THE DAY CHRIST DIED

It has always bothered me that the Church celebrates Good Friday as a memorial for the day Christ was crucified. What bothers me even more is that I can't prove my theory that Jesus died on Wednesday. It is so frustrating to believe something, but not be able to prove it from Scripture. Here are some reasons I believe as I do:

Matthew 12:40 - Jesus said He would be buried for three days and three nights, that is equal to three 24 hr periods. The Jewish 24 hr. day began at sunset and ended at the following sunset. Jesus was placed in Joseph's tomb at sunset on the day He was crucified (Jn. 19:31-42). That means if He was raised 72 hrs. later, He would have risen at the sunset which marked the beginning of the first day of the week (our Saturday night - by the time the women arrived at about dawn on Sunday, He was already risen). Counting backward three days places the burial at about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

John 19:31 - While two of the other Gospels mention that the reason they had to quickly bury Christ was that it was the preparation day and the Sabbath began at sunset (Mk. 15:42; Lk. 23:54), John's Gospel tells us that it was not the weekly Sabbath, but that it was "high day" (Jn. 19:31). The Passover was a high day, a holy day of convocation, or a Sabbath (Ex. 12:12-16).

Isaiah 5:20 - Regardless on which day Jesus died, for Christians to call it "good" is like a person saying the day his child died was a "good day." I am sure that if we could ask God what He thought of the day His Son took upon Himself the sins of the very world who crucified Him, He would not use the word "good." I know Jesus didn't think it was such a great day! He agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, asking His Father to save Him from it (Matt. 26:36-42; Mk. 14:32-40; Lk. 22:39-44). Do you think He thought is was a good day when He cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:47; Mk. 15:34)?

We Christians are weird. Our symbol represents the weapon used to kill our Savior. We even sing that we cherish it. The Roman Catholic version even has a man hanging on it. Perhaps it would be better if we used an empty tomb for a symbol. At least that celebrates the victory of Christ over sin and death. Don't get me wrong, I am eternally grateful that Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be crucified, but I am far more grateful that the Father raised Him from the dead (Jn. 10:17-18; Acts 5:30; Gal. 1:1). As a good song says, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, life is worth the living, just because He lives." It doesn't really matter on which day Christ died; what matters is that you believe God raised Him from the dead, and He lives to be your Lord and Savior!