Most professing christians today believe that Jesus was crucified on what is called Good Friday. However, this is simply not true for several reasons.
Let's look at what His Word says.
Let's look at what His Word says.
First off, the timing is wrong.
Messiah Himself told the Pharisees and Sadduccees that He would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights (Matthew 12:40). The Greek word for 'day' is 'hemera' which simply means 'the time between dawn and dark' and can mean 'an age'. Clearly from the context Messiah was speaking of a literal day. The same holds true for the word night. So 3 days and 3 nights would be just that. The first problem with the Good Friday idea is that you cannot get 3 days AND 3 nights with that scenario. If that were the case He would have been laid in the tomb on "Friday" night and it would have been followed by "Saturday" day, "Saturday" night, "Sunday" day (if we could even count that one). That's only 2 days and 2 nights. So clearly there is no getting 3 days and 3 nights out of that.
Messiah Himself told the Pharisees and Sadduccees that He would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights (Matthew 12:40). The Greek word for 'day' is 'hemera' which simply means 'the time between dawn and dark' and can mean 'an age'. Clearly from the context Messiah was speaking of a literal day. The same holds true for the word night. So 3 days and 3 nights would be just that. The first problem with the Good Friday idea is that you cannot get 3 days AND 3 nights with that scenario. If that were the case He would have been laid in the tomb on "Friday" night and it would have been followed by "Saturday" day, "Saturday" night, "Sunday" day (if we could even count that one). That's only 2 days and 2 nights. So clearly there is no getting 3 days and 3 nights out of that.
Which Sabbath?
One area of confusion is the fact that the day of our Savior's crucifixion is mentioned as a Preparation day and the next day would be the Sabbath. Many take that to mean the weekly, seventh day Sabbath, however, that is not the case. We have to look at the fact that Messiah was killed on Passover. Passover was the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. That feast BEGINS with a special Sabbath. The Passover was considered the preparation day for the feast of Unleavened Bread. Read Leviticus 23 to see more on these feasts. So the Sabbath in question is actually the first day of Unleavened Bread and not the weekly, seventh day Sabbath. If it was the weekly Sabbath then yes, we could possibly say it was the 6th day (what the world calls Friday) that Messiah was killed on, but it clearly was not.
What Day Did He Rise?
An easy way to determine what day He died on is to count back 3 days and 3 nights from the day He rose from the grave. We can see from the Scriptural record that He rose very early on the first day of the week. This is where it's so important for us to understand our Creator's mode of time. According to Yahuweh's time a day begins at sunset (evening). This is seen right from the very beginning of time in the creation week in Genesis 1. "And there was evening, and there was morning, the [number] day". So the start of the first day begins at sundown after the weekly Sabbath draws to a close. Whether Messiah resurrected at the very end of the Sabbath or the very beginning of the first day isn't quite clear to me yet, but regardless, it does not appear that He arose in the morning of the first day. Rather, He rose at the beginning of the first day (the evening of the Sabbath).
So counting back from that first day we arrive at the 4th day of the week (what the world calls Wednesday).
So counting back from that first day we arrive at the 4th day of the week (what the world calls Wednesday).
Adding It Up
So Messiah was in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. The qualifier is the 3 nights. There is no reason to mention them if He was not referring to a 72 hour period. Yes, you could get 3 days out of "friday, saturday, and sunday" but not 3 nights. It is impossible. You would only get two at the most ("friday night and saturday night").
He was impaled and buried on the Preparation Day before the Sabbath, and we know that it was the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread...not the weekly Sabbath. He rose from the dead at the end of the weekly Sabbath/beginning of the first day.
All this points to a mid-week crucifixion; NOT a 6th day (Friday) death. Good Friday is false.
He was impaled and buried on the Preparation Day before the Sabbath, and we know that it was the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread...not the weekly Sabbath. He rose from the dead at the end of the weekly Sabbath/beginning of the first day.
All this points to a mid-week crucifixion; NOT a 6th day (Friday) death. Good Friday is false.
Adonis and Good Friday
There is some believed association with the god Adonis and what would be called Black Friday. It was believed that this Adonis died and was immersed in the ocean on the day of Mourning, on the day of Chara (Charfreitag is Good Friday; Chara means mourning). He then resurrected from the dead! Clearly Satan has perverted the truth of YHVH's plan throughout time, and if we look closely enough we can see those things which oppose His Word compared to that which is in line with the whole truth. Yahushua Messiah did not die on "Good Friday" as is believed the god Adonis did. No, rather He died on Passover which was the perfect picture of YHVHs redemptive plan for mankind as foreshadowed in the lamb...pointing to the true Lamb.
It is quite clear that our Savior died on Passover, on the 4th day of the week and rose at the end of Sabbath/beginning of the first day. There was no "Friday" death for our Messiah, and though His death was good for us there is nothing "good" in the nullification of His feasts in the modern church today. The goodness of our Shepherd is that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!