Conference yukon::christian_v7

882.0. "Messiah's Crucifixion: Friday vs. Wednesday" by PHXSS1::HEISER (watchman on the wall) Mon Apr 08 1996 13:28

    Fri - at Bethany 6 days before the Passover (John 12:1)
    Sat - Triumphal Entry from Bethany: a sabbath day's journey (Matthew
          21:5,12,17; Mark 11:7,11; Luke 19:28)
    Sun - The fig tree cursed (Matthew 21:18, Mark 11:12)
    Mon - Conspirators counsel (Matthew 26:2, Mark 11:20, 14:1, Luke 22:1)
    Tue - Last Supper (after 6pm) Passover "between the evening," (Matthew
          26:17, Mark 14:7,12 Luke 22:7)
    Wed - Crucifixion (John 19:14,31,42; Mark 15:42, Luke 23:17,54). 
          Preparation day for Feast of Unleavened Bread, associated with
          Passover.
    Thu - Beginning of Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8); lasts
          7 days, 1st and last days are sabbaths (Matthew 27:62, Leviticus
          23:6-7).  Jewish calendar includes 7 High Sabbaths in addition to the
          Saturday Sabbaths.
    Fri - Women prepare spices.
    Sat - "and rested..." (Luke 23:56) "after the sabbaths..." (Matthew
          28:1, i.e., after 6pm)
    Sun - He is risen.  Our New Beginning symbolized in the Feast of
          Firstfruits (Matthew 28:11, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1, John 20:1)

The first problem is reckoning 3 days between Friday evening and Sunday morning.
Matthew 12:40 is one contributor to the controversy.  The mention by Christ of
nights as well as days makes it hard to render this as simply an idiom rather
than a statement of fact.  Also, when Paul declares the resurrection of Christ
to be "according to the Scriptures" in 1 Corinthians 15:4, it isn't difficult to
conclude that he wasn't citing Jonah 1:17.  Intensifying the issue, the "3 days"
was a principal issue at the trial of Jesus in Matthew 26:59-61.

What did Jesus really say?  "Destroy this temple, and in 3 days I will raise it
up" (John 2:19).  The same phrase reoccurs int he gospels 12 times (Matt. 27:40,
27:63, 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:34, 14:58, 15:29, Luke 9:22,
18:33).  It also seems to frequently reoccur in prophetic patterns (Gen. 22,
Gen. 40:12-19, cf 42:17, Exodus 10:22-23, 15:22, Acts 9:9).

Nowhere in the Gospels does it assert that Christ was crucified on a Friday.  In
Mark 15:42, it refers to "...the day before the sabbath."  This may be the root
of the misunderstanding.  The Jews had other sabbaths in addition to the weekly
Shabbat (Saturday).

There were 7 "High Sabbaths" each year; the first day of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, the 15th of Nisan, being one of them (Exodus 12:16, Leviticus 23:5-7,
Numbers 28:17).  Further, Matthew 28:1 should read, "At the end of the
sabbaths," implying a plurality of sabbaths that week (Jay P. Green, "The
Interlinear Bible," p. 766, "Scofield Study Bible," notes on Matt. 28:1).

If Passover, the 14th of Nisan, fell earlier in the week, the 15th could have
been any day prior to Saturday, the weekly sabbath.  "When the sabbaths were
past" would, of course, be Sunday (actually Saturday after sundown).

Another problem with a Friday crucifixion is John 12:1.  The Friday view would
make 6 days earlier the weekly shabbat, and on this day such a journey was
legally out of the question for a devout Jew.

    A good book on this subject is b R.B.Thieme - I think the title is
    king of kings - I can find out more for you on that. 
    
    but I am of the opinion it was Wednesday for many reasons. 
    

    As I previously said in the FAQ topic, there's also a camp that
    supports a Thursday crucifixion.  I'm not sure how though since it
    appears Passover was on Thursday in April 32 A.D.
    
    Mike

    We have to remember that the Jewish day was from Evening to Evening. 
    

    Doesn't matter, covered in .0