Luciusministry: The crucifixion as it on a Friday? (part 2)

What time was Christ placed in the tomb?

The time which Jesus Christ was placed in the tomb is of great significance in order to determine the time of His resurrection because the three days and three nights begin and end not at the time of His death, but rather at the precise time He was placed in the heart of the earth. It is stated that; “When evening had come, because it was the preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” ( Mark 15: 42-43).

Matthew gave a similar account stating; “Now when evening had come there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him, and when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed” (Matthew 27: 57- 61)

It is clear that the body of Jesus Christ was placed in the tomb at evening of the preparation Day, and therefore it should be conclusive that our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected at evening of the Sabbath, before the dawn of the first day of the week.

According to John's account; “Because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31).

An important question to ask at this juncture is when, and what was this High Day Sabbath? Knowing when and what day was this High Day Sabbath is the key to knowing the day of Christ’s crucifixion. For it is written; “On the next day which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gather together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ “Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first” (Matthew 27:62-66).

We are to prove all things and hold fast to what is good. If that preparation Day which preceded the High Day Sabbath was a Friday, and this High Day Sabbath was a Saturday, how do we reason out the following:-

How much time did the women who followed Jesus Christ and observed the tomb and how His body was laid, had, to return, prepare spices and fragrant oils, and then rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment, when it was already evening when the body was laid in the tomb (Luke.23: 54-56; Mark. 15: 42)?

If the day which followed the Preparation Day was the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) as it is commonly assumed, and for certain, the chief priests and the Pharisees who were strict observers of the Sabbath, kept the Sabbath, and rested, when did they gather together with Pilate to discuss the posting of the guard?

They would have gathered together with Pilate after the Sabbath, and would agree to post the guards, but Christ would have already been raised from the dead! How can we then reconcile with the scripture which confirms that, there were guards posted by the tomb when Christ resurrected from the dead, so when were the guards posted?

So then, what is the rationale, what is the truth? If Jesus Christ stated emphatically that He was going to spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and was placed in the heart of the earth at evening, and was resurrected before the dawn of the first day of the week, obviously, the three days and three nights would be as follows:-

First night, the night He was placed in the tomb and this would have to be on a Wednesday just as the angel Gabriel foretold to the prophet Daniel in the middle of the week; the second night would have to be on a Thursday, and the third night would be on a Friday. And, the first day would have to be on a Thursday; the second day a Friday; and the third day, a Saturday.

The Preparation Day for this High Day Sabbath the day Jesus Christ was crucified and buried was on a Wednesday, the Jewish Passover and days of Unleavened Bread, which is a Holy Day, a Day of solemn rest. Even in the New Testament we are admonished to; “Get rid of the old leaven that you may be a new batch without leaven, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with bread without leaven, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1Corinthians chapter 5:7-8).

Therefore, the Jews, the high priests, the Pharisees, and the women who followed Christ all rested on that Thursday, which was a High Day Sabbath, the first day of the feast of unleavened bread.

From Thursday evening, at the end of the High Day Sabbath, and Friday the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath, the women had the time to buy and prepare spices and fragrant oils, then they rested on the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) according to the commandments, and at the end of the Sabbath (sunset Saturday), as the first day of the Week (Sunday) began to dawn (meaning that it was not yet the first day of the week), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, bringing the spices with them, but Christ had already risen from the dead (meaning that Jesus Christ rose from the dead before the beginning of the first day of the week (Sunday) (Matthew 28:1-8).

It was also from Thursday evening after the High Day Sabbath, that the Pharisees and the high priests went to Pilate, and asked that guards be posted around the tomb. The truth of the matter is, Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead at the precise time that He was placed in the tomb, after spending three days, and three nights in the heart of the earth, as He said He would.

The irony of truth is, if a Christ was buried on Friday evening, and rose on Saturday Evening, or early Sunday morning, He is an imposter, a deceiver, because He failed to fulfill His Messianic sign.

The question now remains: Who will you believe?

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph