Resolve the confusion: The day of death and the day of resurrection of Jesus the Messiah
Those who read the gospels in the Bible are divided when it comes to finding out the day Jesus the Messiah died and the day He was raised to life by Yahweh.
There are two reasons for confusion and division amongst people:
- how Passover and Sabbath are described in the Gospel of John
- Sign of Jonah in the Gospel of Matthew
Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
It is imperative to know that Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread are two separate events:
14th Aviv: Passover begins when the lamb is slaughtered at twilight, just before 15th Aviv begins—Exo. 12:6, Lev. 23:5, Num. 28:16
(In Scriptures, a new day begins after sunset in the evening—Gen 3:5; Lev. 23:32)
Exodus 12
27
you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’
15th of Aviv is from evening of 14th Aviv to evening of 15th Aviv
15th Aviv: Festival of Unleavened bread begins—Lev. 23:6, Num. 28:17
Exodus 12
17
Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
15th Aviv: That same night, the lamb is roasted over fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Exo. 12:8, Lev. 23:5, Num. 28:16
This meal is called the Passover meal.
Note: Passover lamb is eaten only on the 15th day of Aviv. None of the lamb should remain until morning—Exo.12:10
Passover in the Gospel of John
In the gospel of John, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is called Passover Festival. Even today, instead of using the term "Festival of Unleavened Bread", the word "Passover" is used to refer to the seven day Festival of Unleavened Bread by those who celebrate it.
So John 18:28 states that the jewish leaders wanted to eat the "Passover"; the word "Passover" here can only refer to the meal eaten on 2nd day of Festival of Unleavened Bread on 16th Aviv because all the 4 gospels state that Jesus and His disciples had eaten the customary Passover meal on 15th Aviv. It was during this meal He said, "One of you will betray me"—Matt. 26:20; Mark 14:18; Luke 22:18; John 13:21.
Note: Passover lamb is eaten only on 15th Aviv, the first day of Festival of Unleavened Bread during the customary Passover meal—Exo. 12:8
Though it is implicitly understood that the meal that Jesus ate with His disciples in Gospel of John had to be a Passover meal, there is confusion because of the verse in John 18:28; it states that Jewish leaders would eat the Passover on the day Jesus was handed over to Pilate to be crucified.
There can only be 1 possibility of the 2:
1.
The word "Passover" in John 18:28 can refer to the meal that would be eaten on the second day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread as explained above.
2.
John 18:28 is an error like Acts 7:16 because the manuscript is interpolated and not the original manuscript of the author.
Jesus and His disciples gathering and eating a meal on 13th Aviv, a day prior to the day of Passover on 14th Aviv, makes the event and day insignificant. Therefore, a meal on 13th Aviv can be ruled out.
Preparation day
Similarly, John 19:14 implies that it was preparation day i.e. sixth day of the week, day before Sabbath during the "Passover"(seven day festival).
Sabbath was a great day in the Gospel of John
Great Sabbath is the weekly Sabbath that immediately precedes the day of Passover; it is called Shabbat HaGadol in Hebrew. It is observed in Judaism.
In the greek manuscript that is available today, in John 19:31, the word μεγάλη in greek means great. (Source: biblehub). It does not mean high.
John 19:31 states that the next day, the Sabbath day (which would be 16th Aviv), was a great day; the plausible reason being that it was during the "Passover Festival".
What is High Sabbath or high day?
Though the word "high Sabbath" doesn't occur in the Old Testament, it is used to refer to days when Sabbath had to be observed other than the 7th day of the week.
e.g.
Atonement day on the 10th day of the 7th month. Sabbath was observed from evening of 9th day to evening of 10th day.
No regular work was to be done on the first and last day of Festival of Unleavened Bread: 15th Aviv and 21st Aviv.
According to the Old Testament, 16th Aviv is not a high Sabbath. Neither did a weekly Sabbath and "high Sabbath" coincide in the year Jesus the Messiah died and was raised to life by Yahweh.
Sign of Jonah
Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17
From the inside of the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God: Jonah 2:1
Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Therefore "heart of the earth" should not be mistaken for death alone; the day Jesus knew the hour had come for Him to leave the world and go to His Father is the first day of the Sign of Jonah, and Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His arrest on the night of 15th is the first night of the sign of Jonah.
John 13:1
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Matthew 26:38
Mark 14:34
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
After the aforementioned facts are taken into account, it becomes evident that Jesus the Messiah died on the 15th day of Aviv (sixth day of the week that year) and was raised to life on the 17th day of Aviv (first day of the week that year)
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