Is "Good Friday" really good?

[BlindSeeker]

Is there 3 or 4 days of Crucifixion and Resurrection???

What day and time was Jesus crucified?

What day and time of the week did Jesus rise from the dead?

How many trips made to the tomb by followers of Christ are recorded in the Gospels, and by who and what part of the day or night?

 

Edited June 6, 2024 by BlindSeeker

[WebersHome]

FAQ: Why was Jesus' crucified dead body restored to life so soon? Why not leave him deceased four, five, or even six days instead of only three?

REPLY: It was predicted that Jesus' dead body wouldn't undergo putrefaction. (Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31) Had he remained deceased more than three days, Jesus' corpse would've started to rot. (John 11:39)

BTW: A preponderance of evidence testifies that Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life during the third day rather than after the third was all over and done with.

Matt 17:22-23
Matt 20:18-19
Mark 9:31
Luke 9:22
Luke 18:33
Luke 24:5-8
Luke 24:21-23
Luke 24:46
John 2:19
Acts 10:40
1Cor 15:4

FAQ: What about Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31? They say "after" the third day rather than during the third.

REPLY: To begin with, those verses are outnumbered 11÷2.

Plus; the Greek word translated "after" is somewhat ambiguous. It can indicate moments following the conclusion of an event, but it can also indicate moments within an event. I suggest letting the 11÷2 majority decide how best to interpret the intent of Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31.

FAQ: Luke 24:21-23 says the morning that women came to the cemetery was the third day. How can that be true when the Sun wasn't up yet when they arrived?

REPLY: This is a mite confusing due to a natural day following close on the heels of a liturgical day.

Whereas liturgical days were twenty-four hour amalgams of daytime and nighttime; natural days consisted of only twelve hours of daytime. (John 11:9-10)

The day preceding the first day of the week was a sabbath (Matt 28:1) which began at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Saturday. So that in accord with liturgy; the first day of the week began with sunset Saturday, whereas in accord with nature it began with sunrise Sunday.

FAQ: Can the hours of darkness during Jesus' crucifixion be counted as one of the three nights?

REPLY: Jesus survived those hours-- Matt 12:40 requires that he be dead and buried.

—

Edited June 21, 2024 by EveningBird

[BlindSeeker]

On 6/21/2024 at 11:51 AM, EveningBird said:

The day preceding the first day of the week was a sabbath (Matt 28:1) which began at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Saturday. So that in accord with liturgy; the first day of the week began with sunset Saturday, whereas in accord with nature it began with sunrise Sunday.

True.

First point I would like to make is that Jesus did not say He would be in the tomb for “three days,” rather He specifically said it would be “three days and three nights.” This is the same way it was stated regarding Jonah’s being in the belly of the fish.

Second point, Matthew clearly states the first trip to the tomb was in the “end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,” which was at dusk and not sunrise. “Dawn” here means the actual beginning of the first day of the week, a biblical week with biblical days, beginning and ending at sunset and not sunrise. For sunrise would in fact be the middle of the biblical day.

Third point, the scriptures plainly tell us it was after the Sabbath that the women purchase the spices. This sabbath is not the weekly seventh day 4^th commandment Sabbath. For John 19:31 explicitly reveals it was a high day. What that means is this Sabbath was a high holy day upon which no cervical work was to be done. This was day was the first day of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began on the fifteenth day of the first month right after Passover sunset, and remember, Passover was the fourteenth day of the month and functioned as a normal workday.

Lev 23:4 - 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day [at twilight] of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; [upon which for] seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 'On the first day [of this seven-day feast] you shall have a holy convocation on which you shall do no customary work on it. 8 'But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day [of this seven-day feast] shall be a holy convocation on which you shall do no customary work on it.'"

 Here we see that during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, both the start day (the 15^th) and the end day (the 21^st) are both high Sabbath days, which would naturally mean a normal weekly Sabbath would always fall somewhere in between those two high day Sabbaths. These days were established as prophetic guidelines which would show the order of days for the True Passover events.

Therefore, the scriptures are accurate in their stating that “after the Sabbath,” referring to the 15^th day of the month high day which immediately followed Passover, was when the women could then lawfully go and purchase the spices and work the remainder of that day preparing them. Afterwards, on the following day, they then “rested according to the [Fourth] Commandment” which would be the weekly Sabbath which began Friday evening at sunset.

Mark 16:1 - Now when the [high] Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

Luke 23:54 - That day [14^th] was [Passover] the Preparation [day 15 and also day one of the Feast of Unleavened Bread], and the [weekly] Sabbath drew near. 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee, [having] followed, they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  56 They then returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they [then] rested on the Sabbath according to the [4^th] commandment.

According to Matthew it was “in the end” of this weekly Sabbath day which started the evening before, and here at the end of the later part as the sunset was about to usher in the first day of the week, that the women went to “visit the tomb.” It should be noted there is no mention by Matthew made of their taking the spices since night was falling. It is here at this time that the angel of the Lord descended like lightning and the stone was rolled away and the angelic proclamation made “He has risen.”  This day is our Saturday, and the time is just prior to sunset.

So, to briefly go through the days and events one last time, Jesus, having been crucified on Passover the 14^th day, was then placed into the tomb just before sunset as it “dawn toward” the “high day” Sabbath on the 15^th day. Now remember, according to biblical reckoning the beginning and end of every day occurs with the setting of the sun.

Matthew 28:1 - In the end <opse> of the sabbath, as it began to dawn <epiphosko> toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

Note the Greek word “opse” which means; late in the day; by extension, after the close of the day: (at) even, in the end. But also note it is being used by Matthew with the Greek word “epiphosko,” translated “it began to dawn. Now while the translated phrase “as it began to dawn” is theoretically a correct translation, it still adds to confusion for most by causing them to assume Matthew is referencing an early morning sunrise, as opposed to the dawning (or beginning) of an event. But since Matthew also utilized the Greek word “opse” which translated “IN the end,” the implication of the two words together suggests the coming of an end of one thing soon to be followed by the start of another; “to draw on,” or “to bring closer,” and as the text itself implies, the first day approached. As a matter of fact, such is exactly how the same Greek word “epiphosko” was translated in Luke’s Gospel. 

Luke 23:54  - And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on <epiphosko>.

Furthermore, if Matthew was intending to reference a first day of the week sunrise, he would not have begun his sentence with “In the end of the Sabbath,” for again, the Jewish reckoning of a day is “from even unto even.” For if Matthew indeed means the first day of the week sunrise, he would have worded it as did Mark in his Gospel, “when the Sabbath was past.” 

So, begging to be excused and seemingly unavoidably redundant, Jesus was crucified on Passover, day 14.

Then starts the 15^th day, (which was the 1st high day sabbath of two occurring at both the beginning and end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread)…

…which afterwards, on the 16^th day that the women then went and purchased the spices so they could on that day properly prepare them.

Then they rested the 17^th day “according to the 4^th commandment” which would now be the weekly Sabbath. Upon which, according to Matthew, the resurrection and opening of the tomb occurred in the end of the Sabbath day just prior to the sun was setting –yet still just prior to the official start of the 18^th day, the 1^st day of the week.

SO, if three days and three nights earlier from this “end of the Sabbath” would have been “in the midst of the week,” Wednesday evening, which would have been the ending of the 14^th day of the month.

·    14^th day of the month – Passover

·    15^th day of the month, Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset, a “high day” sabbath where no servile work was permitted.

John 19:30 - When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.  31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the [coming high] sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

·    16^th day of the month - Thursday sunset to Friday sunset - the time in which the women bought and prepared the spices.

·    17^th day of the month - Friday evening to Saturday evening - the observance of the weekly Sabbath, “in the end” of which (just before the first day of the week) the Tomb was open and the angel proclaimed, “He is risen.”

For it was after Jesus’ resurrection that the soldiers went and told the priests, and they all met franticly throughout the rest of the night forging the lie that the disciples had come during the night and stolen Jesus’ body… for come sunrise, everyone in Jerusalem was going to hear that the body of Jesus was missing. 

Accordingly, Jesus was literally three nights and three days in the tomb; just like He said He would be. Night and day of the 15^th day of the month, night and day of the 16^th day of the month, and night and day of the 17^th day of the month; making it in the end of the weekly Sabbath when He rose just before sunset. Which means Jesus was crucified “in the midst of the week,” on a Wednesday and not on Friday according to the Catholic invention of Good Friday.

[WebersHome]

● Jonah 1:17 . . The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was inside the fish three days and three nights

FAQ: Was Jonah alive in the fish?

REPLY: Yes. (Jonah 2:1)

FAQ: The whole time?

REPLY: No; at some point in his nautical adventure Jonah went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which is located at the roots of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6)

Well; the roots of the mountains aren't anchored in the tummies of fish, nor are they anchored under the sea, rather: they're anchored underground deep in the Earth. So, the only way that Jonah could possibly be at the roots of the mountains while simultaneously in the belly of a fish was for the man and his body to part company and go their separate ways. This is not impossible because according to Matt 10:28 people can, and do, exist as disembodied souls.

Also, the language of Jonah's prayer strongly suggests that his corpse was restored to life, i.e. resurrected.

● Jonah 2:6 . . I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

The Hebrew word for "pit" basically pertains to holes in the ground, but sometimes speaks of putrefaction too, e.g. Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31. In other words: had Jonah's body been left inside that fish's tummy for much longer, it would've been digested to oblivion.

● Matt 12:40 . . For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Now when you think about it; Jesus' remains weren't laid to rest in the heart of the Earth; and in point of fact they weren't even buried in the Earth's soil. They were laid to rest up on the surface of the earth, above the soil, in a rock tomb. So the only way that Jesus could be up on the surface of the Earth and down its interior simultaneously was for he and his body to part company and go their separate ways the same as Jonah's did.

Also: it was essential to get Jesus back up on his feet again before a fourth day to prevent his body from being lost to rot. (John 11:39, Ps 16:8-10, Acts 2:25-31)

NOTE: Jonah 2:5-7 strongly suggests the prophet was already deceased via drowning prior to the fish; which makes sense seeing as Jesus was deceased prior to the tomb, viz: neither man was buried alive.

—