Page 22 - Eschatology - Masters revised

lasts 24 hours because God first created night, then day. So, the Jewish day goes from nightfall to
nightfall.

Mark 15:42 states that Jesus was on the cross the day before the Sabbath and was taken down from the
cross quickly and buried before the Sabbath started at around 6:00 PM that evening. The Sabbath was
on Saturday, so that meant Jesus was crucified on Friday.

Think about it! If Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon just before the beginning of Sabbath, He
would have been buried late Friday afternoon. He would have then spent the night and day in the tomb
on Saturday (Sabbath) which is one night and day. Then He arose on Sunday before dawn, which would
be night and day, day two. If Jesus was crucified on Friday, how could He fulfill the prophecy that He
told the Pharisees of being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights?

Perhaps the best way to clear up the controversy is to better understand the Sabbaths in Jewish culture.

The Jewish calendar was composed of seven days based on the revolution of the moon around the
earth, not as the solar calendar. The Jewish calendar consisted of 360 days in a year. The Jewish day
(yom) begins at sundown, when three stars become visible in the sky. Evening is sometimes defined as
late afternoon, that is, between 3:00 PM to sundown. But the actual day begins at sundown.

A Jewish holiday normally spans two days on our Gregorian calendar. For example, if Yom HaShoah is to
be observed on Friday, the holiday begins on our calendar on the evening of Thursday through Friday
until sundown.

Sabbath was observed from Friday afternoon at sundown to Saturday afternoon at sundown of every
week. However, the high feasts such as Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets,
Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles all had a special Sabbath attached to them called the High
Sabbath or High Holy Day. This Sabbath was separate from the weekly Sabbath beginning on Friday at
sundown. This separate and special Sabbath was recognized along with the weekly Sabbath and
depending on when the feast began, could be a different day. In addition to not necessarily falling on
the same day as the weekly Jewish Sabbath, these high Sabbaths (although they fall on the same date of
the Jewish lunar calendar every year) fall on varying dates of the Gregorian solar calendar from one year
to the next, just as the Christian observance of days such as Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter does.

John informs us that in John 19:31 that Jesus’ body had to be taken down from the cross
because it was a high day Sabbath, not a normal Saturday Sabbath. That information is
significant.

We note in the Gospels that the women purchased spices AFTER the Sabbath but before Sunday, as they
took them with them to anoint Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1). If Jesus died on Friday, then they could not
have purchased the spices on Saturday because the Law forbade them to purchase such items on the
Sabbath. There had to be a day between Christ’s death and resurrection allowing them to purchase
these spices lawfully.

It is likely that High Sabbath Passover fell on Wednesday evening to Thursday evening the year Jesus was
crucified. Then the weekly Sabbath started at dusk on Friday. That would give the women Friday
morning until dusk to purchase spices lawfully.

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