Three Sabbaths in One Week

Matthew 12:40, “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days  and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

As Christianity celebrates Good Friday today, I wonder if any have ever considered that if Christ died on Friday, then He lied when He spoke Matthew 12:40.

No doubt the Hebrew day ran from sundown to sundown keeping with the literal word of Genesis where it says “and there was evening and there was morning, one day.” (Gen 1:5) But if Christ died Friday just before sundown and arose Sunday morning then He would have been buried Friday night, and Saturday night… not the “three nights” He said He would. But why do we have this tradition of Good Friday? Is Good Friday a misunderstanding, or was Jesus a liar?

I can assure you that Jesus is no liar, and therefore 99% of Christianity must have their theology out of place. In this particular case it has become globally disjointed because the interpretation of the Sabbath has been limited to be Friday evening until Saturday evening when in fact every holy day, every feast, every special offering days was considered a Sabbath. (Lev 23:32) It is in this understanding of the Sabbath that the true day of Christ obedience on the cross is revealed.

In a study of Leviticus 23 we can see that “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.” (V. 5) We know from scripture that Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples immediately prior to His death and this is where He instituted the sacrament of Communion. What is not written in Matthew, but what we know from Leviticus is the next day begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it last for seven days with the first and last days being Sabbaths. “On the first day you have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work… On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.” (V 7 &8) ‘You shall rest… you shall observe a Sabbath.’

This seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Sabbath they were trying to avoid when Christ hung on the cross, not the Sabbath of a Saturday. It is actually most likely that Christ died for our sins on a Wednesday. He would have been in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday day, Thursday night, Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day… arising from the grave on Saturday night which to the Hebrews is Sunday.

Look at the beautiful fulfillment of prophecy when the season of Easter is put in true context. Christ celebrates our sins being passed over because of His blood that was to be shed. And then the week of His arrest, torture, and crucifixion occurring in the midst of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.  A feast that is nothing less than a type and shadow, a prophetic utterance of Christ and His sinless nature… without sin… without leaven. And when Christ role on earth ends, when the feast ends, we have a holy day of rest, a symbolic, prophetic entering of the grace of God. Simply beautifully, masterfully choreographed by the Father to eliminate any doubt about Who Christ is and His purpose.

Happy Easter to us all.