Wierwille, V.P.-The Day Jesus Christ Died

The Day Jesus Christ Died The Month, the Day of the Month, and The Day of the Week Jesus Christ Died and Arose Again.

Another Study in Abundant Living by VICTOR PAUL WIERWILLE This book is in the public domain. For more teachings by V. P. Wierwille, E. W. Bullinger and others, go to: www.eternallyblessed.org The Scripture used throughout this study is quoted from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Any explanatory insertions by the author within a Scripture verse are enclosed in brackets [ ].

"Good Friday" is commonly accepted as the day Jesus Christ was crucified.

It was a GOOD day when Jesus Christ died for our sins and our complete redemption, but it is wrong, Biblically speaking, to make Friday the day of the event. If Friday were the true day of His death then Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being in the grave but one night and one day. That Jesus would rise from the dead "the third day" is affirmed many times in the Word of God.*

*Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64. Mark 9:31; 10:34. Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46. Acts 10:40. I Corinthians 15:4.

Thus, you see, it becomes a serious matter to propagate error when we know truth. Since Jesus Christ specifically declared that He would be in the grave a complete period of three days and three nights, (Matthew 12:40) for people to continue to say that He died on Good Friday and arose on what we refer to as Easter Sunday morning, is doing great harm and damage to the integrity of God’s Word and people’s believing faith. The study we are now making will clarify beyond a shadow of a doubt the Biblical accuracy of the month, the day of the month and the day of the week of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The first observation we have to note with great alacrity and accuracy is that the FIRST DAY of the Feast of the Passover was always a HOLY CONVOCATION, a HIGH DAY, a SPECIAL SABBATH. "These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations (high day, special Sabbath),... In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ...in the seventh day is a holy convocation:..." (This was not the WEEKLY Sabbath, but if the Passover High Day or special Sabbath fell on the regular weekly Sabbath it would take precedence over it because it was a special Sabbath or a High Day called a Holy Convocation. ) The first day of the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, always came on the 15th day of the month of Abib, (Exodus 13:4) (Nisan, Esther 3:7; Nehemiah 2:1) which was a HOLY CONVOCATION, meaning SPECIAL Sabbath or HIGH DAY. (There is only one month of the Biblical year mentioned in the Bible, namely, Abib and it is listed as the first month of the year. The rest of the months are simply given numerically as the second, third, etc. The word Nisan replacing the name, Abib, of the first month of the year came after the Babylonian captivity and also at which time they used pagan names for the other months of the calendar year.) This HOLY CONVOCATION is called in John 19:31, "that sabbath" the "high day." This day that year was not the WEEKLY Sabbath, but the SPECIAL Sabbath which was the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, namely, the 15th of Abib or Nisan. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation (the day before the 15th of Abib or Nisan), that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,)...John 19:31.

Even in the King James Version the translators put the words "...(for that sabbath day was an high day,)..." in parenthesis so that no one would mistake it as the weekly Sabbath. The mistaking of this SPECIAL HIGH DAY Sabbath for the WEEKLY Sabbath and the failure to remember that the Jewish days started with sunset, has caused most of our misunderstanding of The Word regarding this important event.

All the synoptic Gospel records concur regarding the resurrection.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28:6. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. Mark 16:6.

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee. Luke 24:6. In essence with careful reading you will note that all the Gospel writers give the following truth: that Jesus Christ HAD RISEN by the first day of the week (which we refer to as Sunday) before anyone came to the tomb early in the morning.

Matthew 12:40 and I Corinthians 15:4 pin point the time of the resurrection with a mathematical exactness and scientific precision. According to Matthew the record states, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s (fishes) belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The record in I Corinthians states, And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: This pin points the time and truth of the resurrection for He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, in the tomb, and in the sepulchre, yet would rise the third day.

All Biblical scholars know that according to Jewish reckoning a part of a day may be figured as a full day; but, how can anyone get "three days and three nights" out of Friday, Friday Night, Saturday, Saturday Night, and Sunday Morning? The most anyone can squeeze out of that type of reckoning is three days and two nights. So there is either a mistake in the Word of God, or the mistake is with our reasoning and understanding. "Three days" maybe an idiom in reckoning time, but when it mentions in connection with the days, "three nights," it becomes a literal truth, three complete days of twenty-four hours. The legal requirements necessitated that no one could be pronounced officially dead unless he had been dead a minimum of 72 hours. Jesus Christ fulfilled this law also, as He did every law of God. The error has been, in part, due to not properly understanding or reckoning time.

We reckon a day starting at 12 Midnight. The Hebrews reckoned their day from SUNSET, therefore, the night always preceded the daylight hours.

Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation, John 19:31, which was the day preceding the feast of unleavened bread. The Passover was eaten immediately after sunset on the 15th of Abib or Nisan; thus, Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan. He died at the ninth hour, Jewish reckoning, which corresponds to the 3 P.M. hour of the day in our reckoning of time. Matthew 27:45ff. Mark 15:33ff; Luke 23:44ff.

What day of the week did Jesus Christ die? Our Lord spoke of being in the GRAVE three days and three nights, and do not make the error of reckoning the "in the grave" from the time of His death at 3:00 P.M. on the 14th of Nisan, the Day of Preparation. Jesus Christ was buried sometime after His death at 3:00 P.M., yet before sunset on the 14th of Nisan. At sunset the next day, the 15th of Abib or Nisan, the Passover Night began. For Jesus Christ to fulfill the Scripture to be in the grave three days and three nights and still RISE on the third day, He had to be buried on the 14th of Nisan before sunset which would correspond to the day of the week we refer to as Wednesday. Then, from before sunset Wednesday to before sunset Thursday, the 15th of Nisan, would equal one period of 24 hours or a night and a day. Friday, the 16th of Nisan, before sunset would equal the second day. Saturday (the weekly Sabbath) the 17th of Nisan, before sunset, would be the completion of the three days and three nights. Jesus Christ said He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and still rise on the third day, so He arose on the 17th day of Nisan before sunset to make it on the "third day." After sunset of that day, would begin the 18th of Nisan which would be the 4th day, beginning the first day of the week. No one knows the exact time He was placed in the grave, but it was between 3 P.M. and sunset of the Day of Preparation. It is remarkable that the Biblical date is so specific. He was in the grave three days and three nights and yet arose the third day. As we have seen, the day of His crucifixion and burial corresponds to our Wednesday. We see then that Jesus’ body was in the grave one night, our Wednesday Night, the Special Sabbath Day or High Day having begun at sunset. This Sabbath daylight hours, our Thursday of the week, makes one day of Jesus’ being in the grave. Our Thursday before sunset to our Friday before sunset makes the second night and day. Our Friday before sunset to our Saturday before sunset makes the third night and day of the entombment of Jesus. The time of three days and three nights being literally fulfilled, our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead before sunset on our Saturday. As we said earlier in this research, Jesus Christ was no longer in the tomb when Mary Magdalene came the next morning very early "...when it was yet dark..." (John 20:1).

Thus according to the Scripture the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ took place on the third day. The month, Abib or Nisan, the day of the month, the Day of Preparation — the 14th of Abib or Nisan, and the day of the week, our Wednesday, as the time of His death and burial, are clearly set forth being fixed at both the beginning and the end, thus, placing it most assuredly and certainly. Only one whose personal knowledge is more sure than the revealed knowledge of the Word of God would dare to deny the accuracy of The Word.

In this research presentation I might just present for clarification the record in Luke 24:21 where we read of two disciples on the way to Emmaus, the first day of the week, saying to their risen Lord, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done." Perhaps even old English usage would cause us to understand the word "since" to mean that this is technically and officially the 4th day, because on this the 4th day, three days have gone by. But Moffatt’s translation has it very clearly and accurately presented when he translates it, "and that is three days ago." The Aramaic has it as follows, "And low, three days have passed since all these things." Our research ministry, in pointing out the great error that has commonly been taught and believed by Christians, namely, that Good Friday was the day of Christ’s death, does not mean to propose an observance of Good Wednesday. According to Colossians 2:16,17 we are informed that we are not to be respectors of holy days or new moons or sabbath days which only are a shadow of the things to come. The reality is to be in the body of Christ, born from above by God’s Spirit, walking on His Word. The Word of God is the Will of God and it means what it says and says what it means regarding Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.