What day was Jesus Crucified??

According to the Bible, the events of the lives of the Jews that were recorded in the Old Testament were recorded so that we as Christians would understand certain examples of how to live the Christian Life and the meaning of God’s plan for believers. While the ultimate meaning of these events was a mystery to the Jews, we as Christians have the fulfilled and finished Word of God revealed to us through Scripture.

In 1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

It is necessary to examine the events of the distant past to come to the truth on what I believe is a serious subject related to Easter, Passover, and on just what day did Jesus die on the cross.

What I want to examine in this paper, is the relationship of the Passover to Christ’s death, and to settle the question once and for all: What day of the week was Jesus Christ crucified? Some don’t think this is important. I believe ANY doctrine that involves the Lord Jesus Christ IS important, and we should strive to be accurate. To do this, we must look at what God said of His feasts known to us as Passover and the Feast of First Fruits.

The Passover was the Feast instituted by God to teach the Jews of the coming final judgment against Egypt that would end in the release from slavery for the Jewish people. God told Moses that He would come down about midnight to kill the entire first born of Egypt:

Exodus 11: 4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

God told the Israelites He would kill the entire first born. God, however, told Israel that there was a way that they could escape punishment from this death, To do so, God instituted the Feast of the Passover; meaning a Feast of celebration and remembrance of the Day that God Passed Over them, leaving them alive, but Killing all the first born of Egypt and of those who did NOT follow God’s instructions.

In the Book of Exodus, we read of the Passover, the first Holiday commanded by God as given to the Jewish people.

Exodus 12 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Note here, that God declared this Holiday so profound, that the month that it was in, was to mark the beginning of a new year for the Jewish people. The month to celebrate the Passover was to now be the first month. The Jewish people in the start of their year were being told to remember God in a wonderful way.

3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

This is a significant point. The LAMB of the Passover must have been selected previously in order that the Jewish people knew they had a perfect lamb for this feast day, but it was this day, the 10th, that it was to be declared to be THE LAMB, the one they would sacrifice and eat.

6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

For 4 days, this LAMB was known to be THE LAMB until it was killed and eaten for the Passover. The Jewish day began at Sundown, so it was the 3rd day after the presentation that this LAMB was to be killed, to be eaten at the beginning of the Passover Day, which began at 6PM. This means that in order to have the LAMB killed and prepared for the meal at 6PM, the LAMB had to be killed beforehand. Jewish tradition is that the LAMB was killed around 3PM on the 13th of the month, dressed, and prepared for the Passover meal immediately after 6PM, the beginning of the Passover on the 14th.

7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

Note here that the entire animal was to be eaten. Nothing was to remain. It had to be a total acceptance of the LAMB as a meal. The Jewish people were not to eat just the legs, or just the ribs, but the entire animal. This was the lesson taught to the Jewish people. God said to eat it all, and let none remain, and if your family was too small to at it all, have friends over to help you finish it.

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Note here that after the Passover, there was to be deliverance. The people were to be ready, to move, to act on what God said, fully clothed, and with your shoes on. God was coming to enact judgment! What is also interesting, is that those who were obedient to God, would not have this judgment upon them, they would be PASSED OVER. God’s judgment would not affect them if they put the blood over their doorway in the manner God said. It was to be over the top and along the sides.

Some have said that the manner in which the blood was put on the doorway, was to brush the top post horizontally, and the side posts vertically. But notice something else from this verse:

7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

If a person just takes his hyssop branch and strikes the side posts and upper post, he would leave a mark of blood, but where would this mark be when we look at it? If a person is told to just walk up to a doorpost and told to leave a mark with a brush, that person will most likely leave a mark about shoulder high or chest high. If you told them to leave a mark on something overhead that they can reach, they will make a mark generally in the center. Imagine a doorway where someone told you to leave a mark on the posts on the side and one on the overhead beam, and what would these marks tend to form? A visual image might appear to the natural eye, forming a cross within the doorway that you just marked!

Leviticus 23 23:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. 3 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. 4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

It is important to note, here, that Sabbath Days were Holy Days, there was to be NO WORK done on those days. These days were to be HOLY UNTO THE LORD, DAYS OF REST, Days spent in prayer and worship.

6 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. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 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.

Note here something significant: The first Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a HOLY DAY, it is a Sabbath. The rules apply to this day as to other days concerning the Sabbath regarding work, travel, and all behavior.

All this is leading up to something that has affected the Church for two centuries. All my childhood, I was taught that Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross was on a Friday, but is this what the Bible teaches? I believe that Jesus Christ was Crucified on Wednesday, the 13th, on the Day of preparation, the same day and about the same time as the lambs that were about to be eaten for the Passover meal.

In order to examine this, we need to go over again, from the Bible, the events that lead up to Christ’s Atoning death on the cross.

Matthew 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.

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Luke 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

What is obvious here, is that Jesus arose on the first day of the week, Sunday. We Christians know this as Easter Sunday. We Christians believe this is our Holiest Day for it is the day that Christ arose to prove the power of Christ over death. This power over death is what we look forward to as believers, to be with Christ in eternity, arisen with Him in new resurrected bodies.

In order to examine what day Jesus died, though, we obviously need to dig deeper. John the Baptist announced the Lord Jesus Christ to the world when Christ’s official ministry began at His baptism.

John 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Note that Jesus is called the LAMB OF GOD. We have seen earlier, that it was a LAMB that was to be chosen to be sacrificed for the feast known as PASSOVER. John called Jesus THE LAMB OF GOD. If the Passover LAMB was to be a type of Christ, then there should be a connection between the death of the Lamb in the Passover feast and Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross.

The purpose of Christ’s death was foreshadowed in the death of the Passover Lamb:

Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

Christians understand the meaning of this as the Egyptians are the representing of Sin in the Believers life. When a person is Born Again, they pass under the Blood, they are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross for our sins, that we are no longer servants of sin, but alive unto God.

(Rom 6:17 KJV) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

(1 Pet 1:18 KJV) 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Being a slave in Egypt is likened to being a slave to sin. When a person is Born Again, they are released from this bondage, being now a child of God. They are to approach this life with their clothes fully on, and their shoes on, just like the Jews were told to eat the Passover meal, fully clothed, and with their shoes on their feet, ready to move, ready to live for God. While the Believer will still suffer temptation and still sin, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for their sin, and the bondage of eternal punishment is over.

Knowing all this, what can we expect to find concerning Christ’s relation to the Passover? The Passover Lamb was presented to the people on the 10th day of the month. The Bible tells us this concerning what day Jesus was ‘Presented’ to the people of the land of Israel which we call PALM SUNDAY. However, we can determine other things from the Bible, and prove what day of the week Jesus was Crucified for our sins.

John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

Muslims laugh at you! Find the error in their argument hint (premise).

Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

What they fail to see is that the verse isn't comparing the state of the individual, it's comparing where they were. AS Jonah was IN the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights, SO shall the son of man be in the earth 3 days and 3 nights.

They're argument is like saying that that because Jesus wasn't thrown in the water and swallowed by a whale like Jonah means he isn't the messiah. A bad argument in my opinion.

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