I am reading a new book called Good Friday?: Crucifixion and Resurrection, a Chronology. I had bought the book thinking it would simply be a devotional look at the last of our Lord Jesus. But while it does that, to an extent, it is really about calling our attention to the chronology of the last week. The author, Dr. Gilbert Perez, suggests that our understanding of the days these events happened is very wrong, and he gives a very good argument for them.
For example, he suggests that Palm Sunday really occurred on Saturday. The actual crucifixion didn’t happen on a Friday, but rather on a Wednesday. The resurrection most likely happened on Saturday evening, but after dark, so according to the Jewish calendar, still on a Sunday. As I mentioned, he gives some very good arguments for this time table, and while at first turned off, thinking he was a heretic, I found myself agreeing that his arguments make sense.
If he is right, it points to some very prophetic images in tying his death much closer to the Passover Lamb that is sacrificed for the Passover. We, as Christians, already believe that Christ was sacrificed as our Passover lamb, the one free from blemish or defect (the only one free from sin). Yet Perez’s timing makes it all the more meaningful…
According to Perez, this new timetable would mean that Jesus’ nearly perfectly fits the timetable for the Passover lamb. According to Old Testament Scriptures, Passover is celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan. According to the Old Testament Law, the lamb for the sacrifice is selected on the 10th day of Nisan, and set aside from the flock until the 14th day. It is then sacrificed and the meal is eaten.
On the 10th day of Nisan, that would have been the day the Jewish people selected their lamb for the sacrifice – it was the day of Jesus’ triumphant entry in to Jerusalem (what we refer to as Palm Sunday). Also, the night before, but after dark, so still the same day in the Jewish calendar, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume. Both of these events, though they didn’t know it, confirmed Jesus’ selection as the Passover lamb, the perfect sacrifice.
Remember Jesus celebrated the Passover on the evening before his crucifixion, the 14th of Nisan began at sunset the day before, or Tuesday night. So, if Perez is correct in his timetable, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, and became the Passover lamb, the same day, the 14th of Nisan. The next day was the special Sabbath, and Jesus had to be placed in a burrowed tomb and the time couldn’t be taken to prepare the body for burial, that would have to wait.
Immediately after the Passover, the Jewish people celebrate the week long feast of Unleaven Bread, the first day of which, the 15th day of Nisan, is a Holy Day of Sabbath rest – no work is to be done, all the laws of the Sabbath apply to this day, regardless of what day of the week it is (Leviticus 23:6-7). When the bodies had to be removed from the crosses because the next day was a Sabbath, it wasn’t a Saturday Sabbath as we presume, it was a special Sabbath, the first day of the Festival of Unleavened bread (John 19:31 says it was a special Sabbath.)
This timetable also gives Jesus the full three days in the tomb. Several times in the days preceding his crucifixion, Jesus refers to the sign of Jonah, three days in the belly of the whale, he tells his disciples that he would be crucified and raised on the third day. Our Friday night to Sunday morning is only a day and a half, only half the time Jesus said.
This may challenge our thinking about Easter, but I don’t think it does so in a negative way. Rather, it confirms that Jesus truly is our Passover lamb, all the timetables in Leviticus are followed, and the Lamb of God is sacrificed on our behalf.
In May, on Tuesday mornings, we will be looking into this book as sort of a book study, to see what it says, and how it squares with Scripture. If you are local, you are welcome to join us…
Any questions or comments, please leave a comment…
For example, he suggests that Palm Sunday really occurred on Saturday. The actual crucifixion didn’t happen on a Friday, but rather on a Wednesday. The resurrection most likely happened on Saturday evening, but after dark, so according to the Jewish calendar, still on a Sunday. As I mentioned, he gives some very good arguments for this time table, and while at first turned off, thinking he was a heretic, I found myself agreeing that his arguments make sense.
If he is right, it points to some very prophetic images in tying his death much closer to the Passover Lamb that is sacrificed for the Passover. We, as Christians, already believe that Christ was sacrificed as our Passover lamb, the one free from blemish or defect (the only one free from sin). Yet Perez’s timing makes it all the more meaningful…
According to Perez, this new timetable would mean that Jesus’ nearly perfectly fits the timetable for the Passover lamb. According to Old Testament Scriptures, Passover is celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan. According to the Old Testament Law, the lamb for the sacrifice is selected on the 10th day of Nisan, and set aside from the flock until the 14th day. It is then sacrificed and the meal is eaten.
On the 10th day of Nisan, that would have been the day the Jewish people selected their lamb for the sacrifice – it was the day of Jesus’ triumphant entry in to Jerusalem (what we refer to as Palm Sunday). Also, the night before, but after dark, so still the same day in the Jewish calendar, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume. Both of these events, though they didn’t know it, confirmed Jesus’ selection as the Passover lamb, the perfect sacrifice.
Remember Jesus celebrated the Passover on the evening before his crucifixion, the 14th of Nisan began at sunset the day before, or Tuesday night. So, if Perez is correct in his timetable, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, and became the Passover lamb, the same day, the 14th of Nisan. The next day was the special Sabbath, and Jesus had to be placed in a burrowed tomb and the time couldn’t be taken to prepare the body for burial, that would have to wait.
Immediately after the Passover, the Jewish people celebrate the week long feast of Unleaven Bread, the first day of which, the 15th day of Nisan, is a Holy Day of Sabbath rest – no work is to be done, all the laws of the Sabbath apply to this day, regardless of what day of the week it is (Leviticus 23:6-7). When the bodies had to be removed from the crosses because the next day was a Sabbath, it wasn’t a Saturday Sabbath as we presume, it was a special Sabbath, the first day of the Festival of Unleavened bread (John 19:31 says it was a special Sabbath.)
This timetable also gives Jesus the full three days in the tomb. Several times in the days preceding his crucifixion, Jesus refers to the sign of Jonah, three days in the belly of the whale, he tells his disciples that he would be crucified and raised on the third day. Our Friday night to Sunday morning is only a day and a half, only half the time Jesus said.
This may challenge our thinking about Easter, but I don’t think it does so in a negative way. Rather, it confirms that Jesus truly is our Passover lamb, all the timetables in Leviticus are followed, and the Lamb of God is sacrificed on our behalf.
In May, on Tuesday mornings, we will be looking into this book as sort of a book study, to see what it says, and how it squares with Scripture. If you are local, you are welcome to join us…
Any questions or comments, please leave a comment…
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