians 13:1
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

1 Timothy 5:19
Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

Hebrews 10:28
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

It was on the Feast of Trumpets that Christ was actually born. This can be proven from scripture itself and if you like I will go into it for you. The birth of Christ event fulfilled one of the trumpets. The second coming of Christ will fulfill the second (or last) trumpet. This event will involve Him taking his Church off the earth and out of the way of the the impending wrath that is to fall on the un-atoned remaining on the earth. During this time many will turn to God because of this out pouring of wrath because that wrath will force them to recognize and accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. At the moment the world receives the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, but many do not accept this good news (i.e that Christ bore God's wrath for us on Himself so that we don't have to) which means that they will have to endure God's wrath on themselves as a result. They can then either turn to God fo deliverance or move further and further away from Him.

From Endtimepilgrim.org:

"The Feast of Trumpets is the first of the three, yet to be fulfilled, Fall Feasts of Israel. These Autumn Feasts relate to Kingdom/political issues rather than the High Priestly/religious matters that we saw Messiah address in the spring feasts during His first coming 2,000 years ago. Back then we saw Him ride into Jerusalem on a donkey as the 'Suffering Servant'. But when Messiah returns this next time He will come as the Conquering King. After Trumpets on Tishrei 1 comes the "Ten days of awe" which lead on to Yom Kippur on Tishrei 10 which is the Day of Atonement. This is the most solemn day of the year. On this awesome Day of Reckoning all accounts between YHVH-God and all His covenant people are settled. The Jubilee Year is also announced on this same tenth day of Tishri. Trumpets are also blown during special times of national crisis. God's covenant people are summoned to gather themselves together in a solemn assembly before the God of Israel. Trumpets are sounded during battle in times of warfare. Trumpets also announce the imminent arrival of a king.

On a future Rosh Hoshanah, on the new moon of Tishrei, the shofars will begin to sound on a day like no other. The ultimate epic future Feast of Trumpets will burst onto the world stage and into holy history. This will be an awesome day of mixed celebration and alarm. YHVH-God's determined times for Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks will resume in earnest. All of God's covenant people from both houses of Israel will be "called out", summoned to solemn assembly at YHVH-God's new and revamped 'ekklesia', His new 'congregation', 'synagogue', or 'church' of the 70th Week".

These trumpets are to call together an assembly.

"Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps..." Numbers 10:2

"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:31

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

The reason I'm making a bit to do out of all this is to show people that the Rapture of the Church will take place on a future Feast of Trumpets which will take place during our month of September. So when someone comes along and prophecies that the end of the world is going to happen on this day or that day then you will have a firm basis for rejecting their BS. We saw the mass hysteria which came about last week as a result of this very thing. It is very dangerous and at least if people know about God's set times and how important they are to Him then they can ignore such charlatans in the future, and do it by having a firm basis in scripture.

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" 2 Thessalonians 2:3

Lots of things have yet to happen before Christ comes back to put down antichrist and unless you see these things actually happening then don't listen to anyone trying to tell you that its going to happen before the time. That's how such things are important. They are obviously very important to God, which means that they should be very important to us as well.

If the tradition Good Friday is a load of bull that only serves to draw our attention away from God's Word and His direction for His people then what else in our traditions are a load of bull which do the same thing? I think the time is long over due to simply stop adhering to all this traditional BS and get back studying God's Word and adhering to what it is that Its actually saying and to live by It.

santing

Soul Winner wrote: »

The reason I'm making a bit to do out of all this is to show people that the Rapture of the Church will take place on a future Feast of Trumpets which will take place during our month of September. So when someone comes along and prophecies that the end of the world is going to happen on this day or that day then you will have a firm basis for rejecting their BS. We saw the mass hysteria which came about last week as a result of this very thing. It is very dangerous and at least if people know about God's set times and how important they are to Him then they can ignore such charlatans in the future, and do it by having a firm basis in scripture.

I am not completely agreeing .... The Feast of Trumpet and the rapture do not necessarily coincide. The Feast of Trumpet propehtically announces the time when God's timing for the Jews start again, with the last week of Daniels prophecy. This could take place sometime after the rapture. The rapture itself is connected with the Church and therefore not foreshadowed by an OT Prophecy. They can happen the same day, but that would narrow the rapture down, whereas we do not know the day or hour. After the Feast of Trumpets the prophecies will follow a predictable (predicted) timing again.
But that is just my take on the matter...

Soul Winner

santing wrote: »

I am not completely agreeing .... The Feast of Trumpet and the rapture do not necessarily coincide. The Feast of Trumpet propehtically announces the time when God's timing for the Jews start again, with the last week of Daniels prophecy. This could take place sometime after the rapture.

Yes it could but we know that Daniel's 70th week begins with the revealing of the lawless one (man of sin - antichrist) as it will be he who will come against the Jews primarily. But we also know that this man of sin cannot be revealed until there is a great falling away first (an apostasy of sorts) and the force which is holding him back is also taken out of the way. Revelation 6 depicts a man on a white horse (looks like Christ) who comes with a bow but no arrow i.e. he comes with peace. This gels with Daniel 11.

"And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." Daniel 11:21

That's how antichrist will come in, with peace and flatteries. Satan is the great imitator, he always comes as an angel of light. The antichrist is just a substitute Christ, a false Christ. And he cannot be revealed until the force which holds him back is taken out of the way, and that force can only be the real Body of Christ, the Church, because from the close of Revelation 3 onwards we don't hear any more about the Churches, they are gone in chapter 4 when John hears the voice a it were of a trumpet saying come up hither. It is Christ the Lamb who opens the first of the seven seals after this in Revelation 6, so it is the Lamb who is letting this guy loose one the earth. Just look at what he does with his bow and no arrow:

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." Revelation 6:1-2

This is not Christ. Christ is the King of Kings, He gives out crowns He doesn't receive them. Christ does not come with a bow He comes with the sword out of His mouth. Plus He doesn't go forth conquering and to conquer, He comes to Rule and Reign. This is the substitute or false Christ that the world is going to love. He will be bring peace to the middle east and will be loved by everyone, the media, big business, religious leaders and so on, until he starts showing his true colours.

santing wrote: »

The rapture itself is connected with the Church and therefore not foreshadowed by an OT Prophecy.

The Rapture of the Church is a pretty significant event, what else could be the fulfilling of the Feast of Trumpets?

santing wrote: »

They can happen the same day, but that would narrow the rapture down, whereas we do not know the day or hour.

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3

Only to those who are not watching and waiting for His coming does He come as a thief.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Mark 13:31-32

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Matthew 24:35-36

What day is He talking about in these verses? He's talking about the day that heaven and earth shall pass away.

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:42-44

"Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." Luke 12:373-40

There is nothing about knowing about the day in these verses, only the hour. Plus the rapture of the Church has nothing to do with Christ coming back to rule and reign anyway, it has to do with Him taking His church home before God's wrath gets poured out on this earth, the culmination of which results in Christ coming back to put down antichrist and set up His Kingdom. And we know from scripture that this trouble will last for seven years. Seven years of God fulfilling the feast of Atonement, and it only falls on those who do not accept that Christ took this wrath on Himself for us on Calvary, those who do are gone by the time all this starts to happen. They are taken out of the way so that the man of sin can be revealed i.e the man on the white horse in Revelation 6. But like I said to Wolfy in the Rapture thread there will be others saved from ultimate condemnation during this time, possibly more than any other time in history. Where me and Wolfy differ is he believes that this time of trouble is Satan's wrath and I believe that it is God's wrath.

For Wolfsbane: I will respond to you last post in that thread later on.

santing

Thanks for your lenghty reply. I am only nit-picking some with my response... I agree in general with what you are saying.
However, I still think that your conclusion (in the first post) goes too far.

Soul Winner wrote: »

Have we made void the Word of God by our traditions like Jesus said to the Pharisees in Mark 7:13?
"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."

The tradition of Friday / Sunday for the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus does not compare to the practical ways in which the hypocrites tried to get away with their spiritual observance. Now there is no requirement for us in relation to these days, except that we believe that Jesus died and rose according to the Scriptures etc. So a Wednesday/Thursday/Friday dialog for the death of our Lord is imho a minor matter. I may (or may not) have loose ends in my day calculations, but that does not impact the facts that He died for my sins and the sins of the world, in perfect obedience to His Father.

Soul Winner wrote: »

Yes it could but we know that Daniel's 70th week begins with the revealing of the lawless one (man of sin - antichrist) as it will be he who will come against the Jews primarily. ...[snip]
The Rapture of the Church is a pretty significant event, what else could be the fulfilling of the Feast of Trumpets?

Looking back at the feast you caught my interest with stating that the feast not only signify the Death (Passover) and Resurrection (First Fruits) of the Lord Jesus, but that Gods timing was also exact. I never put any significance in the latter. If we look at the feast of Unleavened Bread, this would signify the life of the Believer, (so says Paul in 1 Cor.) and therefore would be a bit out of "synchronised" occurance. The feast of Fifties is a harvest feast, whereas in the "synchronised" implementation it started a new (and major) way of salvation for mankind, when the Church was born and the Holy Spirit came to dwell on earth.
But back to your question. What else can the Feast of Trumpets signify?
We need to remember that the Feast of Trumpets is the Jewish (civil) New Year. God starts the new year with his plans for salvation for all mankind, with the Feast of Trumpets He returns his focus back to His earthly people. This is parallel to some quotes from Joel - it introduces the Day of the Lord (and [contra Wolfsbane] not the day of Satan)

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand--
Joel 3:16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

The Powerscourt Conferences from 1830's listed the return of Jews to Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple and the rise of the man of peace (AntiChrist) as significant things following these Trumpets blasts. And while many Jews have returned, the majority still lives outside of Israel.
So the Feast of Trumpet - which I still thinks follows, not coincides with the Rapture - will be a significant day - maybe at a Jewish New Year - that will cause yet more millions of Jews to return and the Temple to be rebuild.

Soul Winner wrote: »

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3
Only to those who are not watching and waiting for His coming does He come as a thief.

Yes, but take the next verse: "Rev 3:4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy." The people who are not watching and waiting in this Church are only Christian in name, they don't have new life. So the implication is, if you do not watch and wake up, if you don't become "real" Christians, you will only wake up at judgment day...