Bible Studies

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It has long been held within the Christian Church that Christ was crucified on the sixth day of the week, the day that we now call Friday -- hence the term "Good Friday."

This is a misunderstanding: Christ was in fact crucified on the fifth day of the week, the day that we now call Thursday. Proof of this assertion will follow below, but that proof is not the critical point of this essay: no one will be admitted into the kingdom of heaven, nor will anyone be denied admittance because of his or her belief or teaching on this point. What is more critical is misunderstanding regarding the one day of God's calendar on which Christ absolutely must have been crucified. We will deal first with the misconception regarding the day of the week on which the Lord was crucified, and will then go on to the greater significance of the overall timing of His crucifixion.

How was it decided by the early Church fathers that Jesus must have been crucified on a Friday? This misunderstanding arises from the following passages (and related passages from the other gospels): when Jesus was brought before Pilate, the gospel of Mark reports: "And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus" (Mark 15:42, 43).

What is "the sabbath" but the seventh day of the week, and what then would be "the day before the sabbath" but Friday? It is therefore easy to conclude that Jesus was crucified on Friday. This is an incorrect conclusion, however -- but only the gospel account of John provides the information necessary to reach the correct conclusion. But before we read the clarifying passage in John, we must have a better understanding of the term "sabbath." For this we turn to the 23rd chapter of the book of Leviticus.

First, in Leviticus 23:3 we read, "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings." This, of course, is the meaning that is usually intended and understood by the term "sabbath" -- the seventh day of the week, the day which the Lord commanded the Israelites to observe each week as a day of holy rest. But the term encompasses much more. Let us read further in this chapter.

In Leviticus 23:5-8 we read, "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein." Compare the language from verse three (regarding the weekly seventh day sabbath) with the language of verse 7 (regarding the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread). Both are "an holy convocation

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