Although the Bible is so easy to translate in the resurrection chapter (see Interlinear), six completely different opinions have nevertheless arisen as to when the resurrection of Jesus is supposed to have taken place because the respective church and state teachings have been placed above the Word of God. God did not cause this confusion, but it is the result of the fact that many do not want to accept the literal text in the Word of God because it speaks of the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath. Almost everyone rightly assumes that Jesus' crucifixion took place on the 14th of Nisan (preparation day) at the 3rd hour (9 am) and that He died at the 9th hour (3 pm). However, there is disagreement as to whether this day was a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. This also means that there are 4 possible resurrection days, namely Friday, Saturday, Sabbath and Sunday (which most people wish for). Everyone has heard of "Resurrection Sunday", but few know that for more than 1500 years until the Reformation there was almost no Bible in the whole world that told of the alleged resurrection of Jesus on a Sunday, because in almost all Bibles it was written that the women came to the tomb on the Sabbath or on Saturday (see Old Bibles), while at the same time Sunday was preached orally in the mainline churches. Throughout the centuries, knowledge of the biblical "Resurrection Sabbath" was only available to those Christians who did not follow church teachings, but rather the written word of God. From a biblical point of view, there can only be one day of resurrection and not several, of which every Christian can choose the one they want, depending on which translation they use and which church they belong to. The following illustrations show the different church opinions of Passion Week with the biblical (blue) and Roman (red) time divisions:
The Bible gives us two important figures, namely that Jesus preached in the temple at the age of 12 (Lk 2:41-42) at the Passover (i.e. in March/April) and that he began His public ministry around the age of 30 (Lk 3:21-23). There is no doubt that Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan (March/April) in the years between 30 and 34 AD (cf. Dan 9). We have thus narrowed down the year of Jesus' death, but when it comes to specifying the exact year, church-political wishes often play the biggest role, because many wish for Sunday and want to move the date to a year in which the 14th of Nisan fell on a Friday. Therefore, they do not take the statements of the evangelists literally, but want to reinterpret them in such a way that in the end a Sabbath is turned into a Sunday. It is only through the interpretations and interpretations that considerable differences of opinion and contradictions arise, the solution to which can only lie in the study of the genuine Greek original of the NT (see Interlinear).
Jesus said that His Sign of the Messiah for Israel and the world is that He will rise again after „3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth“ (Mt 12:38-40). His time in the tomb must therefore be „3 days and 3 nights“. In Israel, a day begun is considered the first day. This is still the case today in most countries of the world, because if, for example, a baby is born just a few minutes or even seconds before the change to another calendar day, this day is still considered the „first day“ of life (birthday). And if a person is buried on a certain day, that day is considered the „first day“ of their stay in the grave, even if the funeral was to take place shortly before sunset. But because many pastors do not want Jesus to have risen „on a Sabbath“ or „early on the first Sabbath“ (Mark 16:9), they have spread the terrible theory that our Lord Jesus Christ supposedly did not mean „3 days and 3 nights“, but only 1.5 days (from Friday evening to Sunday morning).
In doing so, He supposedly did not fulfill the sign of the Messiah, but only meant it symbolically. Instead, He supposedly rose from the dead on the weekly feast day of those who killed Him in order to transform this feast day of the Gentiles (Sunday) into a new feast day for Christians, while at the same time abolishing the day of God (Sabbath) and degrading it to a new preparation day for Sunday. God will not leave the spread of these false teachings unpunished, because Jesus was not mistaken and did not lie to us, but fulfilled the sign of the Messiah by rising from the dead after „3 days and 3 nights“ on His day (the Sabbath).
This is proven by the basic Greek text and many old Bible translations. Many old Catholic Bibles (manuscripts) even speak of the resurrection of Jesus „on a Saturday morning“. This is also the statement of the first Bible printed worldwide in a national language (Mentelin Bible 1466). For many centuries it was not even possible to find a Bible that reported the alleged resurrection of Jesus „on a Sunday“, because all biblical writings only spoke of the Sabbath or Saturday morning resurrection of Jesus. These are historical facts, easily proven by the many facsimiles of ancient Bibles. There is only one possibility that does not produce any biblical contradictions, namely the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath morning (Figure 3). According to the Jewish (or biblical) calendar, this corresponds to the same sequence of days during the Passover feast, which occurs approximately every third year (including 2020 and 2023). In the following text, the individual opinions of the churches are explained in more detail and refuted biblically.
When the first annual feast Sabbath (15th Nisan; Passover) falls on an ordinary weekly Sabbath, it is called the "double Sabbath". The Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Pentecostal and many Evangelical Churches assume that Jesus was crucified on "Good Friday" (before a double Sabbath) and His resurrection on "Easter Sunday". They favour the year 30 AD as the year of Jesus' death. At that time, according to the Jewish calendar (example), the 14th Nisan fell on a Wednesday. But since all of them cannot differentiate between the three days of preparation on the Passover feast and equate the preparation day before the feast Sabbath (15th Nisan) with a Friday, the day of death of Jesus (14th Nisan) is moved from Wednesday (5th April 30 AD) to Friday (7th April 30 AD). In Kathpedia we read: "He [Jesus] most likely died in the year 30 when the Passover fell on the Sabbath..." This means a double Sabbath when the 15th Nisan (annual Sabbath) falls on a weekly Sabbath. The Catholic Church apparently knows the year of Jesus' crucifixion, but it postpones the 14th Nisan from Wednesday to a Friday. However, only the astronomical data on the calculation of the beginning of the month (1st Nisan) give a clear answer, according to which the 14th Nisan fell on a Wednesday in the year 30 AD. Not only did the churches move the weekly holiday from the Sabbath to Sunday, but also some annual holidays, such as Palm Sunday (which was originally a Palm Sabbath) and Pentecost Sunday (which can fall on different days of the week in God's calendar). Instead, the Sabbath has been degraded or changed by the churches to Sunday. Therefore, many Christians mistakenly think that Sunday is the seventh day of the week, which is clearly wrong. Some even go so far as to quote the Ten Commandments (Ex 20), claiming that Sunday is meant to be the allegedly "new Christian Sabbath". Sunday is the first day of the week and does not begin at sunset, but in the middle of darkness (midnight) and ends there as well. With the 10 commandments only the 7th day of the week was meant, from and until sunset: The Sabbath day. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that Jesus supposedly died in 33 AD because the 14th of Nisan is said to have fallen on a Friday (April 1, 33 or according to other sources April 3, 33) in that year. They equate the preparation day for the High Sabbath mentioned in Jn 19:14 with Friday and think that Jesus was supposedly resurrected on a Sunday morning. This is wrong, because their own translation (KIT, Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures) proves quite clearly that Jehovah's Witnesses do not follow the basic text of the Bible on this point (because it speaks of "a Sabbath" morning), but follow the teachings of the Pope.
All these above mentioned churches all deny the "sign of the Messiah" and speak of allegedly symbolic and meaningless words of Jesus. But symbolically it is only for those who do not know the calendar of God. They all teach that Jesus supposedly abolished the holy holiday of his father (the Sabbath) and instead raised the biggest pagan holiday of His murderers to the new worldwide Christian holiday. What a terrible idea. However, the children of God believe Jesus and they know that He spoke the truth. All these churches have joined the Sun God doctrine. Everything is moving towards an ecumenism with a common day of worship and resurrection (Sunday). For them, the interpretation of the Bible in accordance with church doctrine is more important than the correct and literal translation of the Greek verses in the Resurrection chapter of the NT (see Interlinear). Therefore, they defend Sunday sanctification with all their might, even if this means twisting the words of Jesus and the evangelists. These many religions have one thing in common: the teaching that the women did NOT come to the tomb "on a Sabbath", but on a working day or the previous ancient holiday of the Gentiles, "on a new holy Sunday". But anyone who is familiar the Bible knows very well that Sunday, as the first day of the week, was a completely normal working day for the Jews and the first Christians (who were all originally from Judaism) and the Sunday was never holy and was never blessed. It was never a holiday, because the Bible teaches the resurrection of Jesus "on a Sabbath" or "on one of the Sabbaths" or even more precisely "on the first Sabbath" (Mk 16:9), namely the first of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost. The catholic church and even the evangelical churches, by spreading the fear of eternal hellfire, try to keep members with the official church teachings on the alleged Sunday resurrection and not to take the Bible literally. Anyone who questions the opinion of the priests/pastors and relies on the literal text of the Bible is excluded or treated like a seducer (heretic).
There is a wealth of literature that favours the year 30 AD as the year of Jesus' death, e.g. Richard L. Niswonger (New Testament History, 1992) and Gerd Theissen/Annette Merz (Der historische Jesus, 2001). Michael Hesemann (Jesus of Nazareth, 2009) thinks that Jesus' death took place in April of the year 30 AD. They all speak of a crucifixion on a Friday, because they cannot distinguish between the preparation days for the annual and weekly Sabbaths. In the week of the Passover festival, however, there are 3 Sabbaths and thus also 3 preparation days (see figure below):
There were also various self-proclaimed prophets and seers who gave the resurrection date to make themselves important and to impress the ignorant people. One of them is Ellen White (*1827; †1915). She received numerous extra-biblical visions and allegedly could even see Jesus with his disciples at full moon on the night before the crucifixion. She spoke of events that are not found in any Bible. She described herself as a "messenger of the Lord" who was supposed to spread these new revelations and new additions to the Bible. Ellen White was one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in 1863. She also spread the Catholic doctrine that Jesus did not fulfill the sign of the Messiah, but died on a Friday and supposedly rose on an Easter Sunday. A quote as an example:
"The spices with which the body of Jesus was to be anointed had been prepared on the day preceding the Sabbath [=Friday]. Early in the morning of the first day of the week [=Sunday morning], the Marys, with certain other women, went to the sepulcher to proceed with the work of embalming the body of the Saviour... Christ rested in the tomb on the Sabbath day, and when holy beings of both Heaven and earth were astir on the morning of the first day of the week, he rose from the grave to renew his work of teaching his disciples. But this fact does not consecrate the first day of the week, and make it a Sabbath... On the sixth day [Friday] they had seen their Master die; upon the first day of the succeeding week [Sunday] they found themselves deprived of his body... The women who had stood by the cross of Christ waited and watched for the hours of the Sabbath to pass. On the first day of the week [=Sunday morning], very early, they made their way to the tomb, taking with them precious spices to anoint the Saviour's body... On the sixth day of the week [=Friday] they had seen their Master die; on the first day of the next week [=Sunday] they found themselves deprived of His body, and they were accused of having stolen it away for the sake of deceiving the people" (The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, by Ellen G. White, Chapter 14 and The Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White, Chapter 81-82).
Where did the vision come from, of which spirit that uplifts Sunday and erases Jesus' Messiah sign? After some unfulfilled prophecies and the illness of her husband, Ellen White concentrated in her old age on healthy food. Her additions to the Bible (despite God's warning in Rev 22:18-19) and her false information clearly reveal the direction her visions came from. They certainly did not come from God, because otherwise she would have proclaimed what the evangelists wrote seven times, namely that Jesus rose from the dead "on a Sabbath morning" (see Interlinear Bible). Like others before her, Ellen White also makes Jesus a liar, because she claims that he was not "three days and three nights" (Mt 12,38-40) in the tomb, and she also makes the entire New Testament a liar, because the Resurrection Sabbath mentioned seven times (Mt 28:1a; 1b; Mk 16:2,9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1,19) is reinterpreted by her as Resurrection Sunday. Thus, while the Seventh-day Adventists scrupulously keep the Sabbath and think that they are better Christians, at the same time they make Jesus a liar, since according to their teaching He was not "3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth". At the same time they support the cult of the sun god by stating that Jesus' resurrection was on the day of the old pagan god Sol, i.e. Sunday, and not on the day of Jesus (Sabbath) and His father. Thus they keep the Sabbath, but they actively support the Catholic Church and the Pope with his Sunday opinion and have a heavy complicity loaded on themselves because most Christians keep Sunday only because of the theory of the alleged Sunday resurrection of the Lord. Not only the visions of the resurrection day, but also other teachings of Ellen White are highly problematic and clearly contradict the Bible. It is inconceivable that so many people worldwide follow this false prophetess and her new prophecies and additions to the Bible and believe her more than Jesus. Some live in such fear that they even threaten "unforgivable sin" if anyone questions Ellen White's visions. Thus, they put the word of this woman before the word of the men of God (evangelists) and Jesus. Most Adventists do not know the calendar of God (Link) nor the basic Greek text (Link), they prefer to work with spreading fear to keep people in the church. However, Seventh-day Adventists are divided in their opinion about the crucifixion and resurrection day. Most teach the crucifixion on a Friday and the resurrection on Sunday in the year 31 A.D. But this year, Nisan 14th fell not on a Friday, as astronomical calculations of the phases of the moon prove, but either on Monday, March 26, or (if a leap month was inserted before that) on a Wednesday, April 25, 31 A.D. Both dates are far from the desired Friday. However, since the Seventh-day Adventists do not want to demage the reputation of Ellen White, they are reluctant to talk about this topic and think that it is alleged that today is not the exact day of the week at full moon in 31 AD. In their calculations, they base themselves on Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks and the 15th year of Tiberius, which in their opinion lead to the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in the year 27 AD and to his death in the year 31 AD. But there are also some groups within the Seventh-day Adventists who assume that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday or Thursday. According to this, the resurrection of Jesus would have taken place at the end of the Sabbath, so that the women would nevertheless come to the tomb on Sunday morning. But this teaching also elevates the day of the Sun-God (Sunday), for according to it Jesus did not appear to the people on the Sabbath (on His day), but only "on a Sunday" (on the day of the pagan sun God).
Some religious leaders of the Seventh-day Adventists, who do not want to question the spirit visions of Ellen White (alleged crucifixion on Friday, resurrection on Sunday) and who have a poor knowledge of ancient Greek, make it very simple for themselves; they have namely put forward the absurd theory, then "3 days and 3 nights" allegedly should not mean the duration of Jesus' stay in the grave, but the entire time of suffering, which began from Thursday night. This false doctrine is very easy to refute, because according to it it would be "3 nights [not 3 days] and 2 days" (the resurrection already took place before it became light), of which Jesus never spoke, and of a not exactly defined "time of suffering" not at all. What kind of sign is this supposed to be? To avoid these discussions and interpretations of the theologians from the beginning, Jesus additionally used the sign of Jonah and where was Jonah? Jonah was the "3 days and 3 nights" not beside the fish and also not on the fish, but IN the fish therefore IN the belly of the fish or as it says in the Greek text literally and exactly "IN the belly [body cavity] of the sea monster" (Mt 12:40). This is also what the Hebrew text says in Jonah 1:17: "And Jonah was in the belly. [literally: IN the internal organs, inward parts] of the fish 3 days and 3 nights." Likewise, Jesus was not to do anything on earth, but to be IN the burial cave, literally to be "IN the heart of the earth 3 days and 3 nights" (Mt 12:38-40). The Hebrew text in Jonah is even about "Sheol" (Jonah 2:2; Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27; 13:35), that is, the Greek "Hades", the abode of the dead, and not about a life on earth above "Sheol" or "Hades". What would this have to do with Jonah? Answer: nothing at all. "IN the heart of the earth" does not mean "above [or at or beside] the heart of the earth" nor does it mean "life on earth". Otherwise, the evangelists and all persecuted Christians would also be "in the heart of the earth" and what does this have to do with the sign of Jonah? Some Christians were much longer in prisons etc., but still were not "IN the heart of the earth" like Jonah, this would also have no relation to the resurrection as the most important sign at all. And there is a clear reference to Hades (the grave or more precisely the abode of the dead) and not to life on earth. This is again an example of how Adventists turn around the words of Jesus and the men of God (the evangelists) who wrote the NT just to believe the extra-biblical visions of a woman (Ellen White). The passage in Jonah 2:3 is translated in some Bibles as "in the heart of the sea." The basic Hebrew text speaks of the "deep" or the "heart interior" of the sea. In the Bible the water or the sea stands symbolically also for the peoples and nations (Rev 17:15; Isa 8:7; 17:12), but the Bible does not say that Jonah was only in the water and Jesus only among the people, but it is additionally about a clearly closed area: Jonah was not only in the sea ("in the heart of the sea"), but also more precisely "in the belly ["in the heart of the belly/fish"] of the fish [or sea monster]." Jonah did not cry out "out of the water" but "out of the belly [body, innards, organs] of the fish" (Jonah 2:1-2). In the same way, Jesus was also not only among the nations, but actually "in the heart of the earth." Psalm 71:20 prophetically states, "You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth [not "sea," not "nations," not "above the earth"] you will bring me up again." Once again, just as Jonah was "3 days and 3 nights" in a clearly enclosed area, namely in the belly (in the body cavity, in the innards, in the organs) of the fish or sea monster (or Sheol) and not in the water on or next to the fish, so too Jesus was to be in a clearly enclosed area, namely in the grave (in the burial cave or in "the heart of the earth", or Hades) and not walking around on the earth. Otherwise, the sign and the comparison with Jonah makes no sense at all and can be interpreted to any number of days. See also the chapter "The Sign of the Messiah".
The Encyclopedia Britannica gives a clear statement that Jesus was born between 6-4 BC and died in 30 AD. Quote: "Jesus of Nazareth, born c. 6-4 bc, Bethlehem - died c. ad 30, Jerusalem." This opinion is also shared by Wikipedia in several articles and the Encyclopaedia Judaica ("JESUS, died 30 C.E., whom Christianity sees as its founder and object of faith..."). So these are all recognized sources and not information from sects or religious splinter groups. However, since the major Christian churches teach that Jesus died on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, the death of Jesus is dated to a Friday in the year 30 AD. But if one observes the astronomical foundations (full moons) or the Jewish calendar, one will find that the 14th Nisan in the year 30 AD did not fall on a Friday, but on a Wednesday. There is no doubt about that.
Colin J. Humphreys and W. G. Waddington (Dating the Crucifixion, 1983) of Oxford University published their reconstruction of the Jewish calendar and assumed, based on the Sunday Resurrection doctrine, that Jesus died on Friday, April 3, 33 CE. The same date was calculated by John Knight Fotheringham (The Evidence of Astronomy and Technical Chronology for the Date of the Crucifixion, 1934), Dr. Harold W. Hoehner (Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1973, 2002), the astronomers John Pratt (Newton's Date for the Crucifixion, 1991) and Bradley E. Schaefer (Lunar visibility and the crucifixion, 1990).
Roger Liebi (Der Messias im Tempel, 2003, pp. 283-288) and several brother congregations also follow the Catholic line completely. They assume that Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, in the year 32 AD (see Link). This is a false doctrine, since in reality Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday and resurrected after "3 days and 3 nights" (Mt 12:38-40) "on a Sabbath" (Mt 28:1, Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1.19), or "on the first Sabbath" (Mk 16:9), the first of the seven week Sabbaths until Pentecost. Liebi orientates himself by the modern Bible translations (Elberfelder Bibel, Luther 1984, ...), but not by the unadulterated Greek basic text, which can easily be translated into any language (see Interlinear Text).
Also Isaac Newton (*1642; †1727; Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, 1733) read in the resurrection chapter in the incorrect King James version that the women came to the tomb "on the first day of the week" (instead of "on one of the Sabbaths"). Therefore, from the beginning he too only looked for years in which the 14th Nisan fell on a Friday. So he inevitably had to come to a wrong conclusion. According to his own calculations, the 14th Nisan would have been in the years 30 (07 April), 33 (03 April) and 34 (23 April) n. Chr. on a Friday, whereby he favoured the latter specification. He excluded the years 31 (Wednesday, 28 March), and 32 (Monday, 14 April), because on them the Friday cannot fall on a 14th Nisan. Newton was certainly sincere. But since he did not check the basic Greek texts of the NT and considered the text of the King James Bible to be correct, he could not know that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sabbath morning, so he would have to be crucified on a Wednesday. So Newton was tempted to make incorrect calculations and influenced many Christians with his false Sunday resurrection doctrine.
In order that all Christians might also accept Sunday, which is not mentioned once in the entire Bible, the theologians have simply made the absurd assumption that the word "Sabbath" mentioned in the chapter on the resurrection in the Greek and Latin languages (Vulgate), which otherwise always means only the Sabbath, could also be translated as "Sunday" or "week" or "after the Sabbath" without any fixed rules. But this theory is in clear contradiction to the Bible, which is easy to prove: (1.) Jesus spoke of "3 days and 3 nights" (Mt 12:38-40), which he would be in the heart of the earth and not of 1.5 days. One cannot simply erase this passage from the Bible or twist it in such a way that it is supposedly meant only symbolically. Jesus is not a liar and he does not confuse us. His words are clear. The people who twist his words are liars. How else could Jesus have expressed it if he really meant "3 days and 3 nights"? Even if the resurrection of Jesus is generously accepted in the bright phase of Sunday, there is still a whole night missing. (2.) There are years when a High Sabbath (Passover, 15th Nisan) coincides with a weekly Sabbath, but in the year Jesus was crucified, this cannot possibly have been the case because it contradicts other biblical passages. Indeed, the women went shopping "AFTER the Sabbath" to prepare the ointments (Mk 16:1) and they rested on the following Sabbath (Lk 23:55-56), so there must be at least one working day between the feast and weekly Sabbath. (3) The prophesied midweek (Dan 9:26a and 27b) is ignored. (4) The "first Sabbath" mentioned by Mark (literally "early first Sabbath"; Mark 16:9) in the counting of the seven weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost is completely ignored by the theologians. Just as the world today counts the 4 Sundays of Advent to Christmas, so the Israelites counted the 7 Sabbaths to the feast of weeks (Shavuot, Pentecost). Just as there is the "first Sunday" in Advent until Christmas, there is also the "first Sabbath" until Pentecost. If there is a double Sabbath (as for example in the years 2019, 2022), then it is impossible to count it as the first of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost. In this case the "first Sabbath" until Pentecost follows a whole week later. Anyone who looks at the Jewish calendar can see this for himself in the shortest possible time. (5) The day of Jesus' resurrection is named by God with the number of perfection 7 times as "Sabbath" (Mt 28:1a; 28:1b; Mk 16:2,9; Lk 24:1; Joh 20:1,19). In contrast, the basic text does not mention "after the Sabbath", nor does it mention the corresponding Greek words for "week" or "Lord's day" or "Sunday". These words were known to every Jew, every Gentile and every Christian at the time the NT was written, and the Greek "week" (εβδομαδα; hebdomana, literally: a seveness = a period of seven) is even mentioned in the first Old Testament translation of the Bible (Septuagint), which was made 200 years before Jesus' birth. Also in the writings of Flavius Josephus, who lived at the same time and in the same region as the evangelists, we find the Greek "week" often and in various grammatical forms. So the evangelists could have written all these words in the NT if they had wanted to. However, anyone who claims that at that time there was no corresponding Greek word for "week", and that the evangelists were supposedly forced to paraphrase it with "Sabbath", is demonstrably lying to the children of God.
It is really very easy to prove biblically that this alleged Sunday resurrection of Jesus can never be true. It is an invention of people for whom the "Day of the Lord Sol [Sun God]" (Sunday) is more important than the "Day of God /Jesus" (Sabbath). If God had meant Sunday, then he would have said it in the Bible. There are many possibilities (examples) for this in Greek. Instead, in the chapter on the resurrection he clearly named the Sabbath exactly 7 times, so that there would be no misunderstandings among Jews and Christians, so that people would not even be able to come to a Sunday idea. But the theologians prefer to invent excuses and want us to erase the Sabbath mentioned in the Bible and accept a new day (Sunday) that is not mentioned once in the entire Bible. God has also never determined the shift of the weekly day of rest from the last day of the week to the first day of the week, which moreover does not yet begin at sunset, but at midnight, that is to say, follows a completely different pagan (Roman) and later Catholic (Gregorian) calendar. So the mention of today's week-day names in Bible translation is always wrong (the Sabbath is not a Saturday either). People today do not orient themselves according to the calendar of the Bible, but to the division of days and hours of those who crucified our Lord Jesus brutally. That is why most Christians do not even know what the evangelists meant by the phrases "on one of the Sabbaths" (every year on the Passover feast there are three Sabbaths with three days of preparation) and "on the first Sabbath" (the first of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost) and they interpret it completely wrongly as "on the first day of the week" or "on a Sunday". There was no "Resurrection Sunday" because there was a "Resurrection Sabbath"
Very disappointing is the situation of the Messianic churches (Christians of Jewish origin). Although they know the calendar of God, and have often experienced the same sequence of days at Passover, such as the year in which Jesus died, they are still unable to reveal the Resurrection Sabbath to other people. Instead, many defend "Resurrection Sunday" because they find it in the flawed King James Bible. Even Amir Tsarfati (BeholdIsrael), a teacher from Israel, believes in the alleged crucifixion of Jesus on Friday and the resurrection "on the first Sunday after Passover, the resurrection Sunday". His organization often gives unkind answers, appeals only to the King James translation, and wants to know nothing of the basic Greek text. When asked about the "3 days and 3 nights", Amir Tsarfati quickly deviates from the theme and the answer is merely that the day of crucifixion and resurrection is not important, we should focus on the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. This is wrong, this is only said by people who cannot understand Jesus' words or who wish for Sunday. It was very important for God to make this day known to the church. That is why God named the resurrection Sabbath (not Sunday) seven times in the resurrection chapter. How can these people be so blind when they know the calendar and yet do not recognize the "3 days and 3 nights" of Passover (e.g. 2020, 2023)? So even the Messianic Jews deny the sign of the Messiah, because they only read the modern Bible translations and because they do not take seriously those who point out the Sabbath in the basic Greek text and do not want to check anything in the Greek text themselves. The Christians of Berea were different; "they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Many Messianic Jews do this only partially; therefore they remain with the old state of catholic knowledge and indirectly support the teachings of the catholic church and the Pope with his unbiblical Sunday doctrine and his Gregorian calendar.
The years 2021-2023 reveal many mistakes of the churches: Unfortunately, there are many pastors who want to defend with all their might the alleged Resurrection Sunday and the unbiblical Catholic calendar of the Pope (the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, *1502; †1585). They reject the calendar of God mentioned in the Bible or do not know it at all. Thus they cannot possibly understand the statements of the evangelists in the resurrection chapter (see Interlinear). Disappointing is the behaviour among Baptists and pastors of Evangelical churches who claim to be closer to the Word of God than others. All reject the sign of the Messiah (see Link) or reinterpret Jesus' words. Pastor J.D. Farag (Calvary Chapel Kaneohe Hawaii; see video) deletes all uncomfortable questions and comments on You Tube. So does the well-known pastor Tim Henderson (video), who can give good sermons on other topics, but only follows the Pope's calendar and the Catholic feast days (Christmas, Easter Sunday). He refuses all questions on this topic, because he knows very well that he has no chance to stand a discussion based only on the Bible. Just in the year 2021, the mistakes of these pastors have become clear, because Easter Sunday in 2021 fell on the 21st of Nisan (Sunday, April 4) according to God's calendar. So all these pastors and their churches slept through the true day of Jesus' resurrection, the 17th of Nisan (Wednesday, April 31). They are too late because Nisan 21 is the last day of Passover and the end of the seven (7) Days of Unleavened Bread; from 15th to 21st Nisan). According to tradition, the 21st of Nisan was the day when the Israelites passed through the Red Sea and the Egyptians were judged by God and perished in the sea. So it was a special feast day for the people to remember and to assemble before God. Most pastors prefer the Catholic feast days and have little interest in God's timing because it can put them in uncomfortable situations. The Catholic feast days are the easier way. Amir Tsarfati from Israel openly admits that he does not know whether Jesus was crucified on a Thursday or Friday (see video from minute 31), but he thinks that Jesus was supposedly resurrected on a Sunday morning, which was supposed to start in a few hours after video recording, i.e. on the 21st of Nisan. So it is not about the 17th of Nisan. According to this, Jesus would have had to lie in the grave for a whole week because He died on the 14th of Nisan, if his resurrection is only celebrated on the 21st of Nisan. Here it becomes clear how absurd all this is. The fact is: the evangelists wrote the NT according to God's calendar and not according to the calendar of the Romans and the Catholic popes. Those who take the Word of God literally know exactly when Jesus died and rose again, for Jesus and the Bible speak of the resurrection Sabbath seven (7) times (see Interlinear). In contrast, the King James Bible erases this "Sabbath" (singular and plural genitive) and replaces it with Sunday (see English Prints-1). Pastor Sandy Armstrong (Soldiers For Christ Community Church; video) even spreads the horrible doctrine that Adam and Eve were supposedly not created on the sixth day, but on a Sunday, the so-called "eighth day". In this way he wants to upgrade the Catholic Sunday even further, from the first of the week (as God said) to the eighth day.
Unfortunately, some Jewish scholars have also fallen into the Sunday trap. So did the well-known Friedrich Weinreb (b.1910; d. 1988, Wikipedia), a Jewish Hasidic storyteller and writer who followed the Hasidic tradition and the Kabbalah. Despite his Jewish background, he often used the completely unbiblical words „Christmas,“ „Good Week,“ „Good Friday“ (alleged day of death), „Easter Night,“ and „Easter Sunday“ (alleged day of resurrection). Weinreb often mentioned the unbiblical word „Easter“ (instead of the biblical Passover) and thought that Passover and Easter were the same in essence. This is completely false, because Easter does NOT follow God's calendar, but the Pope's calendar. And the many Easter symbols (Easter eggs, Easter bunny...) are ancient pagan symbols and have nothing at all to do with the symbols of the Bible, just as Jesus has nothing to do with Easter, but only with the Passover feast, which is celebrated every year on different days. Friedrich Weinreb gives a lot of correct information with Jewish background. This makes it difficult especially for many Christians to see his mistakes and they do not realize that he leads them away from the biblical calendar of God and the biblical resurrection Sabbath of Jesus to the human traditions of the Catholics. Weinreb also denies the sign of the Messiah („3 days and 3 nights“) and interprets Friday, Saturday and Sunday as the „3 days“. Completely wrong, because exactly to avoid these discussions in Christianity from the beginning, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, spoke not only of 3 days, but of „3 days and 3 nights“ (Mt 12:38-40) that is a crystal clear statement. And if Weinreb doesn't count the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost that are found in every biblical and Jewish calendar, then he doesn't know why Mark refers to the time of Jesus' resurrection as „early on the first Sabbath“ (Mk 16:9). It really doesn't get any clearer than that. Who should we believe more, Weinreb or Jesus?
It is so sad to see how pastors want to reinterpret the Word of God and hide the calendar of God from the Church. We do not say this to badmouth others (previously all have blocked questions or comments on the resurrection Sabbath and God's calendar), but we must not be silent according to conscience to protect the "Bride of Christ" from false teachings (cf. Ezekiel 3:17-19). God said: "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them" (Eph 5:11). No one in the world will ever succeed in proving from the Bible that God wants us to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on the 21st Nisan or an other day and not on the day the resurrection took place, on the 17th of Nisan. The year 2021 has exposed the poor Bible knowledge of many who favour church doctrines, the teachings of men. Where does it say in the Bible that we should even celebrate the day of Jesus' resurrection every year on the day (Easter Sunday) that the Pope decides (and not God), which is what all the pastors mentioned above promote and support? And there is something else unbelievable, because some pastors openly call the Pope the "false prophet" or the "Antichrist" in their videos on You Tube; but on the other hand they want to celebrate the Catholic feast days of this very "Antichrist" (as some say), they defend his Catholic calendar (Gregorian calendar) and at the same time hide the calendar of God from the church? Here we can see how absurd and illogical all this is.
And the year 2023 is even more interesting, because the biblical and the Jewish calendar fell on the same days at Passover and the 14th of Nisan fell again on a Wednesday, as in the last year of Jesus' life, but which pastor teaches this in his church and who counts the 7 Sabbaths ordered by God until Pentecost, May 25/26, 2023? Almost all pastors keep their sheeps in a spiritual sleep.
Many pastors run away from the truth and not a single one has answered our question for years how he would translate from English into ancient Greek "on the one of the Sabbaths" (plural genitive) and "early on the first Sabbath" (singular genitive), because there is only one option for this, namely the one used by the evangelists in the NT. They know perfectly well that if they answered us with "te mia ton sabbaton" (Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1) and "proi prote Sabbtou" (Mk 16:9), then we could say, "yes, translated correctly, that's exactly what the Bible says, and now how are you going to turn this resurrection Sabbath into a supposed resurrection Sunday?" Everyone is afraid of this question. That's why they don't answer and prefer to defend their King James Bible with all their might, whose interpretation of the theologians, has already erased the hated "Jewish Sabbath" (see Bible passages). For this, the theologians had to put Sunday (first day of the week) and the word "Easter" (instead of "Passover") in the KJV, because otherwise no Christian would give a higher meaning to Sunday and Easter. But if "Sunday" and "Easter" are already in the Bible, then everything is easier and most Christians keep these days in sincere attitude and even defend them because they belong to their translations. These pastors prefer to take the safe and comfortable way and defend the teachings of the Pope by saying "it doesn't matter on which day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus". Really? Who has the right to say that and put themselves above God? Please show us from the Bible that God should not care if you reinterpret His words, make a supposed Resurrection Sunday out of His Resurrection Sabbath, and moreover deny the sign of the Messiah (see Link)? Where is it written in the Bible that God is pleased when you revaluate old pagan holidays? Those who truly love Jesus defend His Word and do not reinterpret it. For God, this issue is very important because He gave us His own biblical calendar (which most Pastors do not know) and God (not us) clearly named the Sabbath seven (7) times in the resurrection chapter so that no one would dare to make it a Sunday and seduce the children of God to other Catholic holidays that the ancient Greek Bible never knew. To avoid misunderstanding, knowledge of the biblical resurrection Sabbath does not mean that the New Testament Church must keep the Sabbath and the seven biblical holidays as the Jews do (for we are saved by the blood of Jesus); but it makes no sense to celebrate the pagan feast days instead, to replace the Word of God with religious traditions (Easter Sunday), and to abolish the calendar of God.
The fact is that most Christians celebrate Easter Sunday with a good intention (as we also used to do for decades, that's why we don't judge anyone but understand them) because they have been taught so by the pastors who promote the pope's calendar and hide God's calendar from the children of God, so that they cannot understand the very simple statements in the resurrection chapter of the NT (e.g. Mark 16:9). The pastors are doing the main blame and will have to bear the responsibility before God "for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (James 3:1). They deprive believers of the opportunity to know the truth and instead promote feast days that the Bible has never known. Jesus says to these pastors, "in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Mk 7:7). They celebrate the wrong feast days and at the wrong time than God intended because they obey the pope (with his own feast days, tradition and calendar) more.
Many pastors say "Happy Easter Sunday" and are not even aware of whom they are unknowingly giving glory to. So far, no one has been able to find in the basic Greek text of the NT a "Sunday" or the "first Sunday" of a series of seven Sundays until Pentecost, because the Bible speaks of the "first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) and counts from the Passover (whose Hebrew name is derived from "to pass over" or "to spare") and never from the Easter (whose Germanic name is derived from the love and fertility goddess Eostre, resp. previously derived from the Phoenician Astarte or Ostarte, who was often depicted with large breasts and corresponds to the Babylonian Ishtar). God, Jesus and the Hebrews count these Sabbaths after Passover, but the pope and most pastors prefer to count the Sundays after Easter. Who should we obey more, God or men? This spring festival was named after this goddess Eostre and not after Jesus; this is confirmed even in Wikipedia and many other sources. It' s not a secret.
The alleged Resurrection Sunday (Easter Sunday) was in reality a Resurrection Sabbath (Passover Sabbath), this is what the Bible says in the exact translation (Interlinear). As soon as Jesus returns to earth (after the 7 years of tribulation), there will be no more "Easter Sunday" for all eternity, because then only the calendar of the Bible (=the calendar of God) will be valid, which which has always been and is the calendar of Jesus Christ.
The uncomfortable truth is: All feasts of God are gatherings with God. He set the time, not the pope. And if people do not recognize God's calendar and do not want to listen to God, then they come either too early or too late to the assembly and thus celebrate only with themselves, but not together with God.
Some theologians believe that Jesus was crucified in a week in which two Sabbaths occurred in a row. So Jesus would have died on a Thursday, and then resurrected either on a Sabbath morning (but then a night is missing), at the end of the Sabbath (then a night is also missing) or "on the first day of the week" (between Saturday evening and Sunday morning). This theory is also very easy to refute.
There are years in which the weekly Sabbath appears before the feast Sabbath, but these years are eliminated because the Bible emphasizes that after the preparation day a great Sabbath (and not a small weekly Sabbath) followed. The Jewish calendar, which can be seen on many websites, shows that a weekly Sabbath can occur before the Feast Sabbath, but never immediately after the Feast Sabbath (15th Nisan). Thus the 16th Nisan is always a working day. But the calendar of God is an astronomical calendar (every month begins with the first visible crescent of the moon) and a weekly Sabbath can also fall on the 16th Nisan. So there may be years in which the annual Sabbath is followed by an High Sabbath. It is important to note that even if the yearly Sabbath (=High Sabbath) were to be followed by a weekly Sabbath, even then this year would be eliminated as the year of Jesus' death because the Messiah sign ("3 days and 3 nights") would not be fulfilled. For even if the calculation of the resurrection only took place after sunrise on 16 Nisan, a whole night would still be missing.
Those who wish for the resurrection on a Sunday (Figure 2.3) would have the "3 days and 3 nights", but even this theory is wrong, because the Bible emphasizes 7 times that the women came to the tomb "on one of the Sabbaths" (and not Sundays). Strictly speaking, it was "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) and not "the first Sunday" (as in Advent) in the counting of the 7 weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost. Also, the beloved "Good Friday" would be omitted and if the Catholic Church had to admit that Jesus was crucified on a Thursday, the confusion would be great in all churches. Then, according to Catholic tradition, no meat would be allowed to be eaten on any Thursday, whereas Friday would be a normal day. This theory is also ruled out from the beginning because at least one day must be between the two Sabbaths, for the Bible adds that women prepared the ointments after the yearly Sabbath but before the weekly Sabbath. If God had meant Sunday or the "first day of the week" or "after the Sabbath", then he had said so. Instead, he spoke of "one of the Sabbths" or the "first Sabbath. He could not have expressed himself more clearly.
The translator of the Concordant Bible A. E. Knoch (KNT 1939 and CLNT 1926 or CLV [Concordant Literal Version]) and other Christians of the Concordant Brethren movement knew that according to the biblical text Jesus rose from the dead on the morning of a weekly Sabbath. Knoch writes: "Our Lord was raised on a Sabbath morning" (Source: Das Geheimnis der Auferstehung, Konkordanter Verlag [Concordant Publishing Concern], p. 133). This makes them one of the few Christians on earth who take the Word of God seriously. The CLT is an excellent and highly recommended Bible translation, as well as the free Bible program ISA3 (see Scripture4All). But Knoch makes a mistake, because he comes into conflict with other passages such as Mk 16:1: "And when the sabbath was past, Mary... had bought sweet spices" (KJV), and then rested on the Sabbath (Lk 23,55-56). But if there are two Sabbaths in a row (and Jesus rose from the dead on the Sabbath), then there can be no working day in between for preparing ointments. Knoch tries to avoid the problem by translating Mk 16:1 as "and, for the elapsing of the sabbath" instead of "when the Sabbath was past". But this too is not logical, for at that time the women would certainly not go shopping. And what is even worse: the sign of the Messiah would then also be removed. Therefore Knoch writes: "Likewise, the Hebrew 'three days and three nights' is a popular saying that nobody took literally" (p. 136). This is completely wrong, for with this he argues just as the Catholic church wants to have its Sunday Resurrection, and does not take Jesus' word literally but reinterprets it. Then every person could interpret as he pleases. Many claim that Jesus allegedly made a meaningless statement in order to confuse us. What if Jesus meant it literally? What was Jesus actually talking about? He was NOT talking about a trivial matter, but about the greatest sign the world has ever seen, namely, his resurrection and ascension to the Father. This was therefore his "sign of the Messiah" and his legitimation as the Son of God, the Messiah and Lord of all lords. Jesus did not leave anyone unaware of how long he would be "in the heart of the earth", so that from the outset all disputes and discussions among Christians would not arise. All Jews and all Christians of the early church took this literally, for they all knew (in contrast to most Christians of today) the calendar of God. The women knew exactly when they should go to the grave. They came neither too early nor too late, but early on a Sabbath morning, as the Interlinear text proves. Jesus never spoke of 72 hours. But his stay in the tomb must have had at least a share of "three days and three nights", no more and no less.
Sir Robert Anderson (*1841; †1918; The coming prince, 1881) and Dave Hunt (*1926; †2013) said that Jesus was not crucified on a Friday, but on a Thursday (April 10, A.D. 32) and "after 3 days and 3 nights" resurrected on a Sunday. Their literature has influenced millions of Christians towards a positive attitude towards Sunday. Although both have done intensive historical research, they have not examined the more important basic Greek text of the New Testament more closely or misinterpreted it. For example, they could not know that the women came to the tomb on a Sabbath morning (and not on a Sunday morning). The first Bible translations in Latin (Vulgate), German, English, Spanish etc... all speak of the coming of the women "on a Sabbath". Anderson and Hunt did not take this into account, as they did not question the revised Bible translations and were guided by the inaccurate King James Bible.
Another proponent of the Catholic resurrection-Sunday theory is Avram Yehoshua. He writes in his writings, "According to Mark the Lord died on Thursday afternoon and was placed in the tomb on Thursday night, which is the beginning of Preparation Day". No, no, this is a false doctrine, because Mark never mentions "Thursday", as can be very easily proven in all the basic Greek texts. Since Avram does not know God's calendar, he also cannot understand why Mark uses the genitive plural "sabbaton" (σαββατων) in Mark 16:2. It is exactly the 100% same word that is also in the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11 in the Greek translation of the OT, which was made by the Jews themselves 200 years before Jesus was born. Yes, once again, in the 10 Commandments there is the 100% same word "Sabbath" (σαββατων) in the plural genitive case, which also appears in Mt 28:1, Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, John 20:19 and in many other biblical passages. It always means the "Sabbath" (the Bible interprets itself) and never "week" (εβδομαδα, ebdomada) or "Sunday" (ηλίου ημερα, heliou hemera), otherwise the Jews would have always kept Sunday. The lack of knowledge of Greek explains why Avram cannot distinguish between the ordinal and cardinal numbers (see one/first). Avram also cannot understand Mark's expression "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) because he does not know that every year exactly 7 Sabbaths are counted between Passover (Nisan 15) and Pentecost (see calendar and omer) and he thinks that this verse does not belong to the Bible at all. Yes it does, this verse does belong to the Bible (proofs) and why should it be a problem, especially since it does not contradict all the other verses in the NT? All the verses in the resurrection chapter ALWAYS speak of "the one Sabbath" (many also translated "first Sabbath" or "on the first of the Sabbaths) and never of "a Sunday" or a "first day of the week". Avram admits that he does not understand the ancient Greek language and is only guided by the translations. Thus, it is clear that he is not an authority to say a word on this subject, because he must naturally adopt the opinion of the translators. Therefore, he defends the opinion of the Catholic and evangelistic theologians, but he is not interested in the literal Word of God, as is clear from his writings. Thus, he chooses translations that fit his opinion. However, many historical Bibles speak of the resurrection of Jesus "on a Sabbath" or even "on a Saturday" morning. On the "sabbaton" (σαββατων) mentioned in the basic Greek text, Avram gives a disastrous comment: "Shabbat means 'week,' and not the 7th day Sabbath". These are extremely frustrating words that show how Avram is trying to seduce the Bride of Christ to make the biblical Shabbat an unbiblical Sunday (ηλίου ημερα), which was not mentioned once in the entire Bible. The truth is: when God says "Shabbat" (σαββατων), God means the "Sabbath" and not "week" (ebdomada). The word "Shabbat" is derived from "ceasing" and "resting," but the word "week" (hebdomada=sevenness) is derived from the number seven and means a series of seven days with the Sabbath as the last day of the week. If "Shabbat" means the "week", then from the sense it would mean 7 days of "rest", totally impossible. Both the "Sabbath" and the "week" have been clearly defined by God since creation, and no humble man of God equates the Sabbath with the week or Sunday. Every word in the Bible has its clear meaning and if God meant Sunday, He would have written it (see examples). A question that Avram can never answer in his life and that reveals his heresies: How then should God have written it in the NT if he really meant "Shabbat" (σαββατων) and not "week" (εβδομαδα, ebdomada) or "Sunday"? Answer: there is only one possibility for this, namely the one which is in the Bible. And if the English phrase "on the one of the Sabbaths" must be translated into ancient Greek as "τη μια των σαββατων" (te mia ton sabbaton), a new back translation into English cannot suddenly mean "after the Sabbath" (οπισω του σαββατου; μετα το σαββατο) or "on the first day of the week" (τη πρωτη ημερα της εβδομαδας) or "on Sunday" (τη ηλίου ημερα). Even Google Translator correctly translates "τη μια των σαββατων" as "on a Saturday" and not "on a Sunday" or "on the first day of the week" (see "μια των σαββατων"). Any child can understand this, except the theologians who want to steal the "Sabbath" mentioned 70 times in the NT from the Bible and replace it with "Sunday" 6 times. We defend the literal Word of God "without ifs or buts"; but Avram defends the Catholic teachings of the Pope who want to make the biblical Sabbath an unbiblical Sunday and replace the Word of God with the word of the Pope. Aganin, if God had meant Sunday, He could have written it very easily; there are about 25 possible phrases for this in ancient Greek (see chapter "no Sunday"). God speaks in the Bible 70 times (NT) of the "Sabbath", but the evil spirit world speaks of the "Sunday" and most people follow it and change the statements of the Bible, as if on God does not know what He says.
Only this illustration is in harmony with all biblical passages of the NT. It is unimportant from which hour or minute the first day is counted, since with the Jews a day that had begun is considered the first day (for comparison: the day of the birth of a child is considered the first day, regardless of the hour at which the baby was born). So the day of the burial also counts as the first day, regardless of how long a person was actually in the grave on that very day. Some people calculate the first day directly after Jesus' death at 3 pm, that is a whole 3 hours when Jesus' spirit was in the spiritual grave (Hades, or "Paradise" = whereabouts of the righteous dead). Others only mean the time after which Jesus' body was actually in the physical grave. The latter was nevertheless without doubt still on the preparation day, but no one can say exactly how long Jesus' body was in the visible rock tomb on the 14th of Nisan, because it was not important for God to tell us this, because it is always the day that has begun that counts.
Most scholars assume that Jesus was in the tomb for at least an hour on the 14th of Nisan, since all those involved in the burial had to go home and prepare for the High Feast Sabbath (15th of Nisan) so that they could eat the Passover. There is no need to argue about time, because even a few minutes would be enough to count this day as the first of the "3 days and 3 nights". Every detail mentioned by the evangelists corresponds exactly to the Bible. Jesus was "3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12:38-40), "as he said" (Mt 28:6). Jesus was condemned exactly in the middle of the week, in the morning. Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9 o'clock and died "in the middle of the week" (Dan 9:26a and 27b), on a Wednesday. The women went shopping after the High Feast Sabbath, prepared the ointments (Mark 16:1) and rested on the following weekly Sabbath (Luke 23:55-56). They came to the tomb on Sabbath morning, that is, "on one of the [three] Sabbaths" of the Passover feast. The Sabbath (and not the Sunday) is clearly mentioned 7 times in all passages of the basic Greek text (Mt 28:1a; 1b; Mark 16:2.9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1.19). An embalming of the dead on a weekly Sabbath was not forbidden. The women went to the tomb in darkness and were there exactly at the transition from the dark to the light phase on a Sabbath day (Mt 28:1). Mark also emphasizes that this was on a special Sabbath, namely the "first Sabbath" (literally: "early first Sabbath"; Mark 16:9) in the counting of the seven weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost. It was also the "first Sabbath" after the feast day (15th Nisan). Mark could not have said it more clearly. At that time every child understood this, just as today, when the 4 Sundays of Advent are mentioned. And John makes it clear that it was still "in the evening of that same Sabbath" (John 20:19, Martin Luther Bible 1545 translated) when Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples in the house. The Bible is very easy to understand on this point. The question about the day of Jesus' resurrection is so easy to answer that most people do not even think about it, but want to reinterpret it. It only starts to get complicated when theologians want to twist the words of God and put pagan Sun God teachings into the Bible to bring the children of God to the feast days of the Gentiles (the murderers of Jesus) and lead them away from God's calendar. The punishment at the judgment before God will be accordingly (Rev 22:18-19). Also in 2020 and 2023 the Passover celebration had the same chronology of days as in the year of Jesus' crucifixion. And each of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost can be dated exactly in the Jewish calendar. The first Sabbath fell on April 11, the second on April 18, the third Sabbath on April 25, and the seventh Sabbath on May 23:
Every Christian can experience exactly the same sequence of days as in the year of Jesus' crucifixion, as the following figure (from the 10th to the 21st of Nisan) from 2000 to 2030 proves. Between the years 2000 and 2030, the 14th Nisan fell 10 times on a Wednesday. This sequence of days is therefore frequent according to the Jewish calendar. It is surprising that there are so few Christians who have this basic knowledge about the calendar of God. How do they expect to understand the statements in the New Testament if they do not know how the Hebrews organized their times and feasts? It is so simple, because especially in the years 2020 and 2023, the biblical calendar and the Jewish calendar fell on the same weekdays; so every Christian can find the "first Sabbath" in any Jewish online calendar and see how the 7 Sabbaths are counted until Pentecost.
Jesus died and rose from the dead between 30 and 34 AD at the latest. Everyone agrees on that. Many sources describe that in the years 30, 31 and 34 the day of preparation (14. Nisan) fell on a Wednesday (example see Link). Often the date is also given in the Roman solar calendar (=Julian calendar; abbreviation: JC), which was inaccurate and was replaced by the later Gregorian (Catholic) calendar (GC) (see calendar). Therefore two days must be deducted when converting to the Gregorian calendar. Of course, the day of the week does not change, only the number. Example: The 05th April 30 AD in the Julian calendar (JC) corresponds to the 03rd April 30 AD in today's Gregorian calendar (GC). The 25.04.31 JC therefore corresponds to the 23.04.31 GC.
The Hebrews know that in the year of the Exodus, the 10th of Nisan fell on a Sabbath, which is why they still call the weekly Sabbath before Passover the "Great Sabbath" (Shabbat ha-Gadol), and they also know that in that year the 15th Nisan fell on a Thursday. This is exactly the same sequence of days as in the year in which our Lord died. He thus fulfilled the law in an absolutely perfect way and abolished any further animal sacrifice for all eternity. Like the first lamb, Jesus was set apart and brought to the people on the 10th of Nisan; He died on the same calendar day (14th of Nisan), on the same day of the week (Wednesday) and even at the same hour (3 pm) as the first lamb. Thus he became the last lamb. He also fulfilled the sign of the Messiah (3 days and 3 nights) and thus legitimized himself as the only Messiah (anointed of God). With His resurrection on a Sabbath, He also fulfilled the Sabbath law and became our eternal Sabbath rest. It could not be more perfect:
Every person who is reading this text has unconsciously experienced the same sequence of days in his life as in the year in which Jesus died. If Christians had appreciated the Old Testament and had taken note of the information on God's calendar, they would have always been able to understand the statements of the evangelists in the New Testament without any problems. It is so simple.
Among the Christians who know that the expression "on the first Sabbath" or "on the first of the Sabbaths" can only mean the first of the 7 Sabbaths up to Pentecost (and never the "first day of the week") is Daniel Gregg (Torahtimes, see Link). In his opinion, the resurrection of Jesus took place "on a Sabbath morning", on March 27, 34 A.D. For most commentators, however, this year is already too late, since they assume the years 30 to at most 33 A.D. as a possible year. Daniel Gregg speaks of the "3 days and 3 nights" and has not reinterpreted the sign of the Messiah.
Darrell Carr from Israel has published a series with several valuable contributions on You Tube. In a calm and sympathetic way he shows how to understand the statements of the Bible correctly. Jesus rose from the dead after "3 days and 3 nights" (it was the sing of the Messiah), early on the "first of the Sabbaths", the first of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost. There is also a series about the biblical counting of the Omer (Shavuot, Pentecost):
"Sabbath Resurrection Made Simple": Part1, Part2, Part3
"Counting to Shabuot": Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5
There is an interesting website (TorahCalendar) which describes the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath morning in detail. Unlike other Christians (who offer a calendar only for money), a Torah calendar is offered for free. In it, the biblical calendar days are presented on clear and colourful boards.
It is worth looking at the sequence of days in the Passover feast 2020 and 2023, because then it becomes immediately clear that in 2020 and 2023 there was exactly the same sequence of days as in the year in which Jesus rose from the dead.
The counting of the omer is also correctly described. This is especially important in the present time, because there are some Christians who determine new so-called "true days of Pentecost" on You Tube every year, just because they have seen a certain constellation in the stars and suspect the Rapture on this day. If the rapture has not taken place on a predicted day, then they quickly invent again a new "true Pentecost" date during one year. These Christians have an arrogant attitude and think that the Israelites are supposedly unable to understand their own Hebrew mother tongue, to interpret Leviticus 23 correctly in order to calculate the "true day of Pentecost". No, the Israelites have always correctly calculated Omer (see Omer) and the true Pentecost. There is much evidence for this. They do not need Christians who know Hebrew only by Strong numbers and calculate 99, 100, 102 days or give a new alleged "true Pentecost" from the constellations of the stars. These are "fake Pentecost days", because the first day of Omer has been calculated for thousands of years, always from the 16th Nisan.
Another positive example is the German language website die-ueberwinder.de. The Resurrection Sabbath was recognized and published as a PDF for download. Since it is popular today to publicly "celebrate Jesus" with over 12,000 Christival participants, the author wanted to draw attention to the difference: Not celebrating Jesus (alone), but entering into His celebration is the much more important thing.
Quote (PDF): "Jesus rose on the Sabbath because the day of rest was to become a person of rest. The Sabbath day became a Sabbath life - Christ. No longer a day serves me for rest, but a person - Christ!... The churches gathered on all the days of the week or on a Sabbath, because it is not the day but a person that is sanctified in the New Covenant."
There are some Christian churches that, like the Jews, keep the Sabbath strictly. They say that even Christians must keep the Sabbath and all Biblical holidays to be saved, otherwise they are lost forever. That is not true. They also calculate their holidays according to the Jewish calendar, but not according to the biblical calendar, the calendar of God, so in some years they keep the wrong holidays. However, they claim that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sabbath evening, and that the women came to the tomb after 72 hours and after another whole night (12 hours) "on a Sunday morning". In doing so, they raise Sunday high, saying that it was supposedly the day when the resurrected Jesus first showed Himself to the people. This idea is also held by some groups of Seventh-day Adventists, although the founder of the Church (Ellen White) taught the crucifixion of Jesus on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday (see text to Figure 1).
The Worldwide Church of God (WCG) under Herbert W. Armstrong (*1892; †1986) and Herman Hoeh (The Crucifixion Was Not On Friday, 1968, Link1, Link2, Link3; - The Resurrection was not on Sunday, 1972, Link1; Link2) correctly taught for many years the crucifixion of Jesus on a Wednesday, but they began counting the "3 days and 3 nights" (Mt 12:38-40) in such a way that Jesus rose from the dead after 72 hours, that is, at the end of the Sabbath evening (just before sunset). So he would have had to wait alone in the tomb for the entire Saturday/Sunday night (since he only went to the Father later) and would have had to appear to the women in the early Sunday morning. Many splinter groups of the Church of God have also joined this false doctrine, e.g. Philadelphia Church of God (Link1, Link2) or United Church of God (Link1, Link2). They all favor Wednesday, April 25, 31 AD as the date of Jesus' death. But: Although they keep the Sabbath strictly, they elevate Sunday by stating that Jesus was not seen "on a Sabbath" but "on a Sunday" for the first time by the believers. This is a false doctrine that has also been spread by the Church of God Scattered Faithful (Link1, Link2), the Restored Church of God (Link1, Link2) and the Church of God International (Link) for many decades. They all do not know what the evangelists meant by "on one of the Sabbaths" and what Mark meant by "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9). They place the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong above the literal statements and teachings of the evangelists. They therefore regard any criticism of Armstrong's teachings as "apostasy from God". They also overlook the fact that Jesus never spoke of 72 hours, and never spoke of "3 nights and 3 days," but of "3 days and 3 nights". However, no one can simply ignore the 3 hours after Jesus died on the 14th Nisan. Herbert W. Armstrong was certainly a humble man who corrected some mistakes in his life. If he had had the literal basic text and the many old good Catholic translations (which speak of the resurrection of Jesus on a Saturday morning; see Link with English translation), he would have quickly corrected his mistake. His followers today show little willingness to do so.
It is true that the preparation day was a Wednesday and that Jesus rose on a Sabbath. But this was not at the end of the Sabbath, but exactly in the middle of it, when it was just beginning to get light (Mt 28:1). The problem is that Armstrong read the resurrection of Jesus "on the first day of the week" in the King James Bible and made the big mistake of not checking the accuracy of this statement in the basic Greek text. Moreover, if he had looked at the translation of the first English or German Bibles (Link with English translation), he would have known that the women came to the tomb on a Sabbath or Saturday morning. Armstrong's theory has some significant inconsistencies because it insists on the 72 hours, which Jesus never mentioned.
Jesus was already dead 3 hours on the preparation day (14th Nisan) and about an hour in the grave. The gravestone was rolled over on the day of preparation (14th Nisan). This could not possibly have been on the High Feast Sabbath (15th Nisan). After that, the women went home to prepare for the High Passover Sabbath (15th Nisan) so that they could eat the Passover lamb prescribed by law. Therefore, it is not possible to simply ignore this preparation day (14th of Nisan) and start counting only on the Feast Sabbath. Even if Jesus was only a few minutes or even seconds in the tomb on the 14th Nisan, it counts as the first day (cf. birth of a child before the end of the day also counts as the first day). There are probably no Christians who seriously claim that Jesus was supposedly laid in the tomb on the Feast Sabbath (15th Nisan) and that the tombstone was pushed shut on the Yearly Sabbath (15th Nisan). Yet they simply ignore the time when Jesus was already dead (3 hours) on the preparation day (14th Nisan) and lying in the grave (about 1 hour) to justify the desired Sunday appearance. They start counting the 72 hours only from the Feast Sabbath. They then say that Jesus "rose again on the Sabbath" just before sunset. His Messiah-sign would therefore be "on four days and three nights" (incl. 14th Nisan). Furthermore, these Christians cannot explain why God deliberately emphasizes seven times in the Greek basic text in the chapter on the resurrection that the women went to the tomb "on a Sabbath", namely in the middle of the Sabbath when it was still dark and just about to become light (Mt 28:1; Jn 20:1). These churches also do not know what the "first Sabbath" is that Mark mentioned (Mk 16:9), although they count the seven 7 Sabbaths every year like the Jews until Pentecost. So if you insist on the 72 hours, you must also include the full 72 hours in your considerations and not deduct or add a few minutes. Either way, contradictions to the Bible text arise in all cases. It is also not logical why the Romans did not open the tomb immediately after the end of the Sabbath? In this way they could have shown the whole world that Jesus did not rise from the dead after the "3 days and 3 nights" had already passed. It is not logical why they would have waited an entire additional night to open the tomb only after another 12 hours on Sunday morning. According to this, the women would have gone to the grave not on the 3rd, but on the 4th day after Jesus' death. But Pilate ordered that the tomb should only be guarded "until the 3rd day" (Mt 27:62-66) and not "until the 4th day". According to the Bible, Jesus did not resurrect at the end of the Sabbath (Saturday evening), but at the end of the Sabbath evening/night (the dark period), that is, right in the middle of a Sabbath, early in the morning just before sunrise. This is a big difference.
Many Christians have subscribed to the teaching of Bulliger and Armstrong because it has three advantages for them:
[1.] They have the „3 nights and 3 days“ (not the: „3 days and 3 nights“ Jesus spoke of).
[2] They have the desired Sunday on which the women supposedly came to the tomb. As the word Easter Sunday sounds too Catholic for many, they simply call this day the „Feast of First Fruits“ (First Fruits). In doing so, they turn the „day after the Sabbath“ into a new holiday, even though the day of the firstfruits sheaf was a normal working day for Jesus (see the chapter on First Fruits).
[3] They can continue to use the King James Bible and the revised or modern translations that have been proven to be mistranslated in the resurrection chapter. In this way they avoid problems and can follow their respective church founders. This includes the Adventists, who believe a dead woman (Ellen White) more than the living Lord Jesus Christ. The many splinter groups of the Church of God do not even dare to question the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, no matter what evidence they are given. They have no interest in the basic Greek text and the many correct translations worldwide, they would rather follow Armstrong than the Lord Jesus Christ.
The illustrations of the United Church of God (Link) in particular show very nicely that they are not actually talking about 3 days, but 4. For they write in the illustration: „Jesus' body was placed in the tomb just before sunset“. Regardless of what they mean by "shortly", they openly admit that Jesus was already in the tomb (in the heart of the earth) on the 14th of Nisan, i.e. before sunset. In doing so, they produce an error, because it would therefore be „4 days and 3 nights“. It is also clear to the United Church of God that both the women and the morticians had to be at home on the High Sabbath (15 Nisan) to prepare for the feast, because if they were on the road on the High Sabbath and had not prepared anything, they would all be breaking the law. Jesus was therefore already in the tomb for at least an hour on the 14th of Nisan, as most experts worldwide confirm. Even if the tombstone had been closed just one minute before sunset, this 14th Nisan would still count as the „first day“, just as when a person is born or dies one minute before the end of the day, this time always counts as the „first day“.
This modern and often shown picture in Tomorrow's World (Link) makes the mistakes of this churches very clear. They do not count the days like Jesus, but exactly the opposite (3 nights and 3 days), namely only from the 15th of Nisan. The time Jesus was in the tomb on the 14th Nisan (minimum 1 hour), this is simply ignored. But if the first day is counted from the 14th of Nisan, then it is „4 days and 3 nights“, because a day that had begun was considered to be the „first day“ not only in Israel but also in all other countries. Example: If a baby was born 3 hours (or even only a few minutes) on Wednesday 14th Nisan before the change of the calendar day and died on Saturday, then all people would also say that it lived „4 days and 3 nights“, nobody would simply overlook the 3 hours (or less) on 14th Nisan. It is the same with the time of stay in the grave. And also Mk 16:9 („early on the first Sabbath“ and not „evening on the first Sabbath“) is ignored. It is interesting that although some people admit that the basic Greek text speaks of Sabbath morning, they do not want to revise their teaching because their teacher (Armstrong) spoke of Sunday. Thus they raise the word of a man above the word of Jesus (Bible). This church makes Sunday great, although it keeps the Sabbath, but God makes the Sabbath great again. Like the catholic church and the Seventh-day Adventists, the splinter groups of the Church of God also work with fear and anyone who questioned the word of Herbert W. Armstrong was either expelled from the church or the brothers and sisters avoided contact with him. This is also the situation with today's splinter groups that put a nice fellowship with meetings at festivals before the Word of God. That is why most of them do not want to discuss this question at all and want to continue to believe in the alleged resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath evening after 72 hours, because if they were to take Jesus' words literally, they would have to leave their "beautiful community with the beautiful festive gatherings". So instead, they prefer to gather with themselves on Jewish (but not biblical) feast days, but not with the God of the Bible, because in Leviticus 23 he has set other feast days according to His astronomical calendar.
The Bible never speaks of 72 hours, but of "3 days and 3 nights" (and not "3 nights and 3 days"). The theory of the 72 hours is an unathorized and illegal addition to the Bible to revalue Sunday as the holy day on which Jesus supposedly showed Himself to the people and on Sunday evening (John 20:19) supposedly appeared to the disciples. This false teaching justified Sunday worship by millions of Christians. Jonah was also devoured by the sea monster at some time during the first day, and not exactly at sunrise or sunset. The example of the birth of a child and the workers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) shows that a day that had begun was always counted as the "first day", even if a particular event lasted only a few minutes on it. If God had really meant 72 hours, he would have said so. When we make the claim that God meant 72 hours, we are adding something to the Bible that does not belong in it. Only the option shown in Figure 3 is fully consistent with the literal translation of the NT.
Those who think that Jesus was in the tomb for three full days and three full nights, that is to say for a total of 72 hours, and that the counting begins only after the preparation day (that is to say, after the 14th Nisan, from the High Sabbath, 15th Nisan), must admit that Jesus would then have to be in Sheol/Hades (Acts 2:27, Psalm 16:10) for 75 hours (72+3) rather than 72 hours. Strictly speaking, this would then be on four days (and not on three), because the three hours after Jesus' death until the beginning of the Sabbath on the 15th Nisan must not simply be ignored or concealed (see more info).
A message to all splinter groups of the Church of God: If you prove to us in the basic Greek text that we are wrong and that Jesus did not rise from the dead "on a Sabbath" morning, then you will get our tenths. But if you are unable to prove it, then you should finally stop seducing Christians and also stop putting the word of Mr. Armstrong above the word of JESUS (the Bible). Mr. Armstrong was certainly a humble man, but unfortunately he had an incorrect Bible translation because many churches hide the Sabbath and thus did not want to take the Word of God literally. Jesus rose "EARLY on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) and not on a Sabbath evening. Jesus met the women "on a Sabbath" morning (Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2; Mk 16:9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20,1) and He appeared to the disciples "on a Sabbath" evening (John 20:19) and not on a Sunday evening. Why do you make Sunday greater than it really is? The Pharisees also kept the Sabbath, but they distorted the Word of God and spread false doctrine. What good is the Sabbath, then? In the end times of today, the Holy Spirit has revealed many things, as Daniel 12:4 foretold, do you want to remain on the old level of knowledge?
Finally an old article, which was sent to us again. The "Tomorrows World" writes:
"Jesus was buried just before sunset on Wednesday afternoon, and was in the tomb Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, and Saturday - three days and three nights, just as He promised. He was resurrected just before sunset on Saturday afternoon, exactly 72 hours after His burial. On Sunday morning, when the women came at dawn to embalm His body, He was already gone" (source).
Jesus never said that, but that is what this church wishes He had said. It is dubious and contradictory how the church calculates the 72 hours. Several errors can be proven here:
The church leaders and pastors of the various splinter groups of the Church of God live in a constant fear that the truth about the errors in the teachings of Herbert W Armstrong will be revealed. That is why they delete all critical posts under their videos on You Tube that speak of the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath morning and block the commentators instead of refuting them with the words of the Bible. Sure, they can't, that's why they try to hide the truth so as not to jeopardize their church organization and continue to collect tithes from members. What good is the Sabbath to these people if they twist the word of the Lord Jesus Christ? Can the Sabbath save them or Jesus?
Herbert W. Armstrong's teaching was not new, for it was already mentioned by Ethelbert William Bullinger (*1837; †1913) in his Companion Bible 1909 (see quotes). He believed in the crucifixion of Jesus on a Wednesday and in His resurrection at the end of "the first Sabbath" (the first of the seven weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost). He wrote: "Thus the Resurrection of the Lord took place at our Saturday sunset or thereabouts on 'the third day'; cp. 'after three days"' - (Appendix 156). According to this, the women would come to the tomb after twelve hours on the first day of the week (Sunday morning). But the Bible mentions that the women came to the tomb "on a Sabbath morning", more precisely "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9). Billinger, however, did not know what the "first Sabbath" mentioned by Mark was.
Similar to Armstrong argues Everett W Purcell (True Story about the Sign of Jonah, 2007), who also speaks of Wednesday, April 25, 31 A.D. Jesus is therefore said to have risen after 72 hours at the end of the Sabbath and to have appeared to the women on Sunday morning.
Fred R. Coulter proves in his extensive book (Harmony of the Gospels in Modern English - The Life of Jesus Christ, 2006, 1st Edit. 1974) that Jesus was born in the fall of 5 B.C. and crucified on a Wednesday in the year 30 A.D. But he too makes the mistake of stating the resurrection of Jesus not on Sabbath morning, but at the end of the Sabbath (after 72 hours). Thus Jesus would have met the women again on a Sunday morning. However, the Bible speaks seven times very clearly (Interlinear) that the women came to the tomb "on a Sabbath" or "on one of the Sabbaths" (since there are three Sabbaths within seven days at the Passover time) (Mt 28:1a.b; Mk 16:2.9; Lk 24:1; John 20:1.19). The basic Greek text never mentions here the "first day of the week" and certainly not Sunday, although there would be many options in Greek language (examples). No one has ever succeeded in finding Resurrection Sunday in the Bible. But everyone finds the Resurrection Sabbath in it, as has been proved in the other chapters. This is the statement of the basic Greek text and the first translations in many languages:
The sequence of days shown in the above diagram is very common according to the Jewish calendar. It must have been the same at the last Passover Festival of Jesus. But Jesus did not rise at the end of the Sabbath, but in the middle of the Sabbath. Therefore he did not appear to the women on a Sunday, but already one day before, namely "on a Sabbath", "on one of the Sabbaths" or "early of the first Sabbath", the first after the High Sabbath (15th Nisan), the first of the seven weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost. Any child can understand this if it knows the calendar of God described in the Bible.
Michael Rood (Rood Awakening) spreads several false doctrines in his book "The Chronological Gospels". He runs a business with the Word of God, because he hardly offers any scripture to the church as PDF, but everything only against payment (including the calendar). "And if you give money, you will receive a love gift". In addition, he postpones the crucifixion of Jesus to the year 28 A.D. Although he is aware that Jesus died on a Wednesday (14th Nisan) and rose from the dead on a weekly Sabbath (17th Nisan), he still thinks that Jesus did not appear to the women on Sabbath morning (alleged resurrection at the end of the Sabbath), but on a Sunday morning.
Michael Rood is guided by the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong and upgrades pagan Sunday as the supposed day on which the Lord showed Himself to the people. This is wrong. What should Jesus do in the tomb during the additional 12 hours at night? Why did the women not come earlier? And why should the Roman soldiers guard the tomb for an extra night (the 4th night), even though Pilate "commanded that the tomb should be guarded until the third day" (Matthew 27:64)? Since Rood does not know what the "first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) is, he thinks that Mark supposedly meant the "first day of the week". Rood wrote:
"The church teaches that The Messiah was put in the grave on good friday and that He rose on easter sunday morning, which would disqualify Yeshua (Jesus) from being The Messiah. Why? Because The Messiah had to rise on the 3rd day, rather than on the 2nd day or the 4th day. But no worries ... The Messiah was in the grave exactly 3 nights and 3 days ... wed night > thu day > thu night > fri day > fri night > sat day. So Yeshua (Jesus) the Lord of the Sabbath rose on the Sabbath, which was on the 3rd day... < 226 > After purchasing and preparing the spices and oils, the women rest on the weekly Sabbath before going to the grave on the first day of the week... - The Resurrection of Yeshua Before Sunset on the Weekly Sabbath. < NOTE 18 > After spending 3 days and 3 nights (72 hours) in the grave, Yeshua, the Lord of the Sabbath, rose from the grave 'on the 3rd day' after his burial. When Miriam returned to the grave, "early the 1st day of the week," "while it was still dark," the grave was empty. Yeshua had already risen late the previous day" (Link1, Link2).
Michael Rood often criticizes other Christians with hard words, but he himself does not see his mistakes. He talks about the fact that the women came to the tomb on a Sunday morning, although Jesus was there the day before (Sabbath morning). The words "week" and "Sunday" have not yet been found in the basic Greek text of the NT. Jesus also never said that he would be "3 nights and 3 days" in the tomb, but he started counting with the first day (14th Nisan) and Jesus therefore spoke of "3 days and 3 nights". This is a big difference and Christians must not falsify his words just because they want a Sunday walk. And if Jesus was already "in the tomb before sunset", as Rood correctly writes, then already the 14th Nisan must be counted as the first day in the "3 days and 3 nights". Rood claims that the Omer counting (explanation) began only from the day after the weekly Sabbath and not after the annual Sabbath (15th Nisan), as the Jews count to this day. This is also wrong, Omer counting always starts after the Feast Sabbath, which falls on different weekdays from year to year (see Omer Link).
Yes, there was the "Resurrection Sabbath", but the women did not come to the tomb on a Sunday morning, but "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9). Jesus did not rise from the dead on a Sabbath evening, but on a Sabbath morning. After Jesus appeared to the women on Sabbath morning (Mk 28:1; Mk 16:2,9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1), He appeared to the disciples on the evening of the same Sabbath when they were gathered in the house (John 20:19).
The book "Three Days & Three Nights - Reconsidered in Light of Scripture" by the Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association is one of the worst Christian books we have read on this subject. There are so many false statements in here that should be refuted in longer texts. Evangelical pastor Ralph Woodrow first believed for years (like Herbert W. Armstrong) in Jesus' crucifixion on a Wednesday and His resurrection on a Sabbath evening, until he adopted Catholic teachings and began to teach of Jesus' crucifixion on Friday and His resurrection on a Sunday morning. Both of his teachings described in the book are false, for Jesus did not rise on a Sabbath evening, nor on a Sunday morning, but on a Sabbath morning (see Mark 16:9). This is quite clearly stated in the basic Greek text (see Interlinear) and in very many correctly translated Bibles (see Old Bibles) worldwide. Woodrow does not know the biblical calendar of God, therefore he cannot possibly understand the statements in the NT and also does not know that about every third year at the Passover (e.g. in the years 2020 and 2023) there is the same sequence of days as in the year in which Jesus died. Since Woodrow follows the statements of the King James Version, which speaks of the "first day of the week" and he can neither distinguish between "one" and "first" in the Greek text, nor between "Sabbath" and "week", his book does not bring anything, because it only shows two false doctrines, of which the reader should decide for one. For this Woodrow has to deny the sign of the Messiah and presents the words of Jesus as untrustworthy. He literally writes: "The verse about 3 days and 3 nights is, after all, only one verse out of 31,173 verses in the Bible. This hardly seems like a sufficient foundation on which to build a doctrinal highrise!" (page 50). This is completely wrong, because we also have the example of Jonah and other verses on the "3 days" from the Bible (see link). Mr. Woodrow apparently does not really know that Jesus is the Word of God and no one in the world can express Himself better than Jesus can. If the only sign of the Messiah is that He is to be "3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth", then it must be that way and not just 1.5 days because some wish Sunday and want to erase the Sabbath from the Bible. The Sabbath was mentioned 70 times in the NT, Sunday not once in the entire Bible (see statistics). Woodrow's knowledge of ancient Greek is very poor or non-existent, therefore he is guided only by the views of the KJV translators with their dogmas and not by the literal opinions of the evangelists who wrote down their books of the NT in Greek (see Interlinear Bible). Again an example of how theologians want to do business with the Word of God through their book sales instead of opening the eyes of the "Bride of Christ", the worldwide Christian family.
There are some pastors who know that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, but they claim that He was supposedly resurrected at the beginning of the "first day of the week". Thus they indirectly support the resurrection Sunday doctrine of the Catholic Church. The aim is that Christians should move away from the biblical Sabbath and accept the Catholic Sunday. The Catholic Church is pleased, because whether people think that Jesus died on a Wednesday or Friday is irrelevant, many more important is that the Catholic Sunday is sanctified. According to this, the resurrection of Jesus would be either on Saturday evening (but not on a Sabbath, since that Sabbath had passed at sunset) or on a Sunday morning. This is usually stated by pastors who put human translations of the NT before the inspired original Greek text. They have made the absurd claim that the King James Bible (KJV) is supposedly "the inspired Word of God" (see proof The KJV is not inspired by God) and it is just written that Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week". They often react aggressively to anyone who quotes another Bible, especially when that Bible speaks of the resurrection Sabbath. This shows what poor knowledge of the Greek these pastors have. In the Resurrection chapter of the KJV 1611 there is an incorrect translation of the Greek NT, which in reality speaks of a Sabbath morning (see Interlinear). The English King James (*1566; †1625) and his church wanted to move as far away as possible from the biblical Sabbath, so they introduced the Sunday resurrection of Jesus into the Bible, although several earlier English Bibles still spoke of a Sabbath morning. King James and his church wanted Catholic Sunday to be kept as a national and religious holiday throughout England. They achieved this goal and reinterpreted the word of Jesus to fit their plan.
We are hard attacked by various pastors around the world who accuse us of falsifying the Word of God. A short example from the pastor Robert Breaker (Link1, Link2) who also denies the sign of the Messiah and wants to have the resurrection Sunday. In videos with partly hard words he attacks other Christians. He does NOT tell the truth about the Sabbath. He writes that shame should come on people who do not read the King James Bible, although this translation has many mistakes (it mentions e.g. "Easter", does not distinguish between hades, sheol and hell) and steals the Resurrection Sabbath from the Bible.
Robert Breaker does not calculate with „3 days and 3 nights“ but with „3 nights and 3 days“ and ignores the time on the 14th Nisan (Wednesday) completely. He also claims that Jesus probably rose from the dead at the beginning of Sunday, that is from midnight or on Sunday morning. His theory ignores the period on the 14th Nisan (Jesus lay in the tomb for at least 1 hour) and it would then be much more than 72 hours until Sunday midnight or morning. And that would be after „3.5 nights (or 4 nights) and 3 days“. Jesus would therefore lie in the tomb for an additional 24 hours until Sunday morning and his body would continue to decay, so that anointing would be a scary event. The resurrection of Jesus would therefore not be on the third day, but on the fourth day, even if Jesus had risen immediately after sunset (on Saturday). This is a false doctrine and a distortion of the word of Jesus Christ; there has never been such a sign. Jesus is the Word of God and no one can express himself better than him and Jesus said: „3 days and 3 nights“; only this was the sign of the Messiah. Breaker thinks that those who speak of the Sabbath resurrection automatically mean that Christians are under the Mosaic law. That is wrong. To avoid misunderstandings from the beginning: We are not at all concerned here with the subject of the Old and New Testament, nor with the Mosaic Law, nor with whether Christians should keep the Sabbath or not, but we are only interested in the question on what day of the week Jesus rose from the dead. We also believe that we are saved by the grace of Jesus alone, not by works. But for this it is not necessary to change the Word of God and introduce new festivals which the Bible never knew before. The following is a translated quote from Robert Breaker (who claims to have studied Greek for 3 years), which shows as an example how incompetently many argue to defend with all their might the Catholic Sunday and the Catholic calendar of the Pope (incl. his holidays) and to abolish the Sabbath from the Bible (these are even not the hardest quotes):
„I'll not be swayed by your false argument(s). It MUST be a SUNDAY in which Jesus rose from the dead, for we read... Matt. 28:1 “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” I'll let you look that up in GREEK if you wish, but it CLEARLY says "opse" (end of) and "sabbaton." So, the END OF THE SABBATH (saturday), and at the "dawn" or "epiphosko" (G2020) of the new day. So, on SUNDAY! Yes "sabbaton" can mean "saturday," but it also means "week" as well, and that verse proves it, as it uses the word both ways. Otherwise, the verse actually says: "In the end of the sabbath is it began to dawn to the first sabbath,..." What? So where did the week go? Did it go from Saturday to Saturday all of a sudden? No, doesn't make sense! Sorry, you are so wrong! Also, if the women did come on a saturday, then THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BREAKING THE LAW! That's why they waited and came on Sunday. But, you don't see that simple truth. My little 8 year old could even see that! The Bible teaches... Sabbath is for the JEWS. SUNDAY (SON DAY) is for the CHURCH…. When we simply look at the scriptures, your arguments fall apart! You have NO LEG to stand on! You are mixing Old Testament with New Testament and it won't work. All you are doing is proving to me that you are NOT an able minister of the New Testament! (2 Cor. 3:6).“
Uuuuffff, so many false theological interpretations in just a few words to defend the Catholic Sunday with all its might? We will see who is an able minister of the NT and who isn't. Do you not know when the beginning and end of a Sabbath is, and when it becomes light and dark? Here is the answer, because others argue in a similar way:
KJV: „In the end of the sabbath [singluar], as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary...“
Gods Greek Word: οψε (opse; evening, late) δε (de; but) σαββατων (sabbaton; Sabbath/s) τη (te; on/to the) επιφωσκουση (epiphoskouse; lighting up, dawn) εις (eis; into) μιαν (mian; a, one) σαββατων (sabbaton; Sabbath/s) ηλθεν (elthen; came) μαριαμ (mariam; Mary)...
This example alone shows how difficult it is to communicate with pastors who do not know the Greek NT properly and who want to replace with all their might the only day blessed and sanctified by God (Sabbath) with a day not blessed (Sunday) in the Bible. They cannot bear arguments and end the conversations with aggression instead of calm and wisdom. The Sabbath question has already divided many Christians, but God wanted to prevent this from happening, that is why He mentioned the sabbath 70 times, 0 times Sunday and 0 times a week. So far no one has succeeded in finding these corresponding words in the Greek NT for 2,000 years, but many people wish they could, because they reject the complete Word of God and the Sabbath. Even though the Bible tells of the resurrection Sabbath, it does not mean that Christians have to keep the Sabbath the way the Jews did, because unlike them, Christians are saved by the grace and blood of Jesus Christ. But the Jews reject Jesus and His sacrifice to this day. That is why they are still under the law and must keep not only the Sabbath, but most other commandments of the OT as well. The Sabbath is only a foreshadow of the Millennium.
The evangelical Bible teacher David Pawson (*1930; †2020) also supports the theory of figure 4b above. He explains in his sermon "His Resurrection and Ours" (Link, from minute 18) very correctly that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, because a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection is completely impossible to speak of "3 days and 3 nights". But in fact, Pawson does not reckon as Jesus did, but always with "3 nights and 3 days". That's a big difference. And he is not speaking of Jesus' resurrection on Sabbath morning (as the important basic Greek text of the NT means in Mark 16:9), but of Jesus' resurrection at the beginning of Sunday night. Pawson completely ignores the period on the 14th of Nisan (Wednesday). Thus, between Jesus' death and the appearance to the women before the tomb there are not 72, but exactly 87 hours within 4 calendar days. Also the statement that Mark allegedly had the Roman division of days and began to count the days at midnight is completely impossible, because Jesus did not rise on Sunday night. Mark speaks of the "early on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9), by which he means the first of the seven weekly Sabbaths that, according to God's calendar mentioned in the Bible, are counted each year between the two high Sabbaths of Passover (Nisan 15) and Pentecost. This is understood by every Jew and every Christian who is familiar with the biblical calculation of feast days and does not only orientate himself by the current catholic calendar of the Pope (Gregorian calendar). The illustration of Pawson (above left) shows another big mistake, because Saturday does not begin at sunset, but at midnight, while the Sabbath begins and ends at sunset. Those who add the 72 hours (or 87 hours) to the Bible must also remove some other statements in the NT from the Bible at the same time to arrive at the desired Sunday resurrection. And if Pawson does not study the basic Greek text (see Interlinear), but only follows the erroneous translations (e.g. King James Bible), then it is not surprising if he can never find the truth, because the literal Word of God does not interest him. There have been a great many Bibles for almost 2,000 years that have been correctly translated (see Old Bibles) and tell of Jesus' resurrection on a Sabbath morning or even on a Saturday morning. These are historical facts that no Christian can ignore.
Jesus fulfilled the Sign of the Messiah, He rose after "3 days and 3 nights" (not 3 nights and 3 days as Dawson reckons). It was the most important sign in the history of the universe and it is this sign that many Christians and Jews deny. The Sabbath was mentioned exactly 70 times in the NT and 7 times in the Resurrection chapter of the NT, but Sunday was not mentioned even once in the entire Bible, because it was the Roman holiday of those who crucified our Lord Jesus (the day of the pagan sun god Sol Invictus).
To avoid misunderstandings and long unnecessary comments: In the New Covenant of Grace, the Bride of Christ is NOT obligated to keep the Sabbath and the seven feast days of God as the Jews are required to do to this day. But the Sabbath is a symbol of rest and resurrection in God's plan. The blood of Jesus has made us clean and He rose again on His day, the Sabbath, He is the "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mt 12:8) and not the "Lord of the Sunday".
A resurrection on Friday? Fritz Henning Baader (see DaBhar translation) believed that Jesus was in the grave for exactly 72 hours and that he was not crucified on a Wednesday, but on a Tuesday. He based this on astronomical data according to which the 14th of Nisan could have fallen on a Tuesday in the year 32 AD (according to other calculations, it was a Monday or another day of the week). But even this theory cannot possibly be true, as the entire period in which Jesus was dead and in the tomb on the 14th of Nisan is simply forgotten. It is not possible to simply erase the three-hour period on the preparation day and claim that this time does not count. For Jesus was already in the tomb on the 14th Nisan and not only from the 15th Nisan. If Jesus died on a Tuesday evening, then there would be two working days between the festive High Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath. Then a much bigger problem arises, because it means that the women would go to the tomb on the 4th day after Jesus' death and this would even be the 5th calendar day on which Jesus would be dead (Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat). Jesus' body would therefore already be in the process of decomposition and embalming would therefore be a gruesome affair.
If Figure 5 corresponded to Jesus' week of crucifixion, it would also mean that Jesus was resurrected on a Friday, i.e. before the Sabbath, as Mr. Baader himself states, because he emphasizes the 17th of Nisan as the “day of resurrection”. For if Jesus was buried on the 14th of Nisan before sunset, then He must have risen after 72 hours shortly before the end of the light day on Friday. And even if it were from the night phase, Friday would still be the day of Jesus' resurrection. It also cannot be the Sabbath, as the 4th night would then begin at sunset (see illustration). That is impossible. It can be excluded that the tombstone was only pushed into place at the beginning of the High Sabbath (Nisan 15), as all the work had to be completed on the preparation day (Nisan 14). Otherwise, those involved would not have had time to go home and prepare for the High Sabbath in order to take part in the Passover meal. Most scholars are of the opinion that Jesus lay in the tomb for at least an hour on the preparation day (14th Nisan) because all those involved could not be out and about on the High Sabbath (15th Nisan), as Passover is the only major Sabbath of the year on which a longer preparation is necessary in order to be able to eat the lamb and not come into conflict with the rest commandment.
The Bible also does not speak of two days between the two Sabbaths, but only of one working day in between (see Intermediate Day).
Even if Jesus had only risen after 72 hours after sunset, i.e. at the beginning of the Sabbath (still in the night phase on Friday), Jesus would have had to wait an entire Sabbath night (12 hours) to finally meet the women in the morning. It is also not logical why the soldiers would not have opened the tomb earlier, as it was only to be guarded „until the 3rd day“ (Mt 27:64) and not „until the 4th day“ or „until the 5th day“.
Only humans speak of an alleged 72 hours, Jesus spoke of „3 days and 3 nights“. This does not mean that it has to be 72 hours, but that at least parts of „3 days and 3 nights“ exist. This is always the case when a person is born or dies, the first day is always counted, even if the death or birth only takes place a few minutes before the end of the day.
Jesus also did not speak of „3 nights and 3 days“, as can be seen from the illustration above and which many Christians wish for, but of „3 days and 3 nights“, because the light day of the 14th of Nisan already counted as the first day.
The supporters of this special doctrine ignore all these facts. Not only that, they say that Mark 16:9 supposedly does not belong to the Bible, because it says that Jesus was resurrected „early on the first Sabbath“, which would not be logical for these Christians and for some could mean „on the first day of the week“. Completely wrong, as anyone who knows the biblical calendar of God can confirm, because this „first Sabbath“ exists in every biblical and Jewish calendar as well as the other weekly Sabbaths up to Pentecost, because every year, according to Leviticus 23, exactly 7 weekly Sabbaths must be counted between Passover (15th Nisan) and Pentecost (50th day) and everyone in the first Christian church knew this. Just as everyone today knows the „first Sunday of Advent“, everyone at the time of Jesus and the first Christian church still knew this special „first Sabbath“, because it is the Sabbath that lies between the two High Sabbaths from the 15th to the 21st of Nisan, which is the first of the weekly 7 Sabbaths until the next High Sabbath of Pentecost.
This teaching of the alleged crucifixion of the Lord on a Tuesday cannot be true because the Hebrews themselves confirm that the first 10th Nisan (the day on which the Passover lamb was set apart) fell on a weekly Sabbath at the time of the Exodus. They therefore call every Sabbath before the Passover „the great Sabbath.“
See the chapter Palm Sabbath and Shabbat ha-Gadol on Nisan 10.
According to the Jews, this meant that the 14th of Nisan (the day on which the first Passover lamb died) fell on a Wednesday. This was the only way Jesus Christ could fulfill the law perfectly. He died on exactly the same calendar day (14th Nisan), on the same day of the week (Wednesday) and at the same time (3 pm) as the first lamb shed its blood and died at the time of the Exodus. And with his resurrection after „3 days and 3 nights“ in the early morning of the „first Sabbath“ (Mk 16:9), the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law in an absolutely perfect way and thus became our eternal Sabbath rest.
For exact information see F.H. Baader (DaBhaR) and the false Passion Week.
It is unbelievable that this theory by Roger Liebi lacks important biblical foundations from the Old Testament (OT). While the first Passover lamb was slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan at 3 p.m. and the people of Israel left Egypt the following night on the 15th of Nisan (the High annual Sabbath), Roger Liebi turns this feast day of God into a normal working day on which our Lord was supposedly crucified. Why? This is the only way he can have his desired Catholic Good Friday and Easter Sunday, which according to his theory fell on the 17th of Nisan. This false doctrine is the worst of all the above (only Figure 3 is correct), because no Israelite or Christian who knows God's calendar will ever accept that the 15th of Nisan (High Sabbath, Passover) is turned into a day of work and a preparation day after the preparation day (Nisan 14). In concrete terms, this means that the exodus from Egypt (symbolically: from sin) is celebrated before the true Lamb Jesus Christ even dies. Roger Liebi celebrates the alleged Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday (Firstfruits Sunday) and Pentecost Sunday every year in accordance with the Pope's instructions. His sermons are seen by thousands and it is so sad that most Christians have a poor knowledge of the OT and cannot immediately spot these errors.
Since the lambs were slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan, but Jesus supposedly only died one day later (on the 15th of Nisan), this would mean that He had not fulfilled the Passover sacrifice perfectly. This is not true, as can be clearly seen and biblically proven from Figure 3 above, namely that Jesus fulfilled the Passover sacrifice in an absolutely perfect manner: He died on exactly the same calendar day (14th of Nisan), on the same day of the week (Wednesday) and at exactly the same time (3 pm) as the first Passover lamb shed its blood at the time of the Exodus and redeemed the people from death. It could not have been better. Jesus naturally fulfilled the sign of the Messiah for the whole world: He was raised from the dead after „3 days and 3 nights“ (there was no turbo-resurrection of Jesus desired by the Pope and Roger Liebi) and precisely „early on the first Sabbath“ (Mk 16:9). Thus Jesus not only abolished the sacrifice, but also fulfilled the meaning of the Sabbath, because through His resurrection on the Sabbath He has now become our eternal Sabbath rest.
See the chapter (German): The Sunday heresies by Roger Liebi.
Both years with a double Sabbath (feast Sabbath falls on a weekly Sabbath, Saturday) and years with two Sabbaths directly after each other (14th Nisan on Thursday) are excluded from the outset as possible years of Jesus' crucifixion, because otherwise the extremely important sign of the Messiah ("3 days and 3 nights"; Mt 12:38-40) cannot possibly be fulfilled. Furthermore, according to Mk 16:1 and Lk 23:55-56, there MUST be at least one day of the week between the High Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath.
We do not need to complicate it, the Bible clearly states the day of resurrection 7 times with its name "Sabbath" (Mt 28:1a,1b; Mk 16:2,9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1,19) and never SUNDAY. God could not have said it more clearly, and if anyone dares to replace this Sabbath day, which has been clearly defined since the creation of the earth, with a "week" or "Lord's day" or "Sunday" or "after the Sabbath", he is committing a great sin. If someone wants to give a weekday name from our present calendar for this purpose, then only Saturday comes into question. But this would not be correct either, because Saturday follows a different pagan calendar and does not begin at sunset, but at midnight. If the apostles had meant Sunday, they would have named this day by name, they were not stupid. The Bible is clear and unambiguous on this point.
Sunday was most certainly the day the women did NOT come to the tomb because they were already there the day before (Sabbath morning). It is all the more important to enlighten people so that they can learn more about the one who will soon return to this earth. We are now living in the time when this basic knowledge about the soon to come King Jesus Christ should no longer be concealed. In the "Apostles' Creed" of the Catholic Church it says "...He [Jesus] will come again to judge the living and the dead.". But they do not know the one who will come and they hide his true day of death so that the pagan feast days will be held in their churches worldwide. But only this Jesus will return to earth, who died on a Wednesday and rose again on a Sabbath morning, and not the Sun God of Sunday!
Considering all biblical passages, only figure 3 can be possible, because here an overall harmony without contradictions is created. The Easter Sunday Resurrection of Jesus turns out to be a pagan fairy tale, with the aim of erasing the biblical Sabbath and the clear biblical Word of God (= THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, as the Catholic Church calls it) and replacing it with something else. God teaches the resurrection of Jesus "on a Sabbath morning", but the pastors say that we should not listen to God, since Jesus is said to have risen from the dead purely by chance "on a Sunday morning", the day of the demonic sun god, which has been worshipped worldwide in many ancient cultures (Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Mayans; Greeks, Romans...) for thousands of years.
Ask yourself: Should God really abolish and desecrate His Day (which exists since the creation of the earth) and in return introduce and sanctify the new pagan holiday of those who cruelly killed our Lord Jesus Christ and many Christians?
The alleged Resurrection Sunday (Easter Sunday) was in reality a Resurrection Sabbath (Passover Sabbath)
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil"
(1Thess 5:21-22)
"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them"
(Epheser 5:11)