If Jesus had been Crucified on Hebrew Friday, and died in the Ninth Hour, meaning 3 pm, when sunset was before 6 pm at that time of year, there would have been too many time consuming things for Joseph to do before sunset when the Sabbath would have begun. Jewish law was that it was a mortal sin to do ANY work on the Sabbath. Even such a simple thing as picking up a writing pen was considered to be "work" and therefore sinful on the Sabbath. Neither Joseph nor anyone else would have dared carry the Body, carry all the burial cloths and other materials, or even sell him such materials, so close to the Sabbath beginning. Jesus was therefore almost certainly actually Crucified on Hebrew Thursday, and then placed in the tomb after sunset, in other words, on Hebrew Friday.
Actually, even a superficial look at Mark 15 proves this! Mark 15:34-37 confirms that Jesus was alive in the ninth hour (3 pm). Mark 15:42 indicates that the sun has set, which begins the next official Hebrew day. The KJAV is actually more accurate on this than the NIV, in that the Greek word ede (now) is translated "has become, already, even now, by this time". It even says that THIS new day was the day before the Sabbath. Mark 15:43 says that Joseph of Arimathaea then went into Pilate, and then all the rest. These Scriptures actually prove that the Crucifixion had to occur on Thursday, but that the Lord was Interred at the very beginning of Hebrew Friday.
This circumstance does NOT bring into doubt ANY of the Christian beliefs about Our Savior. It does not suggest that we should stop celebrating Good Friday. This potential confusion only arose around 1500 AD, when clocks were invented, and it became possible for people to accurately know when "mid night" occurred! Prior to that, sunset was the most accurate way of knowing when one day changed to the next! This discussion is presented here as merely an effort at establishing accurate and factual information about His Life and Death and Resurrection. It is CERTAINLY not meant to shake the Faith of any Christian. In contrast, we have long believed that accurate information about Our Lord can be of great value in STRENGTHENING or Faith!
That means that the procedures would have to have continued until after sunset. Actually, John 19:39 tells us that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, bringing the spices for the burial preparation. That means that the following day would have officially begun. That confirms that all the burial activity was not completed by sunset. If He actually died on Friday afternoon, these procedures would necessarily have continued on to the following day, the evening of the (beginning) Sabbath. The Sabbath Laws were extremely rigidly adhered to, since even the slightest failure regarding the extremely strict Sabbath Laws was considered a mortal sin (one of the Ten Commandments). That being the case, Joseph would certainly NOT chance defying the Sabbath Laws.
This means that it is an almost certainty that He was Crucified and Died on Hebrew Thursday afternoon, and that He was then placed in the Sepulchre on the evening of Hebrew Friday, shortly after it became Hebrew Friday. He arose on Sunday, the Third Day, after nearly all of Friday, all of Saturday, and about half of Sunday.
Since He was actually interred at the beginning of Hebrew Friday, it is understandable that Friday became associated with the Crucifixion. Since the development of modern clocks a few hundred years ago, society came to have an accurate way of identifying the moment of Midnight. Most societies chose to change to using Midnight as the moment of the change from one day to the next, mostly out of convenience, because most people were sleeping then and each wakeful period then represented one day for the majority of people.
This alteration on the understanding of when each day begins simplified daily life, but it had a consequence. This means that the evening hours (from sunset to midnight) are now considered to be part of a different day than in ancient times. This has caused an element of confusion that affected our understanding of that very important day in history.
For the fifteen hundred years prior to that change, it was correct and proper to honor Good Friday, since He was interred at the beginning of Hebrew Friday, and the rest of the civilized world understood the same day structure (beginning at sunset), so Good Friday became a firmly established tradition. When this alteration of the clock and calendar was instituted a few hundred years ago, those six hours (from sunset to midnight on the beginning of Hebrew Friday) became the LAST six hours of what we now call Thursday! However, the tradition of Good Friday already had around 1500 years of recognition behind it, and the recognition of it has remained on Friday.
There is really no reason to alter our present celebration of Good Friday, because it is as accurate a description as Thursday would have been. This discussion is not meant to be disruptive of our honoring His Gift to us, but rather a technical correction of precise facts.
Therefore hours accurately meant (modern) hours counted from 6 a.m. Jesus died at or after the ninth hour (mid afternoon - after 3 p.m.) Mark 15:34-37
Evening came (at twelfth hour, about 6 p.m.) Mark 15:42.
Hebrew days began at sunset, which is about 6 p.m. at this particular
time or year. In other words, the next day began.
At that time, the days of the week did not yet have individual names. They were referred to by their day number in the week, beginning with 1 representing what we now call Sunday.
If the crucifixion had been on 6-(Friday) (what we would now call Friday, then 7-(Sabbath) would be beginning right at Mark 15:42. No "work" would have been legally (or morally) done and no more than a half-mile of walking (a Sabbath day's Journey), without carrying ANYTHING, would have even been allowed. Pilate would never have authorized all the activity Joseph was about to accomplish, on the Sabbath. And Joseph would never have dared do any of it on the Sabbath.
Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body. Mark 15:43-45
This is likely to be near or AFTER sunset had come.
Pilate was somewhat surprised at how quickly Jesus had died. Mark 15:44 It was common for crucified individuals to hang for several days on the cross.
Joseph bought the linen; took Him down; and placed Him in the sepulchre. Mark 15:46
The time sequence, including the activities of Joseph, as related by Mark, almost certainly would have had to take parts of TWO Hebrew days to actually complete. This strongly suggests that Jesus was actually crucified on Day 5 (Thursday) or what we now call THURSDAY. The Sabbath day was Day 7. There was also occasional use of the Roman weekday names, which will be included here in parenthesis for reference.
The conventional Friday date for the crucifixion is impossible. Sunset occurred shortly after Jesus died (Mk 15:42). This would mean that the Sabbath had begun and no work was allowed. Even if we would try to interpret all of Joseph's activities (Mk 15:43-46) to be before sunset (Mk 15:42), there just isn't enough time. Since Jesus died after 3 p.m., less than 3 hours existed before the end of the day before the Sabbath. This would leave an impossibly short time sequence for Joseph to find Pilate; make his plea for Jesus' body; for Pilate to send a messenger for the centurion witness to confirm such; for Pilate to authorize Joseph to take the body; for Joseph to buy the linen; then get His body down; carry Him to the sepulchre; clean His wounds; wrap Him in the linen; place Him in the sepulchre; and arrange to roll the huge stone in front of the door; all before sunset! Keep in mind that the place of crucifixion and the location of Pilate (in the city) were NOT very near each other - - walking time must be included in the schedule. In the case of Joseph, this involves quite a few trips and many miles. Jerusalem has been destroyed so many times over the years that exact distances are not available, but certainly substantial distances applied. Additionally, the Sabbath rules were enforced remarkably thoroughly. As a possible affront to one of the Ten Commandments, an infringement of a Sabbath Law was considered a cardinal or mortal sin.
Sabbath laws forbid carrying ANYTHING heavier than a dried fig during the Sabbath. Every possible contingency was and is covered by the Sabbath laws. One was not even allowed to unintentionally cause someone ELSE to violate the laws. Most people would not mail a letter on Friday, since it might not be delivered until after the Sabbath began. That would mean the possibility of causing someone else to be doing work, carrying the letter, on the Sabbath. Most people wouldn't even mail a letter on Wednesday or Thursday on the outside chance that the letter was not delivered before the Sabbath began. Nothing was ever begun or even authorized to begin on a Friday afternoon. There is no possibility that Pilate would have encouraged or even allowed Joseph to try to beat the sunset in a rush to get so many activities accomplished in preparing and burying Jesus. No one would have sold the linen to Joseph late on a Friday afternoon, and he wouldn't have been allowed to carry the linen or the cleaning supplies or His body. Nicodemus would never have carried the spices 'by night' during the Sabbath. No one else could have legally (or morally) helped him, either.
Some people suggest that there was a rush to get Him down so He wasn't on the cross during the Sabbath. This does not agree with known procedures. Crucifixions were rather common (there are reports of 800 in one day!). The very thorough system of Jewish Law covered every detail of everything that could possibly happen. This included crucifixions. The crucified bodies were nearly always left on the cross (for days) until birds and roving animals took the remains. Dozens of detailed of Talmudic crucifixion laws existed which covered every conceivable possible occurrence, particularly regarding this decay and disassociation process. (There was even a provision where a matron could browse around during the days that criminals were on crosses and claim someone on a cross as a husband! Yev 16:3,15c) Very specific rules existed to ascertain the moment of death in a crucifixion. (Yev 16:3, et al) Rules existed regarding roving animals feeding from the body hanging on the cross (Yev 120b, et al), which was considered an indication that the crucifixion was completed. Extensive laws related to the procedure of divorcing someone on a cross, which necessarily considered the soundness of mind of the one being crucified (Tosef, Git 7:1, Git 70b). More legislation covered the subject of just when the blood became "impure." (Ohr 3:5, et al).
The laws covering just what is allowed to be done on the Sabbath are even (far) more comprehensive. Many hundreds of pages of intricate laws methodically cover every possible contingency. The automatic scale of the punishments for each were defined, and were generally very severe. No one of the day would have dared break any of those laws. Even if Joseph would have dared challenge the laws, the variety of others he would have needed help from (to sell, to carry, to move, etc.) would NEVER have helped him.
The conventional Friday date for the crucifixion is impossible. This would either makes Joseph do (and Pilate authorize) unlawful activity on the Sabbath (as in the sequence actually described by Mark), or (if the timeline is artificially modified) rush around in a frenzy, which would be extremely sacrilegious and downright blasphemous. Neither of these are even remotely possible under the circumstances.
Even if one somehow justifies interment activities on what we now call Friday night (trying to say Pilate felt bad and authorized the illegal work, for example), the 6-Friday crucifixion date then causes Him to be buried on 7-Sabbath and rise on the second day (1-Sunday), not the third.
A Thursday date for the crucifixion is the only logical date which actually allows the third day ascension that we all accept. Jesus was crucified on 5-(Thursday) and respectfully put in the sepulchre on 6-(Friday). This entombment may have occurred on what we now call Thursday evening or during the day on Friday. Since His entombment was on Preparation day (6-(Friday)), when the Marys found Him arisen at dawn on 1-(Sunday), that was the third day while He was in the sepulchre.
There is further biblical support for this view. The original Greek
for Mark 15:42 is usually interpreted:
And now when the even was come, because it was the Preparation,
that is, the day before the Sabbath,
but the word epei (Strong's # 1893) actually has a better
interpretation than "because", that of "for then"
or "thereupon", pointing out that the change of days had
occurred. Using this meaning, Mark 15:42 is:
And now when the even was come, for then it was the Preparation,
that is, the day before the Sabbath,
or, in modern terms:
And now that the sun sets, Preparation Day begins, that is,
the day before the Sabbath.
This is fully consistent with Mark (and the rest of the Bible).
Jesus body was definitely placed in the sepulchre on 6-(Friday.) It would seem that Hebrew 6-(Friday) (which started at sunset of what we call Thursday and ended at sunset Friday, and the day before 7-(Sabbath)) had established so much tradition (in the Middle Ages) that it was maintained as Friday when the clock technology came into existence. This change caused a slightly different translation of that Scripture which neglected the proper understanding of Mk 15:42 (that of the moment of the change of day) and the potentially confusing fact that the actual Crucifixion had occurred on 5 (Thursday). There is nothing wrong in celebrating Good Friday, but Good Thursday could be equally celebratable in our modern calendar.
The greatest difficulty from the point of view of the Jewish penal procedure is presented by the day and time of the execution. According to the Gospels, Jesus died on Friday, the eve of Sabbath. Yet on that day, in view of the approach of the Sabbath (or holiday), executions lasting until late in the afternoon were almost impossible (Sifre, ii. 221; Sanh. 35b; Mekilta to Wayaḳhel). The Synoptics do not agree with John on the date of the month. According to the latter he died on the 14th of Nisan, as though he were the paschal lamb; but executions were certainly not regular on the eve of a Jewish holiday. According to the Synoptics, the date of his death was the 15th of Nisan (first day of Passover), when again no execution could be held (Mishnah Sanh. iv. 1; and the commentaries: Yer. Sanh. ii. 3; Yer. Beẓ. v. 2; Ket. i. 1). This discrepancy has given rise to various attempts at rectification. That by Chwolson is the most ingenious, assuming that Jesus died on the 14th, and accounting for the error in Matthew by a mistranslation from the original Hebrew in Matt. xxvi. 17, due to the omission of the first character; see his "Das Letzte Passamahl Christi," p. 13). But even so, the whole artificial construction of the law regarding Passover when the 15th of Nisan was on Saturday, attempted by Chwolson, would not remove the difficulty of an execution occurring on Friday = eve of Sabbath and eve of holiday; and the body could not have been removed as late as the ninth hour (3 P. M.). Bodies of delinquents were not buried in private graves (Sanh. vi. 5), while that of Jesus was buried in a sepulcher belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. Besides this, penal jurisdiction had been taken from the Sanhedrin in capital cases "forty years before the fall of the Temple."
These facts show that the crucifixion of Jesus was an act of the Roman government. That it was customary to liberate one sentenced to death on account of the holiday season is not corroborated by Jewish sources. But many of the Jews suspected of Messianic ambitions had been nailed to the cross by Rome. The Messiah, "king of the Jews," was a rebel in the estimation of Rome, and rebels were crucified (Suetonius, "Vespas." 4; "Claudius," xxv.; Josephus, "Ant." xx. 5, § 1; 8, § 6; Acts v. 36, 37). The inscription on the cross of Jesus reveals the crime for which, according to Roman law, Jesus expired. He was a rebel. Tacitus ("Annales," 54, 59) reports therefore without comment the fact that Jesus was crucified. For Romans no amplification was necessary. Pontius Pilate's part in the tragedy as told in the Gospels is that of a wretched coward; but this does not agree with his character, as recorded elsewhere(see Süchrer, "Gesch." Index, s.v.). The other incidents in the New Testament report—the rending of the curtain, darkness (eclipse of the sun), the rising of the dead from their graves— are apocalyptic embellishments derived from Jewish Messianic eschatology. The so-called writs for the execution (see Mayer, "Die Rechte der Israeliten, Athener, und Römer," iii. 428, note 27) are spurious.
Kaufmann Kohler, Emil G. Hirsch
Jewish Encyclopedia
Bibliography
Ludwig Philipson, Haben die Juden Jesum Gekreuzigt? 2d ed., reprint, 1902;
Hirsch, The Crucifixion from the Jewish Point of View, Chicago, 1892;
Chwolson, Das Letzte Passamahl Christi, St. Petersburg, 1892;
works of Jewish historians, as Grätz, Jost, etc.;
Schürer, Gesch.; commentaries on the Gospels.
Carl Johnson
Pastor, A Christ Walk Church,
Physicist, Physics Degree from University of Chicago
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