Wednesday, April 04, 2012
It’s
interesting that the Bible doesn’t account for any activity on Wednesday of
Passion Week. However, there are a lot of people who believe that Jesus was
actually crucified on Wednesday. This
belief is grounded in a verse found in Matthew 12:40 where Jesus says, “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.”
The Jews counted 12 hours in a day. Jesus said,
"Are there not twelve hours in the day?" (John 11:9). The day began
at 6 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. Proponents of the Wednesday crucifixion would say
that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and placed in tomb just before
6 p.m. It looked like this.
|
Jesus died Wednesday 3 p.m. Placed in tomb 6 p.m.
|
Wednesday
6 p.m. till Thursday 6 a.m.
Night 1 |
Thursday
6 a.m. till Thursday 6 p.m.
Day 1 |
Thursday
6 p.m. till Friday 6 a.m.
Night 2 |
Friday
6 a.m. till Friday 6 p.m.
Day 2 |
Friday
6 p.m. till Saturday 6 a.m.
Night 3 |
Saturday
6 a.m. till Saturday 6 p.m.
Day 3 |
Jesus was resurrected sometime between Saturday 6
p.m. and Sunday 6 a.m. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on early Sunday, while
it was still dark, and He was already resurrected (John 20:1). Jesus had been
in the tomb 3 full days and nights.
Wasn’t Jesus crucified before the Sabbath? Yes. Not
only was there a weekly Sabbath observance (on the seventh day of the week),
but there are also 7 Sabbaths during the year that fall on different days.
During Passover, there was a Sabbath on Thursday as well as the weekly Sabbath
on Saturday. The Bible says in John 19:31, “Now it was the day of
Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did
not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate
to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down” (NIV). Note, it was
a special Sabbath. The New King James
Version says “that Sabbath was a high day”.
Again, people who believe Jesus was crucified on Wednesday believe this “special
Sabbath” or “high Sabbath” was an extra Sabbath during the week of Jesus’
crucifixion.
Those who believe in a Friday crucifixion would
note that Jesus said he would rise on the third day. For example in Luke 9:22
Jesus said, “The
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests
and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life.” Jesus said ON the
third day not AFTER three days. Any part of the day would count. So we have:
Day one – Friday. Day two – Saturday. Day three – Sunday and Jesus rises on that
day.
Just some food for thought for you on this Passion
Week. What can’t be disputed is the fact
that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday – the first day of the week.
Besides, I still think Good Friday sounds better
than Good Wednesday, don’t you?
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