Religious Article 12

THE GOOD FRIDAY MYTH

The belief that Jesus died on a Friday and resurrected the following Sunday morning has been such an enduring tradition within Christianity for nearly two millennia that the idea of questioning whether it's true or not seems almost blasphemous. After all, the Bible insists Jesus died on the eve of the Sabbath and the tomb was discovered the following Sunday morning empty of his corpse, so what room is there to question the Gospel timeline? It seems to be one of the most clearly established facts in the Bible and, some would say, in history. But is it really true? This is not to question whether the resurrection literally occurred; that's another question entirely. The issue we need to look at is whether Jesus really died on Good Friday as legend insists and, more importantly, why it's important whether he did or not.

The Three Day Dilemma
The problem is that if Jesus was crucified on a Friday afternoon and rose again shortly after dawn on Sunday, he was mistaken when he is recorded in Matthew's gospel as claiming that just as the Old Testament prophet Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, he would spend three days and three nights in the "heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:40.) Jesus here clearly implies three twenty four hour periods, whereas Friday afternoon to Sunday morning are not three days, but two nights and one full day, with small bits of two other days on either end.

Some scholars circumvent this problem by claiming that Jews counted any part of a day—even if only a few minutes—as a complete day; therefore, if Jesus died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday, he technically rose on the "third day," at least informally. Additionally, since the Sabbath always falls on a Saturday, by default that makes Friday the only logical (or possible) day he could have died. If that is the case, however, then what are we to make of Jesus' own words which clearly allude to not three metaphorical or "partial" days, but a full 72 hours? Either Jesus was wrong, or the belief that he actually died on Good Friday is wrong. No other option appears to present itself.

It only remains a dilemma, however, until we do a bit of research. A careful study of the gospel accounts and some knowledge of the Jewish holiday of Passover (Pesach) goes far in helping us clear up this quandary, as well brings considerable logic and consistency to the entire Gospel account.

The Passover Celebration
First, a little background. Passover is one of the two holiest of Jewish holidays (the other being Yom Kippur) that celebrates a time thousands of years earlier when God, in an effort to force the Pharaoh of Egypt into allowing the Hebrew people to leave Egypt, had his angels slay the first-borne son of every household in the land of Egypt. Only those who had coated the doorstop of their homes with the blood of a sacrificial lamb were spared God's retribution, with the result being that Pharaoh finally had had enough and allowed the Hebrew slaves their freedom. The term "Passover" then, comes from the fact that the angels of death "passed over" those Jewish households that were obedient to Moses command to adorn their doorstops. In effect, it is a celebration designed to recognize God's provision for his people and his protection.

In ancient times—and to a large extent today—Passover was celebrated for a full eight days, and was a time when devout Jews from across the land made an annual pilgrimage to the Great Temple in Jerusalem to sacrifice animals in remembrance of God's efforts on behalf of His people to free them from slavery. It was also seen as the one time of the year the high priests were able to make atonement for the sins of all the people—the blood sacrifices being seen as a modern attempt to avert God's wrath by having him "pass over" the land and so spare the people from the punishment they felt their wickedness deserved. In effect, it was an effort to get God to overlook the Jew's various sins for one more year and bring them another year of continued peace and prosperity.

The "High" Sabbath
The Jews were very careful about keeping track of the various festivals and holy days that were mandated by their forefathers, and Passover was no exception. It wasn't performed just any old time it was convenient, but had to celebrated on the proper date, which was, at least according to the Jewish calendar, the 15th of Nisan. A day set aside as a time for fasting, prayer, and introspection, it would have begun at sunset and lasted until sunset of the next day. Also like a regular Sabbath, it would have been referred to as such, though it would have been prefaced (as it is in John 19:31) by being called a "special" or "high" Sabbath.

Now is where the fun begins, for like our own Christmas Day, the 15th of Nisan is a floating holiday that can fall on any day of the week (with the exception of Friday, which the Jewish calender manages to circumvent through a bit of sleight-of-hand). Were it to fall on any day other than Saturday, which it usually did, it meant a week would contain more than one Sabbath day. In fact, since the last two days of the holiday were also considered Sabbath days as well, one might find as many as four Sabbaths occurring within an eight day period. That Jesus was crucified on the eve of "the Sabbath," as clearly noted in all four Gospels, then doesn't demand that the Sabbath necessarily be on a Saturday or mandate that he die on a Friday. Indeed, since it could fall on any day of the week (except Friday as already noted) the Sabbath eve could be any day over the entire Passover Week.

So when was this Passover High Sabbath during the time of Jesus? We can't be certain. Converting the ancient Jewish calendar (which uses 360 days and several leap days to fill in the gaps) into our modern calendar equivalent is no easy task. The Romans were using the inaccurate Julian calendar back then, which was converted into our modern Gregorian calendar in 1582. In doing this, some 14 days turned up missing, and even then these were only partially accounted for in later adjustments. (NOTE: one excellent source available on the internet to figure Jewish dates can be found at http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/.) As such, determining which day of the week Passover fell 2,000 years ago can only be guessed at.

However, a bit of research does show that, according to best estimates, in 30 A.D., the Passover fell on a Thursday (approximately the 5th of April—actually, dusk of the 4th—by our calendar). This may be off, but even if it is, it remains likely the holiday did fall on a Thursday at some point between 30 and 33 A.D.—the most likely years of Jesus' crucifixion. As the Jewish "day" actually begins at dusk of the previous day, this would place Jesus' crucifixion on a Wednesday afternoon, with a late Wednesday afternoon burial (prior to sunset, when all work—including burying the dead—would have to cease). Then, assuming a Saturday afternoon resurrection (another "regular" Sabbath) followed by a Sunday morning discovery of the empty tomb gives us our 72 hours, precisely as Jesus predicted in Matthew.

The Women at the Tomb
While this may seem a trivial point to many people, I submit it is more important than it appears at first glance, for it does clear up many loose ends that would be left otherwise dangling . Perhaps the most important purpose it serves is that it brings some logic to the Gospel accounts, especially in explaining the order of events in a more comprehensive and plausible manner. For example, the Gospel accounts state that the women who were to be the first to discover the empty tomb had come to Jesus' tomb at dawn of Sunday morning specifically to anoint his body with aloes and special spices as prescribed by Jewish custom (which had not been performed at the time of his burial due to the haste at which it was done). Now such special items were not standard fare in the average Jewish home, nor were they inexpensive. The women had to allocate the funds to purchase these items, collect them, and then travel as a group to the tomb. If Jesus was buried on Friday evening and the next day was the Sabbath, when no buying or traveling was permitted, then when would the woman have had the opportunity to acquire the required materials? Obviously, they wouldn't have been able to unless there were a day in the sequence of events during which the markets were open. Only a regular, business-as-usual Friday sandwiched between two Sabbath days (Thursday and Saturday) would have made it possible, further strengthening the position that Jesus died on a Wednesday evening. No other position seems to hold together sequentially.

The Importance of the Date
While I admit the precise day of Jesus' crucifixion and burial may not seem a major point to most people, and I admit it is only an interesting sidebar to the real significance of the entire drama, it does demonstrate how tradition (Good Friday) can often supersede the gospel narratives themselves. As a result, today we find many Christians trying to reconcile how a Friday afternoon crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection equals "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" when all that is necessary to clear up the mystery is a careful reading of the text and some rudimentary knowledge of Jewish religious observances and customs. The Bible really does reward those who pay attention to the details, it seems.

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