Wednesday Crucifixion

Jesus did say that the only sign he would give of his authenticity was the sign of Jonah, being 3 days and nights in the grave. Although it is commonly taught amongst the Gentile world that he was crucified on Friday and resureccted Sunday morning, that is entirely based on a misunderstanding of Hebrew practice. In the year of his crucifixion, Passover began on Wednesday evening. He died around 3 pm in the afternoon. Nicodemus promptly asked for his body so he could get the body in the ground before the High Sabbath began. Consequently he died as The Passover Lamb for all Israel at what would have been exactly the same time as the final lamb was crucified on the temple mount. Nicodemus barely had time before dark (the beginning of the Passover High Sabbath) to get him in the grave and purchase the linen to cover his body. The High Sabbath would have lasted until the following evening (Thursday night). Friday would have been a normal day in Israel, however, because of the weekly Sabbath was only a day away(starting Friday night) the women would have had a very hard time purchasing spices to dress his body as most shops if open would have only opened a half day if at all. They did not realize that Jesus had already been dressed with a hundred weight of aloes, etc by Nicodemus. Because of the weekly Sabbath they could not go there from Friday night to Saturday night (touching the dead and dressing them is unappropriate for the Sabbath and forbidden). So, Jesus was in the grave from Wednesday evening thru Thursday evening thru Friday evening, and he actually arose sometime Saturday evening (the same time the Temple priests would have been harvesting the barley on the Mount of Olives, threshing, baking, so that the High Priest could offer the wave offering on Sunday morning at first light as the practice of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You will remember that Mary came early Sunday morning to the tomb (after the weekly Sabbath, probably before the sun was fully up, and there met him in the garden.) He told her not to touch him as he had to first go to his father in heaven and after that he would come back and meet them in the Galilee. The High Priest during this week also would have been sequested from Wednesday night thru Saturday night until the barley was harvested, the priests would have brought him the wave offering and he would take it up into the temple to complete the ordinance. Jesus fulfilled the temple ordinance by doing it exactly the way it was revealed to David and exactly the way the temple priests and all of Israel knew it to be done, but for real. He was the Passover Sacrifice, he did come out of the grave after three days and nights, and he did present the Wave Offering in the throne room of his Father (the graves were opened and the dead were raised at his resurection) He was not a metaphorical fulfilling of the prophecies of David, Isaiah, and Zechariah, but a literal fulfillment of all these things. The book of Hebrew documents Jesus being The High Priest for all the Earth after the order of Melchizidek forever.  - Jason

This was a great explaination of the fact that Jesus was crucified on a Wed and not Fri, which I have long agreed with.