WHAT DAY DID JESUS WAS RESURRECTED?

We know that our Passover is the slain Christ. Therefore, Christ, as the Passover Lamb, had to suffer exactly on the day appointed by God and this date must coincide with the Passover holiday.

 

Once the scribes and Pharisees asked CHRIST to give them a sign that would confirm that HE was the MESSIAH they were expecting. To which CHRIST answered that they would receive only one sign – HIS presence in the bowels of the earth for three days and three nights. „...for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth“ (Matthew 12:38-40). And this passage of Scripture causes many questions and bewilderment among people, since the Gospels repeatedly say that CHRIST was crucified on Friday and rose early in the morning on the first day of the week (this is written in the Russian translation). WHERE, then, are the THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS?

 

There are many places in the Gospel that Jesus must rise again or rose again on the third day. Jesus spoke about this to His disciples, Apostle Peter preached about this, and Apostle Paul wrote about this.

 

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Matthew 16:21).

 

While they were in Galilee, Jesus said to them, „The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will rise again“ (Matthew 17:22-23).

 

And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the way, and said to them, „Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; and they will deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify him: and the third day he will rise again“ (Matthew 20:17-19).

 

And it came to pass, as he was praying in a private place, and the disciples were with him, that he asked them, Whom do the people say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist: and some, Elias: and others say, One of the ancient prophets is risen. Then he asked them, Whom do you say that I am? Peter answered, The Christ of God. But he sternly charged them that they should tell no one these things, saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise again (Luke 9:18-22).

 

Then he took unto him his twelve disciples, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem: and all things shall be accomplished which are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man: For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and insulted, and spit upon, and shall scourge, and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again (Luke 18:31-33).

 

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And while they were afraid, and bowed their faces to the ground, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you, while he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words... (Luke 24:1-8).

 

And he said to them, „These are the things which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms about me“. Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, „Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day“ (Luke 24:44-46).

 

Peter opened his mouth and said, „Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted with him. He sent a word to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. This man is Lord of all. You know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, and how they killed him, hanging him on a tree. This man God raised up on the third day…“ (Acts 10:34-40).

 

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

 

It is interesting that other texts say that JESUS rose again after three days. We see this in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as in three places in the Gospel of Mark, translated from Greek.

 

On the day following the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying, „Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people, ‘He is risen from the dead.’ And the last deception will be worse than the first“ (Matthew 27:62-64).

 

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 on the third day rise again (after three days rise again – translation from Greek). And he spoke of these things openly (Mark 8:31-32).

 

For he taught his disciples and said to them, „The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and after he has been killed, he will rise again on the third day“. But they did not understand these words, and they were afraid to ask him (Mark 9:31-32).

 

And as they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, Jesus went before them: and they were afraid, and following him were afraid. And he called the twelve unto him, and began again to tell them of the things which should happen unto him: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem: and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes: and they shall condemn him to death: and they shall deliver him unto the Gentiles: and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and spit upon him, and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again (after three days he shall rise again – translation from the Greek) (Mark 10:32-34).

 

We also read the words of CHRIST HIMSELF that HE will remain in the bowels of the earth for THREE days and THREE nights. „Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said, „Teacher, we would like to see a sign from You“. But He answered and said to them, „An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights“ (Matthew 12:38-40).

 

We see the fulfillment of this word in the first epistle of Peter. „For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit: by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, even to those who were once disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared: in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water“ (1 Peter 3:18-20).

 

When we read the Bible carefully, we will see that the day on which Jesus was crucified was Friday.

 

And when evening had now come (for it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a celebrated member of the council, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus (Mark 15:42-43).

 

Then a certain man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and true man, who had not taken part in their council or in their cause, from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also was waiting for the kingdom of God, came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no man had ever been laid before. That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing on (Luke 23:50-54).

 

Now it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, Behold your King! (John 19:14).

 

But since it was the preparation day, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away (John 19:31).

 

So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen clothes with the spices, as the Jews are accustomed to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. They laid Jesus there because of the Jews' preparation day, for the tomb was near (John 19:40-42).

 

If it was Friday, and on the first day of the week the tomb was already empty, then where are the three days and three nights?

 

In the Gospel of Luke we read about two disciples who were walking to Emmaus and talking about these events that had happened. JESUS went with them, and in the course of their conversation, when they were complaining about their hopes not being fulfilled, HE told them that everything written in the Scriptures must be fulfilled. „And He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you, that everything written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms about Me must be fulfilled.' Then He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. And He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day'“ (Luke 24:44-46).

 

People are looking for answers to the questions of when JESUS died and when he rose again in the New Testament, but JESUS said that what had ALREADY been written about HIM must be fulfilled. That is where the answers to these questions are – in the Law of Moses, in the prophets and in the psalms, and not in the New Testament, because his New Testament did not even exist then.

 

Addressing those two disciples, Jesus said, „Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself“ (Luke 24:25-27).

 

In John 19:14,31,42 – in the Synodal translation it is written like this: Then it was the day of preparation before the Passover... but in the translation from Greek it is written that it was the day of PREPARATION, and not Friday! And in other translations – the day of preparation before the Passover! Only in the Russian translation it is Friday!

 

In ancient times, there were no concepts of „days of the week“, days did not have their own names. Days were designated simply by numbers, and only one single day had a name, and it was Saturday! For example, in Acts 10:30 it is written: „Cornelius said, „Four days ago I fasted...“. Since Saturday was the seventh day from the creation of the world (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11), then the fourth day was Wednesday according to our calendar now, but then this day only had a number, there was no name „Wednesday“. And the days before Saturdays and before holidays were called – days of preparation for the holidays!

 

First, let's take a closer look at the Passover holiday, because Jesus suffered on this day. Does the Bible tell us about the day of the Passover celebration? Yes! It is written about it many times in the Scriptures, beginning with the book of Exodus, where we first see the command of the LORD to sacrifice the Passover lamb and to anoint the doorposts with its blood, so that the destroying angel could not enter the houses of God's people and strike them with death.

 

These are the feasts of the Lord, holy assemblies which you shall proclaim at their times: in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord's Passover. (Leviticus 23:4-5) Therefore, when and on what day to celebrate the Passover – GOD has determined and called this decree eternal and unchangeable! This is the 14th day of the first month – Abib. And what calendar did people use then?

 

In the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, we see that GOD established two great luminaries – the Sun and the Moon. The Moon was designated not only for illumination at night, but also for SIGNS, TIMES, DAYS and YEARS. „He made the moon to mark the times; the sun knows its going down“ (Psalm 104:19). „And the moon is to all in her season a sign of the times, and a sign of the age: from the moon is the sign of the feast; her light wanes when she is full; the month is called by her name; she grows wondrously in her change“ (Sirach 43:6-8). Therefore, by the command of God, the holidays are determined by the moon. Also, by the determination of GOD, the day begins in the evening and ends in the evening – sunset. „And there was evening and there was morning, the first day“ (Genesis 1: 5), etc.

 

We know that our Passover is the slain Christ. Therefore, Christ, as the Passover Lamb, had to suffer exactly on the day appointed by God and this date must coincide with the Passover holiday. The Lord commanded: observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover of the Lord on the 14th day in the evening and nothing shall remain until the morning (Deuteronomy 16:1-9. Exodus 12:6-20). On the fourteenth day the lamb was slain... Then verse 14 says: this day shall be remembered, it is a statute forever in your generations. Therefore, the Passover week goes from the 14th to the 21st day of the first month of Abib according to the lunar calendar (Exodus 12:18).

 

Important: EASTER IS CELEBRATED on a specific day, established by GOD HIMSELF, regardless of what day of the week it falls on our calendar.

 

For the first day of Passover, GOD gives the same command as for the calendar day of Saturday – do not do any work! In the Bible we also read that the day that fell on a holiday, but was not a calendar Saturday, was called „Saturday“. That is, not only calendar days are called Saturdays, but also holidays on which GOD gave a decree not to do any work, and the day before Passover was called „the day of preparation“.

 

These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their times: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work. And seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work (Leviticus 23:4-8).

 

Now let us read a very interesting passage of Scripture, since in it we see the fulfillment of the prophecy: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease: and upon the wing [of the sanctuary] shall be the abomination that maketh desolate: and the final destruction that is determined shall come upon the desolator“ (Daniel 9:27).

 

And let's pay attention to three important points:

 

1) ...the covenant for many is one week...

2) ...in the middle of the week the sacrifice will cease...

3) ...and the final, predestined destruction will befall the devastater...

 

Pay attention to these words – „The covenant for many is one week“. And then it is written for a specific time – „in the middle of the week the sacrifice will cease“. How to understand this correctly? Why will the sacrifice cease at this exact time – in the middle of the week? If a week is a week, then what day will be exactly in the middle? Saturday is the seventh day as it is written in the Bible, and the day of the sun (only in Russian it is Sunday, in other languages it is the day of the sun) is the first day. The day on which Jesus was crucified was Wednesday. When was this prophecy fulfilled? When Jesus died! With His death, the curtain in the temple, separating GOD and man, was torn. „Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many“ (Matthew 27:50-53). After the veil which separated the holy from the holy of holies was torn, then access to GOD became open, and the rite of animal sacrifice lost its meaning and in connection with this lost its power!

 

And in the book of Revelation we see confirmation of these words of prophecy – „the final predetermined destruction will befall the desolator“. „And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. Then the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast out, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them! Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time“ (Revelation 12:7-12).

 

From all that has been read, one can conclude that when the blood of Jesus was shed, the devil suffered a crushing defeat and was thrown to the earth.

 

Is there a place in the Bible where it says when Jesus should rise again? Yes!!! If we look at the translations of the Bible from Old Church Slavonic, English and Hebrew languages of Psalm 131 and verse 8, it says: „Arise, Lord, in Your rest“. In other words, we can say this: „Arise, LORD, on Saturday!“.

 

After all, it is the day of rest that the LORD calls the SABBATH! And if you read Mark 16:9 translated from Greek, it says: „And he rose early in the morning on the first day of the Sabbath“ (the first Sabbath after Easter). And this is nothing other than the fulfillment of what is written in the psalm! Look at these two translations. This is a translation from Greek (the New Testament is written in Greek). The other translation is from the old Bible in the Slavic language.

 

Therefore, the word was fulfilled as it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah 42:21: „It pleased the Lord, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify and make honorable the law“.

 

Passover in the year of Jesus' death was on Thursday... (based on Daniel 9:27, the sacrifice ceased in the middle of the week, and Jesus suffered before the Passover holiday) the middle of the week (a week is seven days) is Wednesday. It divided the week in half. 1, 2, 3... WEDNESDAY... 5, 6, 7 (Saturday). Right on Wednesday the sacrifice stopped and the veil in the temple was torn! So Jesus died on Wednesday (according to our calendar).

 

Now we can do the calculations: WEDNESDAY – THURSDAY – one day... THURSDAY – FRIDAY – second day... FRIDAY – SATURDAY – third day... three days and three nights... or 72 hours! Since Jesus died before sundown, he was also resurrected before sundown on Saturday!

 

Reading Matthew 28:5-6; Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:4-6 in the Greek we see that the angel said to the women, He was raised. Resurrected is past tense.

 

Let's look carefully at two more places in the Bible, „That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath was near. And the women that came with Jesus from Galilee followed him, and saw the sepulchre, and how his body was laid: and when they were come again, they prepared spices and ointment, and rested on the sabbath day according to the commandment“ (Luke 23:54-56).

 

And the second place, „When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Him“ (Mark 16:1). These two places seemingly contradict each other, don't they? But the events occur between two Sabbaths, that is, days of rest, which are called Sabbaths by the LORD's definition. One was the Passover (Thursday according to our calendar), which in Leviticus 23:7 is called the Sabbath, since all work is forbidden, and the other was a holy day, a weekly Sabbath, or the seventh day of the week.

 

Then Easter was on a Thursday on our calendar (Easter by God's command was always celebrated on a date no matter what day of the week it was, and in the year of Jesus' death it was on a Thursday).

 

1) WEDNESDAY – Jesus was crucified before the feast of Easter – this is Wednesday (according to our calendar)... Easter was approaching... (this was Thursday on our calendar) and the women no longer had time to prepare ointments on this day (according to God's establishment the day begins in the evening and all work stops after the noon meal before the feast). (Wednesday through Thursday is the first day).

 

2) THURSDAY – the first day of the feast of Easter... it was like Saturday, all work was forbidden... (Thursday – Friday is the second day).

 

3) FRIDAY (according to our calendar) – prepare ointment... and remain in peace on the Sabbath according to the commandment... (Friday – Saturday is the third day).

 

Remember the words of CHRIST, „...destroy this temple (the temple of the body of CHRIST)...and in three days I will raise it up. „Then the Jews said, „What sign do you show us that you have authority to do these things?“. Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews answered, „This temple is forty-six years in the making, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?“. Now he was talking about the temple of his body. When he rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

 

But how are we to understand this passage of Scripture, „But we believed that it was He who should redeem Israel; but besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened“ (Luke 24:21).

 

For the Jews, the day began in the evening, and since JESUS suffered on Passover, which was on Thursday in the year of Jesus' death, they no longer considered Wednesday a day. Easter Thursday on our calendar was the day of beginning! Friday was the first day (from Thursday). Saturday was the second day. Sunday, the day they went to Emmaus - the third day. Therefore, the day of JESUS' resurrection is SATURDAY, and the first day of the week (Sunday - only the Russian translation calls it the first day of the week, other translations call it the day of the sun), is the day of the apparent empty tomb – because Jesus rose a day early!!!

 

The bottom line: JESUS RISES ON SATURDAY!

 

So let us celebrate the true day of Jesus' resurrection from the dead - SATURDAY, remembering also that it is this day that God has sanctified and blessed since the creation of the world. And after God led his people out of Egypt, God himself spoke all 10 commandments out loud to all the people and then wrote them with his own hand on the tablets of the covenant.

 

Jesus once said these words, „Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets...“ (Matthew 5:17). Why do people think this way now? Where did God do away with Sabbath keeping, does the Bible write about it? And another very important question, „On what basis do almost all Christians celebrate the first day of the week instead of the Sabbath, a day holy and blessed by God?“.