Quick summary:
1) If you believe the highly illogical myth that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday then resurrected the following Sunday morning then
READ LUKE 23:54-56, 24:1-2 WHICH SHOWS THAT TWO SABBATHS, SEPARATED BY A FRIDAY, OCCURRED FROM THE TIME OF JESUS’ DEATH TO HIS RESURRECTION.
2) Days throughout the Bible ALWAYS ended at sunset. Matthew 12:40 reveals that Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights, which we can reasonably assume means at least 3 days and at least 3 nights and no longer than 3 days and no longer than 3 nights. Luke 24:1,3 shows that He rose sometime before Sunday sunrise, but Jesus MUST have been resurrected BEFORE Saturday sunset. Why? Since He obviously was not in the grave Sunday day, to conform to the Matthew 12:40 3 day 3 night prophesy, He MUST have been in the grave all or most of Saturday day, Friday day, and Thursday day, which means Jesus also HAD to be in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night according to the 3 night prophesy and according to Luke 23:50,52-54 which reveals that Jesus was buried before sunset on the day preceding an annual Sabbath day.
3) TWO (which is the number you always get when you add one plus one) Sabbaths, separated by an entire Friday, occurred between the death and resurrection of Jesus, which is additional, overwhelming evidence that Jesus must have been resurrected before a Saturday sunset. That’s right, 2 Sabbaths, that’s what the Bible says, regardless of whether you or others believe that or not.
4) Those Sabbaths were separated by an entire day, a Friday. Critically important verses in Mark and Luke reveal that Mary Magdalene and others really did view the freshly entombed body of Jesus ON OR BEFORE the first Sabbath, and AFTER, one more time, AFTER THE FIRST SABBATH they later really did buy (Mark 16:1) and prepare spices on a day when work was allowed (obviously Friday). Luke 23:56 reveals that THEY REALLY DID REST ON THE ENTIRE SECOND SABBATH DAY BEFORE THEY LATER FINALLY BROUGHT THE PREPARED SPICES (BOUGHT AFTER THE FIRST SABBATH [MARK 16:1]), BEFORE SUNRISE ON SUNDAY MORNING, TO THE THEN EMPTY TOMB OF JESUS. Mark and Luke then show quite conclusively that an entire Friday MUST HAVE OCCURRED BETWEEN those two Sabbaths.
5) Two (2) Sabbaths plus one (1) Friday equal the three (3) prophesied days that Jesus was in the tomb before He was resurrected. Mainstreamers insist that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday and resurrected on Sunday morning. Mainstreamers, then, it appears, cannot count to three or refuse to admit that 2 plus 1 equals 3. A more logical explanation, though, of course, is that mainstreamers have somehow once again yielded to the overwhelming dominance/power of guess who? Revelation 12:9: “…… Satan, the deceiver of the whole world ……” (WEB) Satan probably takes great pleasure in tricking Christians into resting on Sundays causing them to break another one of God’s laws: keeping Saturdays work free. (A consequence of incorrectly thinking Jesus rose on a Sunday, mainstreamers believe resting and worshipping Him on Sundays honors Him even more. Ignoring the strict command to rest on Saturdays, still the seventh day of the week, however, actually dishonors and insults their Savior.)
6) Jesus revealed that He would be in the grave three (3) full days and three (3) full nights. You would think that Christians would trust more what Jesus revealed about how many days (3) He would be in the grave than what mainstream Christianity says about how long Jesus was buried, but that is not the case. The words from our precious Savior Jesus Himself should, of course, be trusted more than what mainstream Christianity says about the amount of time He was in the tomb.
7) Since Jesus was buried BEFORE sunset on the Preparation Day that always precedes either an annual festival Sabbath or a regular weekly Saturday Sabbath, to conform to the 3 day and 3 night prophesy, Jesus MUST have been resurrected BEFORE the sun set on the second or last Sabbath, the regular Saturday Sabbath, TO AVOID ENTERING A NON-PROPHESIED FOURTH NIGHT IN THE TOMB.
8) Attempting to shorten the number of days that Jesus was in the tomb, some mainstreamers say incorrectly that one of the Sabbaths involved, the first one, was the Passover that can sometimes immediately precede a Saturday Sabbath, but that is not a true Sabbath because the Bible does not forbid work during the Passover. Mary Magdalene and the other women rested on both Sabbaths. Sabbaton is the Greek word used in Matthew 28:1 describing the number (which is the plural for Sabbath) of true Sabbaths that preceded the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore neither one of those Sabbaths was a Passover day. Also, incredibly, some Christians think that, since Jesus was Jewish, He was referring to only partial days when He revealed the 3 day 3 night prophesy. The partial day theory is proven wrong, though, by Luke 23:54-56, 24:1-2.
Some of the following supporting evidence is mentioned more than once to emphasize its importance.
MATTHEW 12:40: “For as Jonah was THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth.” (American Standard Version) Those are the actual words of Jesus Christ Himself, our Savior that we should be able to safely assume does not lie. Each day and night cycle above most likely involves a typical 24 hour period since no other verses indicate otherwise. Most Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday and resurrected on a Sunday morning because that is what they have heard or read. Their denominations have taught them that Friday night and Saturday night somehow equal three nights, or that the Bible cannot always be taken literally, or use some other reason to explain away the above verses.
JESUS WAS BURIED ON A WEDNESDAY BEFORE SUNSET. HE WAS RESURRECTED ON A SATURDAY BEFORE SUNSET.
TWO Sabbaths occurred between the time Jesus was buried and the time He was resurrected. The first Sabbath, an annual high holy day, was the first day of the festival of Unleavened Bread. John 19:31: “The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high [day]), asked of Pilate ……” (ASV) John 19:42: “ There then because of the Jews’ Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.” (ASV) Side notes in various Bibles explain that the Sabbath in verse 31, an annual high day, refers to the first holy day, a THURSDAY, an ANNUAL SABBATH, which began at SUNSET WEDNESDAY, during the festival of Unleavened Bread.
Luke 23:50,52-56, 24: 1-3: “…….. Joseph …….. 52 …….. asked for the body of Jesus …….. 53 …….. and laid it in a tomb …….. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. (THEREFORE JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THE TOMB ON A WEDNESDAY SINCE THE NEXT DAY, THURSDAY, A HOLY DAY, BEGAN AT WEDNESDAY SUNSET!!! The Jews always called the day BEFORE a weekly Sabbath or before an annual high Sabbath in the annual festivals, the “Preparation Day.) 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they RETURNED (They MUST have “returned” on a Friday, when the work of spice preparation was allowed, immediately following the first Sabbath [the annual first day of Unleavened Bread], additionally verified by Mark 16:1 which revealed that the women BOUGHT the spices AFTER the first Sabbath HAD PAST), and PREPARED spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath (rested on the second or last Sabbath, a regular Saturday Sabbath, following Friday) according to the commandment.” Luke 24: 1,3: “Now on the first day of the week (Sunday, which began at sunset Saturday) very early in the morning (John 20:1 before sunrise, while it was still dark), they …… came to the tomb BRINGING the spices which they had prepared …… 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (NKJV, parenthesized words added for further explanation) Noticing how His body first appeared in the tomb was either before or ON THAT FIRST HOLY SABBATH DAY, a day when work was not allowed. RETURNING TO PREPARE SPICES AND OILS INVOLVED WORK, WHICH WAS ALLOWED THE NEXT DAY, WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN ON A FRIDAY. Some Bibles place a small reference letter next to the word “high” in John 19:31 denoting that it was a high Sabbath day, the first day of the 7 day festival of Unleavened Bread, not just a regular weekly Sabbath. Verse 53 above shows that the body of Jesus was definitely placed in a tomb, a completed act, and verse 54 shows that the day the burial occurred on was the “Preparation Day,” a day that ALWAYS PRECEDED a Sabbath day and was separate from the Sabbath day.
MARK 16:1: “NOW WHEN THE SABBATH (THE FIRST SABBATH, OCCURRING ON A THURSDAY, WHICH WAS AN ANNUAL HIGH SABBATH DAY, THE FIRST DAY OF THE 7 DAY ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF UNLEAVENED BREAD) WAS PAST, MARY MAGDALENE, MARY, …… AND SALOME BOUGHT SPICES THAT THEY MIGHT COME AND ANOINT HIM.”
Mark 16:1 above in the NKJV (parenthesized explanation added) is ADDITIONAL CONFIRMATION, beyond Luke’s testimony, that the women bought and prepared spices on a Friday, AFTER the first Sabbath. If the first Sabbath in the above verse had been a regular weekly Sabbath and the only Sabbath that occurred between the death and resurrection of Jesus, the women must have bought the spices on SUNDAY DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS since Jewish shopkeepers usually do not re-open their shops to sell spices at night after Saturday evening’s sunset. That idea of course is very inconsistent with several verses including John 20:1 which tells us that Mary Magdalene went to His grave Sunday morning BEFORE SUNRISE to discover that Jesus had already risen, which would cancel the need to buy any anointing spices, so the women must have bought their spices on the FRIDAY following the Thursday Sabbath and rested the next day, the regular weekly Sabbath which began at Friday sunset and ended at sunset Saturday. Also, Luke 24:1 reveals that the women early Sunday morning, the first day of the week, BROUGHT (transported) the prepared spices, apparently purchased previously, to the tomb.
Matthew 16:21: “…….. Jesus …….. must …….. suffer …….. and …….. be killed, and the THIRD day be raised up.” (WEB) If Jesus had been resurrected just ONE SECOND past sunset on that Saturday evening, He would have been resurrected on the FOURTH DAY, Sunday, which is not possible according to the Scriptures because they repeatedly specified the third day. Luke 23:56: “…… On the Sabbath they rested……..” (WEB) Sometime after the last Sabbath was over at Saturday sunset Mary Magdalene went to Jesus Christ’s tomb early on the first day of the week Sunday, BEFORE SUNRISE. John 20:1: “Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was STILL DARK, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.” (WEB) Mary discovered that He Had ALREADY been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:2-6). Matthew 28:1: “Now AFTER the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” (WEB) In the previous verse in many Bibles the singular form of the word Sabbath is actually incorrect. “BUT AFTER THE SABBATHS, as the first day (Sunday) of the week began……..” (Green’s Literal Translation, parenthesized word added) in Matthew 28:1 is correct, which some translations show, including The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Alfred Marshall’s Parallel New Testament in Greek and English and Ferrar Fenton’s translation. The original Greek word is sabbaton, which is sabbath in the plural, which is additional verification that TWO Sabbaths elapsed between the time Jesus was buried and the time that Mary discovered that He was gone, or resurrected. Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon and placed or buried in an empty tomb by Joseph of Arimathea the same day BEFORE sunset. Matthew 12:40 says that Jesus would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus therefore must have been resurrected at around the same time three days and three nights later, which would have been on Saturday BEFORE sunset. He was in the tomb all of Wednesday night, all of Thursday night, and all of Friday night (3 nights). He was in the tomb a short period of time on Wednesday day, all of Thursday day, all of Friday day, and most of Saturday day (a total of 3 days when a small part of late Wednesday just before sunset is added). The Bible does not record anyone witnessing what happened to Jesus’ tomb during the daylight hours on that Saturday. He must have risen sometime Saturday during the daytime before Saturday sunset, to be consistent with the Scriptures, which was BEFORE anytime on Sunday! Mark 16:9 states in many Bible translations that Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, but a literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: “having risen And early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary ……..” The words “having risen” is a verb in the past tense, showing that Jesus had already been resurrected, at some unknown time, before He appeared to Mary early on Sunday morning. Also, since Mark 16:9 does not appear in some of the earliest manuscripts, there is much controversy among scholars even about the authenticity of those verses. Matthew 27:63: “…….. After three days I will rise” does not necessarily contradict other verses. The original Greek word for “After” is meta, Strong’s number 3326. The main, primary, or literal definition of meta is “amid, in the midst of, or with,” and “after” is only a secondary definition. To avoid awkwardness “after” apparently was chosen by most translators as the best translation. Also, “After three days” can be technically correct and still harmonize with the other verses because that period of time can fall within or on the third day. For example, if Jesus was laid in the tomb 20 minutes before sunset on Wednesday and resurrected 8 minutes before sunset Saturday, the elapsed time would actually be in excess of three days, or after three days since Jesus spent an extra 12 minutes in the tomb.
Summarizing, since Jesus, to conform to the above Scriptures verifying the following four events, 1) MUST have been buried BEFORE sunset on one of the weekdays, 2) MUST have been in the tomb exactly THREE (3) NIGHTS, and not a minute less than 3 full nights, (three full nights, excluding all of Saturday night because it was the night that His tomb was found empty and therefore not a full night), 3) MUST have been in the tomb exactly THREE DAYS, although not 3 full days since He was resurrected on the third day, and 4) MUST have risen on the THIRD, not SECOND or FOURTH DAY, He MUST have been buried on a WEDNESDAY (if He was buried on a Thursday He would have been in the tomb all of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and if He was buried on a Friday He would have been in the tomb all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night) and resurrected on a SATURDAY during the day time before sunset!
JESUS CHRIST THEREFORE WAS NEVER RESURRECTED ON SUNDAY OR EVEN ANYTIME EARLY SUNDAY MORNING!
Mainstream Christianity’s claim that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday morning is a complete myth, and Easter, a 100% man made invention, Christendom’s most important day, involves a major deception, which is a reminder of the extent of the deception most people are living under in this pre-Millennial age. It is also a reminder of the need to, as 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says: “Prove all things,” prove what others tell you before you believe them when it comes to critically important matters, especially eternal matters. Many people believe that refraining from work on Sundays honors Jesus because they thought He was resurrected on a Sunday morning. When they learn that He must have been resurrected on a Saturday, if they attach any credibility at all to the Bible, they should then realize that
any support for resting on pagan Sundays, especially super pagan Easter, then COLLAPSES INSTANTLY!
Peer pressure, job concerns, and fear of what other humans will think of them if they start resting on Saturdays, though, often take precedence over any fear of God or respect for His laws. When you research “Saturday resurrection” on the internet you will find that more and more people are finally learning that Jesus really did rise on a Saturday, and they are telling others about it, too. For a more complete, expanded discussion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ visit gnmagazine.org/issues/gn03/eastercommemorate, which in turn is linked to other sites that discuss the validity of a Saturday resurrection. Also, study what is said on thercg.org/books/crwno.
The Old Covenant itself was abolished after the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, not all of the separate and eternally beneficial, humane Mosaic laws. The animal and grain sacrificial laws and circumcision law were done away with, not all of the other Old Testament laws. Both the Old and New Testaments then become harmonious, and Jesus’ dire warning in Matthew 7:21-23, using the anomia word, about living apart from the Mosaic laws makes sense. The Old Testament promised only physical blessings for obedience, not the gifts of the Holy Spirit and immortality which the New Covenant now promises to those that obey all of the Lord’s laws that are still applicable today.