With "Good Friday" being tommorow I felt curious enough to raise a subject that has probably been raised here before (probably every year, that seems to be the trend with questions regarding "holidays").


Did our Lord and Saviour give His life for us on the Sixth or Fourth day of the week??

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Bryan Riddle
1689 London Baptist Confession
Bethel Baptist Church Owasso, Oklahoma

Well Matthew and John make no direct mention of the day of the week but Mark and Luke clearly says that the crucifixion occurred on the day before the Sabbath, with Matthew and John also mentioning the "Day of Preparation".

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Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church

Student of Theology
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary
My Blog

Here are a couple of passages that point to a Wednesday crucifixion.

The 9th hr is 3PM, if it were on friday Christ would only be in the grave for one night and one day. Because Christ was rissen before daybreak on the first day. John 20:1, Mark 16:1-8

The Sabbath Day mentioned was the passover, a high sabbath day, not the seventh day sabbath.

I'ver wondered this too, I've heard arguments for a Wednesday crucification since if Christ died on Friday evening and was buried, the next night would be night one (Saturday night), the next night would be night two (Sunday night) and the next night would be night 3 (Monday night) and then Tuesday Morning would be the day he would have been raised? Do I have that right?

But if he died on a Wednesday night, then he would have been raised on a Sunday morning correct? bery bery interesting

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Nikki Edmond
New Beginnings Believers Bible Fellowship (Family's Church), Non-Denom
Los Angeles, CA
www.haveatulip.com - Chat Room for Reformed Believers
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

If Christ was crucified on Wednesday, why would Wednesday night not be night one?

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Todd K. Pedlar
member, First Congregational Church, (CCCC) Cresco, IA
http://semperubi.rtrc.net

"Many men, after a long conversion, see more of the workings of sin in their hearts than ever they did before or at their first conversion. Now, such men have not an increase of sin, but an increase of illumination and light" (Christopher Love)

I read a good article once that explained that it would most likely have been not Wednesday or Friday, but Thursday. Since Jesus was taken down and buried on the day He died, He would have been in the grave Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night, and risen on Sunday.

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J Baldwin
Keowee Presbyterian Church, PCA
Pickens, SC
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Check Out My Blog: http://reflectjoy.blogspot.com/

I've never counted the day of an event as day one, since a full day would be 24 hours. Right when the event happened is when I would start counting.

For example, I will arrive in Los Angeles the evening of March 26th, so since it's the evening of March 20th, I would say the evening of the 21st is the 1st day, the evening of the 22nd is the 2nd day, the evening of the 23rd is the 3rd day.. all the way up to the evening of the 26th which would be 6 completed days instead of 7days )

I believe the argument is:
Wednesday 6pm- thurs 6 am= 1 night
Thurs 6am-6pm= 1 day
Thurs 6pm- fri 6am= 2 night
fri 6am-6pm= 2day
fri 6pm- sat 6am= 3night
sat 6pm- 6pm= 3 day
and he rose before daybreak on Sunday (the First day) but because they counted days from sunset to sunset rather than sunrise to sunrise it was still on sunday, but the night had not gone by making it 4 nights.

oops I said that wrong. He would have died on Thursday, Friday night started the first day/night (after sunset), Saturday night would have started at sunset the next day, then Sunday(the third day would have started at the next sunset) and He arose that morning of that day.

1 Cor 15 says He was raised on the 'third day'. Wouldn't you start counting with the day of His death? IOW Friday? Friday was the first day of His death, Sat the second day of His death, and Sun the third day of His death.

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I am pretty sure, from my studies of Christ's postressurection appearances on the Lord's day, that the Jewish way of counting would not have included the day of his death as the first day. But I am unsure of that, I think Bruce (Contra_Mundum) told me something about this.


NEVERMIND, I found the post where he told me, and the Jewish way of counting was to include the day. If a Jew said in Three days I will rise that could mean on Friday he would die, however I am still confused on how to fit 3 nights into a friday crucifixion.

If He died on Thursday afternoon, that evening, after sunset, would be the new day (Friday, day one), because of the Jewish way of starting a day at sunset. So according to our way of doing things, it would be the same day, but not according to the Jewish way. If He died on Friday, there would not be enough days, and if He died on Wednesday, there would be too many nights.

I am preparing a sermon on this area right now and that is precisely how I would read the scriptures.

John McArthur points out that:

The Jewish Talmud – a major commentary on scripture and tradition, says ‘a day and a night makes one onah (season), and a part of an onah is as the whole’.

It is an interesting area for thought but perhaps something which we can over-think.

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Jonathan Hunt
1689'er
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Cheltenham Evangelical Free Church (Confessionally Based)
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
-- Thomas Elsworth

Three days--Friday Saturday Sunday as cited by:

Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (volume 2, page 630):

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Sterling Harmon
Coventry, CT
PCA
Deacon
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"Whatever is laudable in our works proceeds from the grace of God."
-- John Calvin, Institutes III:xv.3.

"Our Lord God must be a good man, to be fond of worthless fellows. I cannot like them, and yet I, myself, am one."
-- Martin Luther, Table Talk

Wow this is confusing.

Here are a couple books which teach a Wednesday crucifixion


A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS BY LORAINE BOETTNER
PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED PUBLISHING COMPANY
PHILLIPSBURG, NEW JERSEY



ALSO


An Historical Harmony of the Gospels
by: Robert J. Sargent.

A four-column chronological harmony of the four Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, accompanied by maps, chronological notes, and a detailed chart of the “passion week.”

Unlike most other harmonies, this volume does not correct the Word of God and it presents a Wednesday crucifixion in accordance with Matthew 12:40.


.

EW Bullinger also recons it to be Wednesday. But he also reckons there were 5 crosses instead of 3.

I am a Thursday man myself. Although the Jews considered part of the day as a whole nevertheless three days and three nights is quite specific. It was the day of preparation for the passover (Jn 19.14, 42) and in Jn 19.31 the sabbath is described as a high day (NASB) or Special sabbath (NIV) you could have Thursday (day of preparation), Friday (Passover) and Saturday (regular weekly sabbath). Thus at dawn on Sunday Jesus had arisen

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Stuart
Elder, Lambeg Baptist, Northern Ireland, UK

In Him the fulness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form and in Him you are complete (Col 2.9-10)

The sacrifice of a broken heart doth please Him but the sacrifice of a broken Christ alone doth satisfy Him (Richard Steele)

Nikki,

The ancient method used by the Jews was to count "days" by days that are touched, rather than 24-hour periods. In other words, if you stayed in Chicago on Monday night, all day Tuesday, and early morning Wednesday, that would be three days.

Three years could have been reckoned as one day in one year, a whole calendar year, and one day in the next. Because the time touches "three years", it would be called "three years".

Cheers,

Adam

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Adam Brink, Grace Church of Pleasanton, PCA, Pleasanton, California
"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?" Romans 8:33

The worst thing that happened to the resurrection was easter sunday.

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N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Well.. whether Christ died on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The point is he did DIE and he ROSE again =)

Christ is Risen!

A thought I was presented with that seems to weigh heavily against Wednesday (IMO) is this.

The women were going to dress the body of Jesus. They would not have done this on a Sabbath day, whether High or weekly. The Wednesday teaching says that Thurs was a High Sabbath and then friday was a day of open market a regular working day. Why would the loved ones of Jesus not have went to dress his body on Thursday if if this viewpoint were correct?

This still leaves it to either Thursday Or Friday. To which I am leaning toward Thursday because I do not see how the following statement can be true given a Friday Crucifixion;

Where are the three nights? There is Friday night = 1 and the partial Saturday night = 2