THE DAY ON WHICH CHRIST DIED FOR US!

SOME FACTORS WHICH HELP DETERMINE

THE DAY OF CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION!

1.  We know Jesus was raised from the dead after sunset of the Sabbath, sometime before dawn on Sunday, the first day of the week - Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-6; John 20:1.

2.  We know Jesus was in "the heart of the earth" for seventy-two hours - Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; Luke 11:29.

3.  We know Jesus Crucifixion was the fulfillment of The Feast of Passover, because He is called "The Lamb of God," and "our Passover" - Exodus 12:2-10; Leviticus 23:4-5; Numbers 9:2-5; Deuteronomy 16:1-7; Matthew 26:2; John 1:29, 36; 1 Corinthians 5:7. 

4.  We know the Passover Lamb was selected on the tenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, and kept alive until the fourteenth day.  It was to be killed in the evening, prepared and then eaten at midnight - Exodus 12:3-9; Leviticus 23:4-5; Numbers 9:2-5; Deuteronomy 16:1-7.

5.  We know that the religious leaders wanted those crucified to be dead, removed from the crosses, and buried before sunset, because sunset began the preparation day for a special Sabbath (not the weekly Sabbath, but the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day that the Passover Lamb was to be eaten) - Leviticus 23:1-8; Mark 15:42; John 19:31-42.

For calculating purposes, try to forget how we view the beginning of the day at midnight, and figure the timing of events according to the Hebrew day beginning at sunset (sunset on Saturday, the Sabbath day, began Sunday, the first day of the week.  Jesus was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb just prior to sunset the fourteenth of the month, and He was raised from the dead sometime after sunset ending the weekly Sabbath.  Counting backwards seventy-two hours from sunset of the weekly Sabbath, would be as follows:  Saturday sunset to Friday sunset (one 24 hour span); Friday sunset to Thursday sunset (a second 24 hour span); Thursday sunset to Wednesday sunset (the third 24 hour span).  

It is my opinion that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, that He died and was buried before Thursday began.  Since John was actually at the Crucifixion, and it was he who made the connection that Jesus was the Passover Lamb of God, his details serve to clarify the writings of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  

So what difference does it make, you might ask?  Truthfully, it is not crucial to our faith.  We know Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised from the dead, seen alive by many witnesses (the Gospel message - 1 Corinthians 15:1-7)!  And we know that God's Word says that those who believe the Gospel message shall be saved!  Bottom line:  DO YOU BELIEVE?