Not so Good Friday

Growing up in a Christian (not Catholic) school, Good Friday was a day off.  We didn’t have Spring vacation, we had Easter vacation.  Easter, in the Christian community, is considered the Holiest day of all, the day Christ rose from the dead.  As a child, I never understood why the Friday before Easter was called “good,” if that was the day Christ was executed.  What could be good about that?  As an adult, I understand the good that came from His death and resurrection.  I also no longer believe that the slaying of Christ occurred on a Friday. 

I was taught that the Crucifixion took place on the day before Sabbath, and since the Sabbath takes place beginning at sundown on Friday, that meant Christ died on Friday afternoon.  Math was taught at my school, and for the life of me, I just couldn’t get Friday night and Saturday night to add up to three nights in the tomb.  (Matt. 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.)  Jesus Himself said that, and I knew He wasn’t confused about how long He’d be dead.  Were the grown-ups wrong, I wondered?  Was that even possible, all these people who knew more than me?  Yes, I was pretty naive.  Logic and common sense told me that He would have to have been crucified on Thursday, period.  But, if He was placed in the tomb just before the start of the Sabbath, which occurred at sundown Friday, where was the missing day?  Confusing, no?  What happened between Thursday afternoon, and Friday’s sundown?  It took me many years, but I found out.

(Num 28:16 ‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD’S Passover.) (Lev. 23:5 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover.) [The first month of the Jewish calendar is now called Nisan.]

The Passover was a Special Sabbath.  It was to take place on the 14th day of the 1st month.  So, if the 14th of Nisan occurred on a Wednesday at sundown, you would have a special Wednesday Sabbath, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place on Thursday the 15th, and then there was the standard Sabbath at sundown on Friday.  We know Christ ate the Passover supper, and later that night he was arrested and put on trial.  We know the following day he was crucified, and that He died before sundown - which would have been the 15th, the day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  (Num. 28: 17 ‘On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.) (Lev. 23:6 ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.)  So, He had to be buried before the Feast began, Thursday.  It all fits nicely now.  I don’t know why I was taught that Passover had to have occurred at sundown on Friday.  In Jewish custom, if Passover falls on the regular Sabbath, it is moved up 2 days.  To Wednesday.  It’s important to note that the special-ness of this Sabbath is mentioned in Scripture.  (Jn. 19:31a Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day),)  It wasn’t just your ordinary Friday Sabbath, it was a Special Sabbath during the middle of the week. 

I know, I know, what difference does all this make anyway?  For me, it matters because I believe it’s important - no, critical - to know why we believe what we believe.  Growing up, the most frequent answer I received for most questions I had was “You just have to have faith,” or “That’s just what we believe.”  I am firmly convinced that if we don’t question our beliefs, and find answers for them, then it’s all too easy to be led like sheep and fall for anything that sounds good, or feels good.  I never wanted to simply be a follower.  I wanted to know what I was following and why.  In reality, it’s not that important what day Christ was crucified on, it’s important simply that He was crucified, that He died, and rose from the dead.  But I couldn’t get past the Friday-Sunday thing somehow equaling 3 days and nights, so I had to find the answer to the question I had.  I never really did buy the Friday thing - now I know why. 

Holidays and observances in Nisan

• 14 Nisan - Fast of the Firstborn - on 12 Nisan when the 14th falls on Shabbat

Holiday observances

In Israel, Passover lasts for seven days with the first and last days being major holidays. In Orthodox and Conservative communities, no work is performed and most of the observances of Shabbat are adhered to. A Seder is held on the first day.

Pesach — Passover

Main article: Passover

• Erev Pesach and Fast of the Firstborn known as “Ta’anit Bechorim” — 14 Nisan
• Passover/Pesach (פסח) (first two days) — 15 (and 16) Nisan
• The “Last days of Passover”, known as Acharon shel Pesach, are also a holiday commemorating K’riat Yam Suf, the Passage of the Red Sea. — 21 (and 22) Nisan
• The semi-holiday days between the “first days” and the “last days” of Passover are known as Chol Hamo’ed, referred to as the “Intermediate days”.

Pesach (Passover) commemorates the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt. No leavened food is eaten during the week of Pesach, in commemoration of the fact that the Jews left Egypt so quickly that their bread did not have enough time to rise.

The first seder begins at sundown on the 15th of Nisan, and the second seder is held on the night of the 16th of Nisan. On the second night, Jews start counting the omer. The counting of the omer is a count of the days from the time they left Egypt until the time they arrived at Mount Sinai.

 

 

 

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