April 3, AD 33

First Things ^ | April 3, 2014 | by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor

[Rashputin]

April 3, AD 33

In our new book, The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived , we assume but do not argue for a precise date of Jesus’s crucifixion. Virtually all scholars believe, for various reasons, that Jesus was crucified in the spring of either a.d. 30 or a.d. 33, with the majority opting for the former. ( The evidence from astronomy narrows the possibilities to a.d. 27, 30, 33, or 34). However, we want to set forth our case for the date of Friday, April 3, a.d. 33 as the exact day that Christ died for our sins.

To be clear, the Bible does not explicitly specify the precise date of Jesus’s crucifixion and it is not an essential salvation truth. But that does not make it unknowable or unimportant. Because Christianity is a historical religion and the events of Christ’s life did take place in human history alongside other known events, it is helpful to locate Jesus’s death—as precisely as the available evidence allows—within the larger context of human history.

Among the Gospel writers, no one makes this point more strongly than Luke, the Gentile physician turned historian and inspired chronicler of early Christianity.

The Year John the Baptist’s Ministry Began

Luke implies that John the Baptist began his public ministry shortly before Jesus did, and he gives us a historical reference point for when the Baptist’s ministry began: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . .” (Luke 3:1).

We know from Roman historians that Tiberius succeeded Augustus as emperor and was confirmed by the Roman Senate on August 19, a.d. 14. He ruled until a.d. 37. “The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” sounds like a straightforward date, but there are some ambiguities, beginning with when one starts the calculation. Most likely, Tiberius’s reign was counted either from the day he took office in a.d. 14 or from January 1 of the following year, a.d. 15. The earliest possible date at which Tiberius’s “fifteenth year” began is August 19, a.d. 28, and the latest possible date at which his “fifteenth year” ended is December 31, a.d. 29. So John the Baptist’s ministry began anywhere from mid-a.d. 28 until sometime in a.d. 29.

The Year Jesus’s Ministry Began

If Jesus, as the Gospels seem to indicate, began his ministry not long after John, then based on the calculations above, the earliest date for Jesus’s baptism would be in late a.d. 28 at the very earliest. However, it is more probable to place it sometime in the first half of the year a.d. 29, because a few months probably elapsed between the beginning of John’s ministry and that of Jesus (and the year a.d. 30 is the latest possible date). So Jesus’s ministry must have begun between the end of a.d. 28 at the earliest and a.d. 30 at the latest.

This coheres with Luke’s mention that “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). If he was born in 6 or 5 b.c., as is most likely, Jesus would have been approximately thirty-two to thirty-four years old in late a.d. 28 until a.d. 30, which falls well within the range of him being “about thirty years of age.”

The Length of Jesus’s Ministry

Now we need to know how long Jesus’s public ministry lasted, because if it went on for two or more years, this would seem to rule out spring of a.d. 30 as a possible date for the crucifixion.

John’s Gospel mentions that Jesus attended at least three Passovers (possibly four), which took place once a year in the spring:

• There was a Passover in Jerusalem at the start of his public ministry (John 2:13, 23).
• There was a Passover in Galilee midway through his public ministry (John 6:4).
• There was a final Passover in Jerusalem at the end of his public ministry, that is, the time of his crucifixion (John 11:55; 12:1).
• And Jesus may have attended one more Passover not recorded in John but perhaps in one or several of the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

Even if there were only three Passovers, this would still make a date of a.d. 30 all but impossible for the date of the crucifixion. As noted above, the earliest likely date for the beginning of Jesus’s ministry from Luke 3:1 is late a.d. 28. So the first of these Passovers (at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; John 2:13) would fall on Nisan 14 in a.d. 29 (because Nisan is in March/April, near the beginning of a year). The second would fall in a.d. 30 at the earliest, and the third would fall in 31 at the earliest. This means that if Jesus’s ministry coincided with at least three Passovers, and if the first Passover was in a.d. 29, he could not have been crucified in a.d. 30.

But if John the Baptist began his ministry in a.d. 29, then Jesus probably began his ministry in late a.d. 29 or early a.d. 30. Then the Passovers in John would occur on the following dates:

Nisan 14	a.d. 30	John 2:13
Nisan 14	a.d. 31	either the unnamed feast in John 5:1 or else a Passover that John does not mention (but that may be implied in the Synoptics)
Nisan 14	a.d. 32	John 6:4
Nisan 14	a.d. 33	John 11:55, the Passover at which Jesus was crucified

Jesus Was Crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover

John also mentions that Jesus was crucified on “the day of Preparation” (John 19:31), that is, the Friday before the Sabbath of Passover week (Mark 15:42). The night before, on Thursday evening, Jesus ate a Passover meal with the Twelve (Mark 14:12), his “Last Supper.”

In the Pharisaic-rabbinic calendar commonly used in Jesus’s day, Passover always falls on the fourteenth day of Nisan (Exodus 12:6), which begins Thursday after sundown and ends Friday at sundown. In the year a.d. 33, the most likely year of Jesus’s crucifixion, Nisan 14 fell on April 3, yielding April 3, a.d. 33, as the most likely date for the crucifixion. In The Final Days of Jesus, we therefore constructed the following chart to show the dates for Jesus’s final week in a.d. 33:

April 2	Nissan 14	Thursday (Wednesday nightfall to Thursday nightfall)	Day of Passover preparation	Last Supper
April 3	Nissan 15	Friday (Thursday nightfall to Friday nightfall)	Passover; Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins	Crucifixion
April 4	Nissan 16	Saturday (Friday nightfall to Saturday nightfall)	Sabbath
April 5	Nissan 17	Sunday (Saturday nightfall to Sunday nightfall)	First day of the week	Resurrection

Conclusion

The above calculations may appear complicated, but in a nutshell the argument runs like this:

HISTORICAL INFORMATION	YEAR
Beginning of Tiberius’s reign	a.d. 14
Fifteenth year of Tiberius’s reign: Beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry	a.d. 28
A few months later: Beginning of Jesus’s ministry	a.d. 29
Minimum three-year duration of Jesus’ ministry: Most likely date of Jesus’s crucifixion	a.d. 33 (April 3)

While this is in our judgment the most likely scenario, it should be acknowledged that many believe Jesus was crucified in the year a.d. 30, not 33. However, if the beginning of Tiberius’s reign is placed in the year a.d. 14, it is virtually impossible to accommodate fifteen years of Tiberius’s reign and three years of Jesus’ ministry between a.d. 14 and 30. For this reason, some have postulated a co-regency (joint rule) of Tiberius and Augustus during the last few years of Augustus’s reign. However, there is no reliable ancient historical evidence for such co-regency.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

if anyone doubts me on how Jews counted days in the Bible and even to this day, tell me when a jewish boy born on wednesday at 3:00pm needs to be circumcised by? we know it must be done on the eighth day, correct? when is the eighth day?
when is the “third day”?

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Christians don’t celebrate Passover because it was a type and shadow pointing towards Christ. Celebrating it would be denying Jesus Christ was born, died and rose from the dead.
We Christians worship every Sunday to remember Jesus rose from the dead on that day.

[delchiante]

I have no idea what the Julian calendar or now that Gregorian calendar says the days of the week were back then but we know God didn’t name days, he numbered them..
Leviticus tells us....
14th day of His first month, He, the unblemished lamb, was killed - 15th day (and a high sabbath)He laid, resting in the tomb , and the 16th day, He rose again as first fruits (first day of the next work week- first fruits, the day after the sabbath)

Leviticus and the gospels agree.. and man has been trying to mess with them (with help from the ultimate counterfeiter) ever since.

It may have been a man made Frig’sday, Saturnsday, Sun’sday that week two thousand years ago or maybe even Woden’s day, Thor’s day and Frig’sday- I struggled with that until I broke free of the Gregorian calendar..

but whatever man made day it was, it doesn’t bear out each year- regardless of the man made ancient gods and goddess names we use for the days of the week.

but traditions and the reliance on man’s calendar and not God’s timekeeping has blinded people and churches into accepting false premises..

Its no wonder Jews reject a greco roman latinized savior in large numbers by the name of Jesus. He is celebrated at different days than the jews are commanded to observe by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then hear from us that he fulfilled the feasts and hear us proclaim Him as being The Word that became flesh !

Nice sales job we do! Don’t even use the real English transliterated name that is actually found in our English versions of the Hebrew Scripture, Joshua..

That isnt saying the Jews are right with their feasts timing as it appears they may be a month off each year (or the age has been changed in a divinely ordained way- since they observed Passover when the sun was in Aries in ancient days- that doesn’t happen now until mid to late April-May today)

Father, forgive us for not fully understanding Your timekeeping and accepting man and Satan’s false timekeeping premises that are not biblical.
Help us to observe it like they did before our smartphones and wall calendars told us what day it was.

We are a deceived and really stiff necked people..

[A child of Yah]

***Christians don’t celebrate Passover because it was a type and shadow pointing towards Christ. Celebrating it would be denying Jesus Christ was born, died and rose from the dead.***
___________________________
I don’t think I could ever look at it like a celebration.
It’s more to me like “in honor” and “in remembrance” of the price that was paid on our behalf.

I also consider it a “renewal” of the covenant to those who believed in Him, and received of Him.

Doing this IS in remembrance of His sacrificial death and resurrection.
To say otherwise is a great distortion in itself.
Although I appreciate your input, I must disagree with you with no malice, or intent to offend you.

The passages I read from on the night of Passover are from Isaiah 53 in its entirety. Then I go on to Luke 22, Matthew 26, John 13, and 1 Corinthians 11. This is done in remembrance of the Sacrifice of His body and His blood for He has become our Passover Lamb, as I partake of the unleavened bread, and the cup. It is all done in humbleness, thankfulness, and in prayer. For it to be misconstrued beyond that is not good, and the tears that I shed as I read Isaiah 53 are not in vain. The Lord knows my heart, and I want to do my best to be pleasing unto Him, and not to any other.

Here are some passages of Scripture to consider:

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

I will let His Word speak for itself, and I will do my best to abide in that Word for it is faithful and true.

[BikerTrash]

Pastor Arnold just recently passed away though in February, and I was very sad...

Yeah, me too, big time. I still am. Studied with him off and on for 20 years. He was a good ol' boy! A Marine veteran of the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, gentleman farmer and a pastor with many thousands of hours of teaching, took no pay, never begged or used schemes to enrich himself, his capacity to serve his fellow man knew no bounds.

Lots of people are going to miss him for a long time.

Another thing I don’t understand is why is “easter” honored and not Passover?

The word "Easter" is used but once in the KJV Bible in the book of Acts 12:4. Translated into English from the same word that's translated "Passover" in other places, therefore, to call it a mistranslation as most do makes little sense.

I have a copy of the original 1611 KJV and in the forward the translators warned that, although they did their very best, they caution the reader of possible errors of translation.

However, and I don't know how they did it, if you read Acts 12:3,4, the word Easter seems to be exactly right in the context of what is being discussed, (going to do a little cut and paste here):

Now let us look at Acts 12:3,4: "And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."

Verse 3 shows that Peter was arrested during the days of unleavened bread (April 15-2 1). The Bible says: "Then were the days of unleavened bread." The passover (April 14th) had already come and gone. Herod could not possibly have been referring to the passover in his statement concerning Easter. The next Passover was a year away! But the pagan holiday of Easter was just a few days away. Remember! Herod was a pagan Roman who worshipped the "queen of heaven". He was NOT a Jew. He had no reason to keep the Jewish passover. Some might argue that he wanted to wait until after the passover for fear of upsetting the Jews. There are two grievous faults in this line of thinking.

First, Peter was no longer considered a Jew. He had repudiated Judaism. The Jews would have no reason to be upset by Herod's actions.

Second, he could not have been waiting until after the passover because he thought the Jews would not kill a man during a religious holiday. They had killed Jesus during passover (Matthew 26:17-19,47). They were also excited about Herod's murder of James. Anyone knows that a mob possesses the courage to do violent acts during religious festivities, not after.

In further considering Herod's position as a Roman, we must remember that the Herods were well known for celebrating (Matthew 14:6-11). In fact, in Matthew chapter 14 we see that a Herod was even willing to kill a man of God during one of his celebrations.

It is elementary to see that Herod, in Acts 12, had arrested Peter during the days of unleavened bread, after the passover. The days of unleavened bread would end on the 21st of April. Shortly after that would come Herod's celebration of pagan Easter. Herod had not killed Peter during the days of unleavened bread simply because he wanted to wait until Easter. Since it is plain that both the Jews (Matthew 26:17- 47) and the Romans (Matthew 14:6-11) would kill during a religious celebration, Herod's opinion seemed that he was not going to let the Jews "have all the fun ". He would wait until his own pagan festival and see to it that Peter died in the excitement.

Thus we see that it was God's providence which had the Spirit-filled translators of our Bible (King James) to CORRECTLY translate "pascha" as "Easter". It most certainly did not refer to the Jewish passover. In fact, to change it to "passover" would confuse the reader and make the truth of the situation unclear.

Source for this insertion is HERE.

It is well known that "Easter" is a pagan festival and should have nothing to do with Christianity. I fully understand that most Christians celebrate Easter with the best of intentions, even the ones that know its origin. The same tortured logic is how some can find three days and three nights between late Friday and very early Sunday. The fact that it's on a different day every year is kind of like Roosevelt saying that December 7th, 1941 is a day that will live in infamy but depending on the phases of the moon some years we will commemorate it in November and some years closer to New Years Day. Makes no sense to me.

So, at long last and for what it's worth, I give you my answer to your question:

"Traditions of man make void the word of God."

To counter this:

"Study to show thyself approved."

Which may be the whole point of all of this, and it sounds like you are studying hard.

To which I bet Pastor Murray would say, "You're in good shape!"

[boatbums]

if anyone doubts me on how Jews counted days in the Bible and even to this day, tell me when a jewish boy born on wednesday at 3:00pm needs to be circumcised by? we know it must be done on the eighth day, correct? when is the eighth day? when is the “third day”?

Okay, I doubt you. In that same section in Luke 24, Jesus is walking with his disciples after he arose and before they realized it was him. This is what it says:

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. (Luke 24:28-29)

Did you get that, the "day was almost OVER" as it was nearing the evening? The Jews counted days from sundown one day to sundown the next day. Very early on the first day of the week, when the women came to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body, he was already GONE. The first day of the week was sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday. So, by Jesus already arisen at dawn when the women came, it meant he rose sometime BEFORE dawn, right? There's a very good reason why Jesus specifically said he would be like Jonah was THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the belly of the fish, so Jesus would also be three days AND three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:30).

I don't think, as you implied, that arguing against a Friday crucifixion is necessarily "just another attack on the historic Christian faith, usually believed by those who deny many other aspects of historic, orthodox Christian belief.", rather, it is simply staying true to what Scripture says instead of what some insist it doesn't say and who rely more on tradition than on the revealed word of God. I would rather go by what Jesus said. You can believe whatever you want, it certainly isn't a major tenet of the Christian faith. What matters is that we believe Jesus DID die and that he rose again from the dead so that we can know he is who he claimed to be and his payment for sin was complete. Once for all. By grace through faith and not by works lest any man should boast. PTL!

[A child of Yah]

wow ... great answers on that easter reference.
That deepens the study even more for me to understand.

You’ve been a great help and thank you for taking the time to explain this very clearly to me and to anyone else here that might have had questions in understanding it all.

I must say also too, that you made me smile when you quoted Pastor Arnold Murray saying, “You’re in good shape!” ... I could actually visualize and hear it in my mind. His question and answering portion of his program would always answer a lot of my own questions, and you are so right about how we will miss him for a long time.

Thank you again my friend, and if I don’t see you here, I’m most sure I will see you there ... smiles

To anyone else reading this and are interested,
Here is a link to Shepherds Chapel website:
http://www.shepherdschapel.com/

[BikerTrash]

You are so very welcome.

By the way, in my opinion, there are some errors regarding dates in the insert I put in my reply to you, but it gets the point across. Just goes to show that nobody has all the answers.

You were exactly right in your reply 18 to count from the spring equinox.

I think Pastor Murray's memorial service is this morning, wish I could be there. Have to just send prayers, instead.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Luke 24:21 “.....yes, and besides all this, IT IS NOW THE THIRD DAY SINCE THIS HAPPENED”

curious, isn’t it? why did the disciple note NOW IS THE THIRD DAY SINCE THIS HAPPENED?

first we must determine what “this” is. clearly in the context of their conversation the “this” is referring to the death and burial of Jesus Christ. v.20.

but why note that today is the third day? because the disciples all heard Jesus say HE WOULD RISE ON THE THIRD DAY. Luke 9:22, Luke 18:33, Matthew 20:19.

St Paul confirms in 1 Corinthians 15:4 Jesus did indeed RISE ON THE THIRD DAY.

Now, if Luke 24 was THE THIRD DAY since Jesus was crucified, then Luke 24 occurs on the same day Jesus rose from the dead. There is no getting around it.

but on what day does Luke 24 occur? v1 tells us right off the bat “ but on the First day of the week....”

let’s recap so far:

Jesus said He would rise on the third day.
The disciples say Luke 24 occurs on the third day since He was crucified and buried.
Luke 24 was on the first day of the week.

ok, according to how Jews counted days, when is the third day?
the third day is the day AFTER tomorrow. the Jews always started with “today” as day one any time they were counting days.
still doubt me? how did Jesus count the third day in Luke 13:32? same way the Lord did in Exodos 19:10-11.

to the Jew, the third day is the day after tomorrow. been that way for over 3,000 years and it is that way today.
as stated by BB, Jewish days started at sundown and lasted until the next sundown. also, to the Jew, any part of the day is counted as a day. this is CRITICAL to understanding when Jesus died and when He rose from the dead. so to a Jew, a baby born one minute before sunset on a Friday, and dies one minute after sunset after the Sabbath, WAS ALIVE FOR THREE DAYS. in our time, the baby was alive for 24 hours and two minutes, but to the Jew, it lived for three days.
to my previous question about a jewish boy born on a wednesday at 3:00pm, when must it be circumcised by?
the answer is - it must be circumcised by the eighth day sundown, which would be the next wednesday at sundown.

wednesday - day one
thursday - day two
friday - day three
sabbath - day 4
first day of the week - day 5
monday - day 6
tuesday - day 7
wednesday - day 8

so for those false preachers who have come along ( Pastor Arnold ) teaching Jesus didn’t die on Friday as Christians have believed since the Apostles were spreading the Faith across the known world, but on Wednesday, this means He would have had to rise on friday if He rose ON THE THIRD DAY. this false teaching is embarrassing to anyone vaguely familiar with the Scriptures and should be quickly dismissed out of hand.

do you know who you will never hear making this case that Jesus said he would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights and dying on Good Friday and rising early sunday morning is not three days and three nights??

the Jews!! the Jews have attacked the divinity of Jesus and rejected Him as Messiah for 2,000 years and have attacked the Church and her doctrines for just as long. but they NEVER say Jesus was not in the earth three days and three nights! WHY NOT?? Because, they know that to the Jew, three days is the same thing as the idiomatic expression three days and three nights.

i have never heard of anyone who denies Jesus died on Friday and rose Sunday who held the historic, orthodox Christian Faith otherwise.
our friend Pastor Arnold denied the Trinity for example.
others teach we must keep the 7th day sabbath or celebrate Passover. others deny we are saved by baptism or Jesus really is present in the Eucharist.

let him ( or her BB ) who has ears, let them hear.

[boatbums]

It's actually silly when certain religionists make mountains out of molehills and accuse anyone who disagrees with their personal beliefs out to be heretics and apostates - comparing them to unbelievers who attack the divinity of Jesus. You keep on forgetting to explain WHY Jesus specifically said three DAYS AND three NIGHTS. You also seem to omit the truth that Jesus was ALREADY gone from the tomb as it was dawning on the first day of the week (this day, remember, began the evening before). He couldn't have been crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday and that compute to three days and three nights. We have this SAME arument every time around Easter and the arguments don't ever change. Jesus was buried as it was nearing sunset, which would have meant the new day was beginning. If you assume it was Friday at sunset when He was buried - because He said He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, then:

Friday sunset to sunset Saturday = first day
Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset = second day
You can't even GET three days out of that!

The first Christians met on the first day of the week and marked Pesach as a memorial to Jesus' resurrection - NEVER called it Easter until centuries later. I rejoice that Jesus is God incarnate and that His resurrection ensured my sin debt was paid in full. Believe what you want - or what you're told to believe - just don't presume you know what is in my heart. Open YOUR ears and eyes! I'm done arguing with you as it never has made any difference in your attitude about this.

[A child of Yah]

***I think Pastor Murray’s memorial service is this morning, wish I could be there. Have to just send prayers, instead.***
_____________________________
Yes it was, and I meant to tell you the words you spoke of in describing him were beautiful, and like his website says about his passing away, “Well done My good and faithful servant.”

[A child of Yah]

wow ... how do I approach you???
To be honest I’m quite shocked and somewhat appalled.

In your quest to be right in what you believe and then to judge and condemn others in what they believe, you just disparaged and slandered a man who just passed away, and to this day we are still grieving. Especially today, the day of his memorial service, you chose to “speak ill” of this man.

I’m really shocked. I find the words I need to say to you in a Christ-like way, hard to come by. Have you no shame?

Do you honestly feel better about yourself, now that you got that off your chest just to prove your point of view?

You slandered this man and falsely accused him of being a false preacher and even denying the Trinity.

What is wrong with you? What spirit is that?

Believe what you want to believe, but don’t drag people thru the mud just because you don’t agree with them.

Present your case in a orderly and respectful fashion.
I gave you that same respect when I responded to you earlier.

Even before I came to know our Heavenly Father, I was taught to never “speak ill” of the dead, regardless of how negatively I felt about them, because they are not here to defend themselves.

Yet you, as a professing Christian, and in a effort to prove your point of view, chose to take that route.

You want to seem worried for others, well I worry for you.

It doesn’t really matter how many days to me at this point now how long our Lord and Saviour was in the grave, because when in discussing these varying opinions amongst ourselves about it all starts to turn into false accusations and slanderous comments, then I’m pretty much done dealing with that person.

As far as Passover goes. I explained it pretty well for a new student in His Holy Word, and I even backed it up with His Holy Word too, and here is one more just for the road:

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)

... and please stop calling it a celebration, because it is not some festive party nor some easter egg parade.

It is a solemn ceremony done in “honor” and in “remembrance” of that day when He gave His own body, and shed His own blood as an atonement for us and our sins.

So, whether you choose to see what I see in Scripture or not, it is between you and God, and there is no need to talk derogatory about anyone either while doing it.

I’m a new student, and I’m studying diligently everyday.
I can only ping others to help you see at this point, as I have already explained above why I need to step back and away from you in regards to this subject.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

i keep forgetting to explain WHY Jesus specifically said three days and three nights.

i didn’t forget anything, i will try and explain it one more time.

Jesus was speaking to a first century Jewish crowd when he said that. How did they understand what that phrase meant? We in the 21st century hear three days and three nights and think it means a literal three days and three nights, BUT NOT TO THE FIRST CENTURY JEW. They understood this as an idiomatic expression meaning three days. want another example of a jewish idiomatic expression?
Matthew 27:63 “ AFTER three days, i will rise again “. Same situation, to the 21st century way of thinking, this must mean the 4th day, since it says AFTER three days. BUT NOT TO THE 1ST CENTURY JEW, as is made clear in v64 where the sepulchre was ordered secure UNTIL THE THIRD DAY.
let’s recap for those in rio linda land. to the Jew:
on the third day = three days
after the third day = three days
three days and three nights = three days

we have our own idiomatic expressions in 21st century america. if my wife informs me we are out of milk and i tell her i will go “run to the store and buy some more”, does my wife think i am literally going to go put on my sneakers and “run” to the store? or if i grab my car keys and drive to the store to buy the milk, did i lie to my wife by saying i was going to “run” to the store?

Christians have always been able to count to three and Jewish opponents of Christianity can count to three as well and they never attack the Friday death, Sunday rising from the dead belief. NEVER!

here for those under false teaching is how Jesus three days and three nights was fulfilled:

6th day of the week from 3:00 to sundown - day one
sabbath day - day two
1st day of the week anytime from sundown but before dawn - day three

this is the Apostolic FAITH taught for 2,000 and received by the eyewitnesses to the events.

one example, “religionist” Justin Martyr, taught by those who received the faith directly from the Apostles, wrote this 50 some years after the death of the Apostle John:

But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples... (First Apology 67)

This “religionist” loved Jesus so much, he was killed for his faith. What he wrote is the Apostolic FAITH and lines up perfectly with Luke 24.

one more thing, what’s with objecting to the word “Easter”?
whether we call that day Easter, or Tree or Gym or Mat, it is still the day the Church sets aside to celebrate the day when Jesus conquered death by walking out of the grave ON THE THIRD DAY, just as He said He would. a rose by any other name smells just as sweet!
the opponents of the historical, orthodox Christian Faith have a problem with the name Easter, because they don’t believe the Apostolic Faith believed by Christians for 2,000 years. just another weapon in Satan’s arsenal.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Pastor Arnold did not believe in ONE God in THREE coequal, coeternal PERSONS, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
this makes Pastor Arnold a FALSE PROPHET, whether he is alive today, died yesterday or died 100 years ago. A FALSE PROPHET is a FALSE PROPHET.
Jesus told us false prohets would arise and fool many and Pastor Arnold did just that. He did not believe nor accept the historical, orthodox Christian Faith. From the little research i have been able to uncover, he seemed like a very confused man.
Is it true he also taught that Satan had sex with Eve to produce Cain?

[Uri’el-2012]

On the third day, there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee …"?

The "third day" is speaking of the day
of double blessing in Genesis 1.

The marriage at Cana is where Yah'shua changed
the "Ashes of the Red Heifer" of Numbers 19
(used for healing) to wine ( signifying His blood).

Marriage as a metaphor of His relationship to His Bride.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[Uri’el-2012]

I also agree with the time frame as it related to the Daniel prophecy of when “Messiah will be cut off”

Contrary to the speculation of the authors,
Daniel's prophesy is clearly laid out for all to read
pointing to the exact date of the crucifixion.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[Uri’el-2012]

‘three days and three nights’ from the 14th of Nisan to the 17th of Nisan,

The seventeenth of Nisan is the date
of new beginnings of Noah.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[editor-surveyor]

There is no counting from any equinox in the kingdom of Yehova.

The death of his son is celebrated at Passover, the 15th day of the month of the Aviv. That is 15 days after the new moon that occurs when the barley is Aviv. (meaning sufficiently ripened to be ready to grind flour 14 days later)

This never has anything whatsoever to do with the pagan equinox celebration called Easter.
.

[editor-surveyor]

Yeshua was crucified late on a “wednesday” afternoon on the 14th day of the Biblical month of the Aviv.

He was placed in the tomb just before the sun set at the beginning of Passover, the 15th day of the Aviv, and lay in the tomb three nights and three days as the sign of Jonah the prophet required, and rose at sunset, the end of the sabbath, on what you would call Saturday evening, many hours before either Sunday, or sunrise.

Christians are not sun worshipers, and do not celebrate sunrises, nor equinoxes.
.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

one question:

was the first day of the week the third day since Jesus was crucified, died and buried?

that can be answered either yes or no.