Another church heresy that church leaders and Ministers and Priests and Pastors would have you believe is that Christ rose on Sunday . This is where they get Easter from another pagan holiday . Christ did not rise up from the dead on Sunday ! I will show you through the Bible that this is not so , Scripture will show us and lead us to the truth . We will learn when Christ was to raise up from the grave . We will learn on what day Christ was buried . We will learn how many days He was suppose to be in the grave . We will learn the time in which He was placed in the grave . We will learn the hour when He gave up his Spirit . We shall see what Halley's Bible Handbook has to say pertaining to this matter .

                        This is told in all four Gospels ( Mark 16 ; 1 - 8 ; Luke 24 : 1 - 11 ; John 20 : 1 - 3 ). Mary Magdalene is named in all four . Mary, mother of James and Joses, called also the other Mary ( Matthew, Mark, Luke ). Salome, mother of James and John ( Mark ) . Joanna, wife of Herod's steward ( Luke ) . And other Women ( Luke ) . In all , half a dozen, or possibly a dozen or more. They had spices to complete the embalming of his body for permanent burial , with no thought whatever that he would be risen.

                        As it began to dawn ( Matthew ). Very early , when the sun was risen ( Mark ). At early dawn ( Luke ). While it was yet dark ( John ). These variant notes as to the time mean, evidently,  they started while it was yet dark, and reached the tomb about sunrise. Their various lodging - places, in Bethany or Jerusalem, ranged, probably, from 1 mile to two miles or more distant .

                        We are furnished by Scripture with certain facts and fixed points which, taken together, enable us ( 1 ) to determine the events which filled up the days of the last week of our Lord's life on earth; ( 2 ) to fix the day of His crucifixion; and ( 3 ) to ascertain the duration of the time He remained in the tomb .

                        The difficulties connected with these three have arisen ( 1 ) from not having noted these fixed points; ( 2 ) from the fact of Gentiles not having been conversant with the law concerning the three great feasts of the Lord; and ( 3 ) from not having reckoned the days as commencing ( some six hours before our own ) and running from sunset to sunset, instead of from midnight to midnight.

To remove these difficulties , we must note : -

                        1 That the first day of each of the three feasts Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, was a holy convocation, a sabbath on which no servile work was to be done . That sabbath and the high day of John 19 : 31 , was the holy convocation, the first day of the feast, which quite overshadowed the ordinary weekly sabbath .

                        It was called by the Jews yom tov ( = Good day ) , and this is the greeting on that day throughout Jewry down to the present time.

                        This great sabbath, having been mistaken from the earliest times for the weekly sabbath, has led to all the confusion .

                        2 This has naturally caused the further difficulty as to the Lord's statement that even as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights Matthew. 12 : 40. Now, while it is quite correct to speak according to Hebrew idiom of three days or three years, while they are only parts of three days or three years, yet that Idiom does not apply in a case like this, where three nights are mentioned in addition to three days. It will be noted that the Lord not only definitely states this, but repeats the full phraseology, so that we may not mistake it .
                        3 We have therefore following facts furnished for our sure guidance : ( 1 ) The high day of John. 19 : 31 was the first day of the feast. ( 2 ) The first day of the feast was on the 15th day of Nisan. ( 3 ) the 15th day of Nisan, commenced at sunset on what we should call the 14th.  ( 4 ) Six days before the Passover ( John. 12 : 1. ) takes us back to the 9th day of Nisan . ( 5 ) After two days is the Passover Matt. 26 : 2 . Mark. 14 : 1 . Takes us to the 13th day of Nisan.

                        4 Reckoning back from this, three days and three nights Matt. 12 : 40 , we arrive at the day of the burial, which must have been before sunset, on the 14th of Nisan; before our Wednesday sunset.

                        5 This makes the sixth day before the Passover ( the 9th day of Nisan ) to be our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset .

                        Therefore Wednesday , Nisan 14th ( commencing on the Tuesday at sunset ), was the preparation day on which the crucifixion took place : for all four Gospels definitely say that this was the day on which the Lord was buried ( before our Wednesday sunset ) , because it was the preparation day the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, for that sabbath day was a high day, and there fore not the ordinary seventh day, or weekly sabbath . See John. 19 : 31 .

                        6 It follows, therefore, that the Lord being crucified on the preparation day could not have eaten of the Passover lamb, which was not slain until the evening of the 14th of Nisan ( i.e. afternoon ). On that day the daily sacrifice was killed at the 6th hour ( noon ) and offered about the 7th hour ( 1 P.m. ). The killing of the Passover lambs began directly afterwards. Thus it  is commence until about four hours after our Lord had been hanging upon the Cross, and would not have been concluded at the ninth hour ( 3 p.m. ) when He gave up the ghost; no Passover lamb could have been eaten at the last supper on the previous evening.

                         7 With these facts before us, we are in a position to fill in the several days of the Lord's last week with the events recorded in the Gospels. By noting that the Lord returned to Bethany ( or to the Mount of Olives ) each night of that week, we are able to determine both the several days and the events that took place in them.

                        8 And the Hebrew calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of Abib, Passover day, the day Jesus was crucified, was Wednesday. And the annual Sabbath was Thursday. This was the Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus late that Wednesday afternoon. There were two separate Sabbaths that week !

         The First Day Of The Feast - The High Day - ( Yom tov ) The 15th Day of Nisan.
                              ( Our Wednesday sunset to Thursday Sunset. )
                                  The First Night and First Day in the Tomb.
                            ********************************************************

                            The Second Day Of The Feast - The 16 th Day Of Nisan.
                                    ( Our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset . )
                              The Second Night and Second Day in The Tomb .
                           *********************************************************
          The Third Day Of The Feast - The ( Weekly Sabbath - The 17th Day of Nisan .
                                    (  Our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset )
                                 The Third Night and Third day in the Tomb .
                           *********************************************************

                        It will be seen from the above that we have neither power nor authority to alter or shift any day or date ; or to change the order or position of any of the events recorded in the Holy Writings. Each day is marked by a return to Bethany during the last week ( up to the Preparation Day ); and each day is filled with the recorded events.

                        It follows, therefore, that the Lord was crucified on our Wednesday ; was buried on that day before sunset; and remained three days and three nights in the tomb, as foretold by Him in Matthew. 12 : 40 ; rising from the dead on the third day .

                        As we can see in Matthew . 12 : 39 - 40 . That the only sign that would be given would be the sign of Jonah . Three days and three nights . 39 / But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign , and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah . 40 / 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 .

                        We can find proof of this in Jonah . 1 : 17 . Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

                        We must establish the time period before we can do anything else . And we can find this in Genesis . 1 : 4 , 14 , 16 . 4  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness . 14  Then God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years . 16  Then God made two great lights : the greater light to rule the day , and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also .

                        Now that we have the night and the day , we must establish if there is a time frame on the night and day and we can find this in John. 11 : 9 - 10 . 9 Jesus answered , Are there not twelve hours in the day ? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him .

                        Now that we have the time frame we will go back to the three days . We will read of this once again in Mark . 8 : 31 . And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again .

                        The Pharisees and chief priests knew exactly when Christ was going to rise from the grave . Because they told Pilot when Christ was going to rise . Matthew . 27 : 62 - 63 . 62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilot, 63 Saying, Sir , we remember while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise.

                        Jesus told the Jews that He would raise up the temple in three days . But they didn't understand that He was talking about His own body . They figured that He was talking about the temple . John . 2 : 19 - 20 . Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then the Jews said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days ?

                        When Christ said , That He would rise up from the dead in three days He meant what He had said . We have learned here that there are two parts to the day , there is Day and there is Night . We also learned how many hours are in a day there are twelve hours in the day and twelve hours in the night . Three full 24 hour periods = a total of 72 hours. Not a minute more or a minute less. So in Scripture Christ said , three days and three nights . So the very minute that He had died , He would have to be raised up 72 hours later . To make it three days and three nights .

                        We will now look at which day it really was that Christ was buried . We will look into Scripture to find out this answer , we will not rely on the answer of man . We shall start with Matthew . 27 : 62 - 63 . Here we see that the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate asking that Pilate would put guards on the tomb of Jesus . 62 On the next day which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. As you can see it was the Day of Preparation .

                        Now we come to Joseph of Arimathea the one who would go and ask Pilate for the body of Jesus . Mark . 15 : 42 - 43 . Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, tat os. tee ad before tee Sabbath ( This was a High Sabbath not a regular weekly Sabbath , Remember that Passover has two High Sabbaths and a regular weekly Sabbath ) . 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

                 Here we have the same account where Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus body to put into the new tomb which belonged to Joseph . Luke. 23 : 50 - 54 . And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their counsel and deed. he was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God . 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down , wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lay before. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near . ( Once again High Sabbath ) .

                        Now we will have a look at what hour it was that Christ had died . Matthew . 27 : 46 - 50 . And about the ninth hour  Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? this is, My God, My God , why have You forsaken Me ? 47 Some of those who stood there , when they heard that said, This Man is calling for Elijah ! 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him. 50 Jesus when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit.

                        Again in Mark. 15 : 34 - 37 . And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ? which is translated, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me ? 35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it , said, Look, He is calling for Elijah ! 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down. 37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

                        Again in Luke. 23 : 44 - 46. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father into Your hands I commend My spirit. And having said this, He breathed His last.

                        Now we shall see when Jesus was laid in the tomb . Matthew. 27 : 57 - 60 . Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus . 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body , he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.

                        Again Luke. 23 : 54 . That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  John. 19 : 42 . So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

                        Now we have to understand that the Passover had two High Holy Days . The first day of the Feast of Passover is a High Holy Day and the last day of the Feast of Passover is a High Holy Day . The day before the first High Holy Days is called the Day of Preparation . This is when they get ready for their ceremony and preparing the lambs for sacrifice . So that there is no mistaken what the Preparation Day is , for those who don't know what the Feast of Passover is . And to make sure that there is no mistaken that this is the day that they are talking about in Scripture we go to John . 19 : 14 . Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, Behold your King . Now we know that there is no mistaken which day it was , it was the Preparation Day of the Passover .

                        And the Hebrew Calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified the 14th of Abib the Jewish Preparation Day . The day Jesus was crucified and was buried was on a Wednesday and the annual Sabbath which was Passover was on Thursday . Now we know the exact day on which Christ was buried , and we know at what time . It was in the evening before or right at the very moment of the Jewish Passover . So from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening is one day . From Thursday evening to Friday evening is two days . And Friday evening to Saturday evening is three days . So Christ rose on Sabbath evening just before the sun went down . 

                        Now that we have seen which day Christ was buried , and what hour that He died and the time that He was placed in the grave . We can now check Scripture once again to see if this is so . We will see that the heresy of man is wrong . We shall start with Mark. 16 : 1 - 6 . Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices, that they might come and anoint Him . 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us ? 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away for it was very large 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed . 6 But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen ! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

                        As you can see that Christ was already risen . Luke. 24 : 1 - 3 . Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they , and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb . 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. John. 20 : 1 . On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Matthew. 28 : 1. Now after the Sabbath , as the first day of the week began to dawn,  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb .

                        As we can see through Scripture that Christ was raised from the dead long before the dawning of Sunday morning . These Scriptures which I have given you make this point very clear . Especially Matthews and John Scripture . I have also added to this study a time chart that was used in those days . And if you follow the chart it becomes quite clear when Christ rose from the dead .

                        We have learned quite a few thing's in this study of God's Sacred Word . Scripture do not lie . We have learned :
1 How many days Christ was to be in the grave . ( three days & three nights )
2 The time that He was placed in the grave . ( very late Wednesday evening just before sundown )
3 The hour in which He gave up His spirit . ( the ninth hour )
4 On which day He had died . ( Preparation Day ) ( according the Sacred Jewish Calendar Wednesday )
5 Preparation Day the day before the Jewish Passover . ( Wednesday )
6 And the time frame when the Mary's visited the tomb . ( before the sun began to rise ) ( Christ already raised )

                        So here we have it right from Scripture . I have also made a chart for you to follow , to see how Christ was already risen from the grave long before the Mary's even got to the tomb . We know that a day in the Bible is from evening until evening . Or we should know this ! So if Christ was put in the grave just before Wednesday evening ended , as Scripture teaches . Then Wednesday evening until Thursday evening = One day . Thursday evening until Friday evening = Two Days . Friday evening until Saturday evening = Three day's .

                       Doesn't this make perfect sense , seeing that Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath . Mark. 2 : 27 - 28 tells us that He is Lord of the Sabbath . It makes perfect sense , wouldn't you agree ! If you deny these Scriptures you deny Christ . All Scripture are Sacred and Holy . And no man has the right to change them .

                        The proof is in what you read. For the Bible holds all the answers. All we have to do is look, ask God for guidance and hold His word sacred. Apply it to our lives, for the blessings and promises which God has promised us are unimaginable . We cannot expect God to give us blessings and promises , if we only partially keep His  word . Always remember that we are responsible for what we read. When we read our Bible God is speaking directly to us . Every time you open you're Bible God speaks to you , every time we read Scripture these are God's Sacred Words .

Are you listening to what God is saying to you or are you listening to man !

You are responsible for what you read !

 May the Father & Jesus Christ be with you always

By : Edward P . Porter