To really understand WHEN to celebrate the resurrection it's important to understand WHEN the death of Jesus actually occurred. Was it on Good Friday or on Passover? What does the Bible say?
We know Passover was observed by Jesus and His disciples the evening before the crucifixion, but is Good Friday even mentioned in the bible? What Christians actually observe today concerning the crucifixion on Good Friday is a misunderstanding of what God really says in Scripture.
The Bible says that Jesus died just before the Sabbath which makes most people believe He died on Good Friday. BUT there is more to the question ..... WHICH Sabbath?
"That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near" (Luke 23:54)
Most Christians think that it was talking about the normal weekly Sabbath, and the time Jesus died was on the Good Friday before it. The Sabbath mentioned here in the Gospels was the special Holyday Convocation Sabbath beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread mentioned in Exodus.
The Bible says.... "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat, that only may be prepared by you." (Ex 12:15-16)
This week-long feast actually had two Special Sabbaths in it. God told the Israelites that the beginning and the ending of this feast would be Special Sabbaths. These Sabbaths could fall at any time during a week as the Feast itself changed every year. The year that Jesus died, the Special Sabbath on the First Day of Unleavened Bread was on Thursday, right after Passover which was on a Wednesday, the 14th of the first month according to what God plainly said.
The Bible confirms that there were actually two Sabbaths that week. The First Day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread Sabbath on Thursday, and the regular weekly Sabbath on Saturday. The women went to buy spices on what is incorrectly believed to be Good Friday, when the churches teach that Jesus was crucified. (He was really already dead since Wednesday.) After the Special Holyday Sabbath on Thursday when everyone had to rest, the women bought and prepared the spices the following day to anoint Jesus' body. They then again rested on Saturday, the regular weekly Sabbath as God commands in the Bible. They then went to the tomb Sunday morning with the spices they had prepared before the weekly Sabbath on Saturday, to anoint Jesus' body, and found it empty. So, because Christians don't know about the special Holyday Sabbaths for God's seven Feasts they don't know when to actually observe Jesus' death and when to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mark 16:1)
The Sabbath mentioned at the beginning of this verse is the Special Holyday Sabbath that was on Thursday at the beginning of the Feast. Then following on Friday, they bought and prepared spices. Finally resting on the weekly Sabbath before going to the tomb on Sunday.
"That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." (Luke 23:54-56)
That FRIDAY was the Preparation before the weekly Sabbath! If you really don't know about the Feasts and the special Sabbaths it can be very confusing. So, there actually were two Sabbaths that week when Jesus was crucified. If you believe Jesus died on Good Friday then the events don't make sense. If you allow for two Sabbaths that week, then it all makes perfect sense. So, if Christ didn't really die on Good Friday, when and how should Christians observe it, and when should we actually celebrate the resurrection?
Just imagine if you were a parent and one of your children died. How would you feel if your other children, and your nieces and nephews, your brothers and sisters all your family decided to commemorate the death of your child every year at the wrong time? Just imagine you being alone with your sorrow on the actual date they died. Well, that's exactly how our heavenly Father feels every year when His children gather together on Good Friday to commemorate the death of His Son, Jesus, at the wrong time.
Most Christians celebrate Good Friday as the time the Lamb Of God was crucified and died. It's always on a Friday regardless of the date of Passover, the time when He actually died. Then they celebrate Easter 1 and 1/2 days later, not 3 days and 3 nights later.
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth". ( Matthew 12:20),
How could Christ really die on Good Friday and be resurrected on Sunday, when the ONLY sign He gave them that He was the Messiah would be that He would actually be dead and buried for 3 days? If you work backwards from Sunday you can plainly see He died not on Good Friday, but actually on Wednesday! How can that be right?
The Jews, and a small minority of Christians, actually observe the death of our Savior correctly every year, and have done so for two thousand years. This little flock of Christians recognize that Christ became the new Passover Lamb when He was crucified and died for our sins, and correctly commemorate His death every year exactly during the 24 hour time of Passover, not Good Friday, as God commanded. What? God commanded Christians in the Bible to actually remember the death of His Son at a specific time every year? Yes He really did! When? On Passover evening, the time of the Lord's Last Supper!
The evening before Jesus died He gathered with His disciples for his last supper with them. He broke bread that represented His broken body and gave it to them. He gave them wine that represented His shed blood. Jesus then actually set the example we are all to follow in serving others by washing their feet.
The Bible says...."And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Cor 11:24)
The Bible tells us..... "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:15)
These are actual COMMANDS from Jesus, our Savior and God, to observe a memorial of His death every year, doing these 3 things He actually commands Christians to do in remembrance of Him on the evening of Passover, just as He had done. Remember, as God counts time, days begin at sunset the evening before the sunlight part of morning. ("There was evening and morning the first day". (Gen 1:5), "There was evening and morning the second day". (Gen 1:8, etc.) When does the Bible tell us this last supper with His disciples occurred? How do we know today when this is, so we can obey God to keep an annual memorial to the death of Jesus at the right time and in the right way, and then celebrate His resurrection 3 days later instead of an arbitrary Easter Sunday? All this occurred the evening of Passover, the night before Jesus died. The Word of God tells us exactly when the lamb was to be sacrificed. Jesus as the Lamb of God was sacrificed on the same day. It was not Good Friday!
The Bible says.... Lev 23:5 "In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord's Passover."
and.... Ex 12:3 "In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers...:"
and.... Ex 12:6 "And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening."
and.... Ex 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever."
So the Bible says Passover actually always occurs on the 14th of the first month according to God's calendar. Man decided the new year would begin in the dead of winter on January 1st. God says the new year really begins in the Spring as new life emerges. The lamb was killed on the 14th. Jesus, the Lamb of God died on the 14th also. Obviously the Jews obeyed God correctly. But how do we know thousands of years later that the Jews actually still have the correct date for Passover every year? Likewise, how can Christians really know the correct time to celebrate the last super and do all that Jesus commanded us in that memorial service? How can we be sure when to celebrate the resurrection? Could the Jews really have the wrong date for Passover today? Absolutely not!
God made sure the Jews ALWAYS have the right date for Passover. He mandated that the Jews would be responsible for keeping track of His Words throughout history. His Words in the Scriptures were actually committed to the Jews for safe keeping. He plainly tells us so in the New Testament so WE can know exactly when to correctly commemorate Jesus death with no human reasoning about a Good Friday crucifixion. No interpretation is needed by anyone. We know!
The Bible says....Roman 3:1-2. "What advantage then hath the Jew? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."
God Himself makes sure the Jews really have the correct day every year because He committed unto them His oracles, HIS VERY WORDS given to them in the Bible in Exodus and Leviticus. He told the Jews when to keep the Passover and God insures beyond doubt that they would never lose track of the day throughout thousands of years of Jewish history.
There are several places in the Bible that mention the oracles of the Lord. In the New Testament, the term oracles of God actually refer to the the Bible. The New Testament Greek phrase sometimes translated "oracles" is logion, (logion being the plural form of logos meaning "word" ). The Eternals words in the Old Testament of the Bible are actually His oracles, and they have been preserved by the Jews to this very day. The Jews absolutely have it right! Our churches with their Good Friday interpretation have it wrong!
There has always been that little flock of Christians, the original Church founded in the first century, that has also correctly kept Passover on the correct day for the last 2,000 years. We find them small and scattered throughout history but always faithful to what the Bible really says about the correct day of the weekly Sabbath, and God's Holydays.
So what does this really all mean for a true Christian? Your opinion of the days to celebrate or observe the death and resurrection of our Savior actually doesn't matter. What the oracle of God says, His words in His Scripture actually does matter! They can never be wrong! It's not just the point of obeying the commands given to us to do every year in remembrance of our Savior on the right day and in the right way. It's also a matter of respect! If you love Christ at least show Him enough respect for Him, and His Father, to remember His sacrifice for YOU on the right day and in the right way, and to really observe the resurrection, not Easter, on the right day too. It's not too late for you to get it right!
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