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Tuesday, April 2

Wednesday vs Friday

I'll get right to the point. What day did Jesus' death and burial occur? I was involved in a debate with a skeptic about this very topic. I thought I would share with the understanding that Wednesday or Friday does not change Jesus defeated death and sin and provided mankind with salvation.

Luke 23:44 shows Jesus died around the ninth hour or ~3PM. He would have been buried before sunset because of the approaching (the next day) Sabbath... John 19:31 states this specific Sabbath day was a high-day as opposed to the weekly (rest on the 7th day) Sabbath.

The two Sabbaths:
  1. An annual Holy Day
  2. Regular weekly Sabbath 
  3. Compare Mark 16.1 with Luke 23.56

Mark 16:1... "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary (the mother of James and Salome), bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint Him."

Luke 23:56... also describes how the women "prepared the spices and ointments [and] rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment." 

They bought the spices and prepared them both before and after the Sabbath.

That Sabbath... the first day of the Passover feast, a holy convocation (the high day of John 19:31) was observed prior to the regular weekly sabbath.

Tuesday Night:
  1. Jesus eats the Passover meal
  2. Jesus is arrested

Wednesday (Nisan 14):
  1. Prep for the annual, not weekly, Sabbath.
  2. Jesus is crucified (died) ~3pm, the 9th hour.
  3. Jesus placed in tomb before sunset.
  4. Annual Sabbath, Festival of Unleavened Bread, begins at sunset.

That marks the beginning of time in the tomb. Sunset at that time in Jerusalem is ~7pm, possibly as early as 6:30pm.

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