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Part One: The Sabbath Resurrection
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Chapter One: The Sabbath Resurrection
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§17
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, approximately the day known
in the English language as Saturday (see
Fig. 3). According to the Bible, the Sabbath is God's day of
rest, on which all men are to cease from their daily labor and come and
assemble to worship Him. Also, the day is a time for remembering
God's acts of creation. It lasts from sunset on Friday to sunset
on Saturday.
§18
The Creator rested on the seventh day as an example for man to follow.
Man was to rest on every succeeding Sabbath. Unfortunately, man sinned,
and as a result he disregarded God's day. However, God had a solution
for the sin problem, and we are told about it in the four gospels.
The Messiah died in the place of man so that man might be forgiven.
Three days and three nights later, another example was set by God when
he raised the Messiah from the dead, an example of redemption.
§19
We have just said that the Messiah (or Christ) was raised from the dead
on the Sabbath day. Man, however, has replaced the Sabbath with the
Sunday, at first called, "the day of the Sun," and later "the venerable
day of the Sun." Sunday is now the most important day of the week
to most of the human race.
§20
How has this deception come about? The prophet predicts just such
a type of deception as this:
How
do ye say, "We are wise, and the Law of the Yahweh is with us? Behold!
The false pen of the scribes have made it into a lie! (Jeremiah 8:8)
§21
Amazingly enough, this very prophecy has been fulfilled to the letter.
Scholars (modern day scribes) have arrived at the point where they regularly
mistranslate all of the resurrection passages. This was not always
the case. Older translations translate the passages correctly, and
we will catalogue some of these in more detail later.
§22
One of the resurrection passages modern scribes mistranslate is Luke 24:1.
The King James Version states:
"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" (Luke 24:1).
From this, it seems obvious that the women arrived at the tomb on the first
day of the week, which is called Sunday, and it is assumed that the resurrection
took place the same morning after sunrise.
§23
However, the King James, just quoted above, fails to faithfully represent
the original Greek text. The original text reads, in Greek, 
It translates, preserving as much of the King James as possible, "Now upon
the first of the Sabbaths."
§24
The Greek does not explicitly contain the word "day," nor is the usual
translation of 
"week." Rather, it is "Sabbaths."
§25
Thus, it does appear that the Sabbath should have a place in the resurrection
narrative. Indeed, the Greek wordis
the only word in Greek that can be translated "Sabbaths," but the King
James has falsely rendered it "week," a meaning which the word never has.
The King James even ignored good grammar, otherwise it would be translated
"weeks," as the word is plural in Greek.
§26
Which of the Sabbaths did the Messiah rise on? The text says, "the
first." But what Sabbath is the "first Sabbath"? Before
this question is answered, we must focus on the idea of the Sabbath itself,
in this text at Luke 24:1. Who can honestly deny that the Greek really
reads, "first of the Sabbaths," thus indicating the Sabbath day?
The text does say "the Sabbath," and since it says "the Sabbath", the burden
of proof shifts to those who would make it say something else.
But the trail does not end here.
§27
Beside Luke 24:1, Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, and John 20:1, 19
also clearly indicate the Sabbath day as the day of the resurrection.
Every one contains the word Sabbath in a fashion similar to Luke
24:1. But which Sabbath is the first? Johnston Cheney, who
believes the resurrection was on Sunday, inadvertently divulges the needed
answer in his discussion of Luke 6:1.
"Seven
sabbaths were to be counted from the Feast of First-fruits or Passover.
Consequently, these came to be known as "First Sabbath," "Second Sabbath"
etc., down to the seventh. And according to Julian Morgenstern, former
President of Hebrew University, this practice continued in Galilee till
the time of Christ or the Common Era. It is still observed by some
groups in Palestine today. Thus, there was an annual date known as
"First Sabbath," just after Passover" (The Life of Christ in Stereo,
by Johnston M. Cheney, pg. 230, Western Convservative Baptist Seminary).
§28
Let me repeat that last sentence, "There was an annual date known as "First
Sabbath," just after Passover.§66 Since a
total of seven Sabbaths were counted, the phrase, "first of the Sabbaths"
will also clearly indicate this "First Sabbath." Keep in mind that
the Greek text reads "first of the Sabbaths,"§67
and that the English texts which deviate from this by translating "first
day of the week," are, therefore, without any authority.
§29
Imagine a calendar in front of you, and the teacher says, "Mark the first
of the Mondays on your calendar for each month. On those 12 days
we will have a special speaker." Now think about seven Sabbaths
in a row, and someone says, "this is the first of the Sabbaths," and points
to the first one in the series on his calendar. The women went
to the tomb on this first Sabbath.
§30
If the Messiah rose from the dead on the Sabbath, then it is impossible
that he should have died on a Friday. For such a chronology would
imply only one night, Friday night, and we know from Matthew 12:40 that
he would be in the tomb "three nights."
§31
Let us digress for a moment. The traditional Friday-Sunday chronology
is dealt a fatal blow by this truth. It has only two nights.
But the Bible does not teach that two equals three. That teaching
is a human one. If the traditional view has two ends, Friday and
Sunday, then both ends are in error. Christ did not die on Friday,
and Christ did not rise on a Sunday. That theory is a bridge burning
at both ends.
§32
But Christ having risen from the dead on the Sabbath implies a day other
than Friday for his death. Let us, then, count backwards three days,
and three nights from the Sabbath. If we do this, then we will come
back to Wednesday, the 4th day of the week, for the death of Christ.
§33
In figure 4
the matter is shown in the form of a diagram. The black represents
a night and the yellow a day. The days and nights are numbered.
In one case we count part of a day as a whole number, and in one case we
count part of a night as a whole number. Christ died late in the
afternoon on the day of his death, and was buried before sunset.
The remaining part of a day is counted as a whole number. Christ
rose just before sunrise on the day of his resurrection (see John 20:1).
The third night is thus almost a whole night, but we count it as a whole
number.
§34
This procedure of counting part of a day or night as a whole number is
not just a Semetic idiom. (And it is amply illustrated in other passages
of the Bible.) It is also a western one. We say "it was three
days" in a situation where it is physically part of a day, a day, and part
of a day. On the other hand, the procedure is always to count any
contiguous unit of daytime or nighttime by one whole number. The
whole number represents a segment of daytime, or a segment of nighttime.
The whole number does not represent a whole day.
§35
When Matthew 12:40 says "three days," it means three units of continuous
daylight. It does not tell us whether the daylight periods are all
a full 12 hours. This is due to the fact that the word "day" means
any time when the sun is up and shining. The same is true for the
nights. I say this because some teach that Christ had to be in the
grave a full 72 hours, which is impossible because he rose in the morning,
not in the afternoon at the same time he died and was buried, which would
imply 4 days, not 3. Christ was not still dead when the women arrived
at the tomb in the morning on the first Sabbath.
§36
We have now shown that seven texts prove fatal to the Friday-Sunday chronology;
Matthew 12:40, Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19.
We must now dispose of a few objections that are often brought up to counter
the teaching of these texts. And then we will go on to discuss
some more texts at variance with the traditional chronology.
§37
Christ died on the day of preparation. But Friday, the 6th day of
the week, was the preparation day. Proponents of the traditional
view strenuously argue that the word preparation means "Friday."
The word in Greek is 
In fact, the word is first used in this sense in an early work called The
Martyrdom of Polycarp, 7.1 in c.e. 156. All other cases before
this, which I know of, use the word in its generic sense meaning "to prepare
something." For example, the same word is used in the Septuagint
to mean, "preparation for war," where clearly, it does not mean Friday.
An extensive study of the word will show that the translators have not
erred in giving the word the meaning "preparation".
§37.1
This argument, which I will call the "preparation" argument, is one which
its proponents seek to give absolute force by denying that the word means
anything but Friday in the first century. To justly claim that a
word has only one possible meaning, it is necessary to examine its every
use. For there are exceptions to every rule. And I do not think
that those who use this argument have examined its every use. It
is not even possible to examine its every use. So the question becomes,
"What is the probable meaning of the word?"
§37.2
If we look up the word in a standard Bible Dictionary, we find that other
scholars, who are not so interested in proving the traditional view, admit
that "preparation" can have another meaning than Friday; "In its meaning
of a definite day of preparation, it is used of the day preceding
the weekly sabbath and the day which prepares for the annual Jewish Passover
festival" (The New Bible Dictionary, Tyndale House, 1962).
So the "preparation" is not just the day before the weekly Sabbath.
It also designates the day of preparation before the Passover. So
the word does not just mean "Friday". It also means the day before
the Passover.
§37.3
The way language is used is the best clue to its meaning. Every year
at Passover time we prepare for it, and the day before the Passover we
call "preparation". By this word we mean that the day is used to
prepare for the Passover. Used alone the word might mean the
preparation for the weekly Sabbath, or it might mean the preparation for
the Passover. But the gospel of John does not leave the matter ambiguous.
John 19:14 states, "And it was the preparation of the passover."
§37.4
The Passover could fall on any day of the week. In 1993, for example,
the Passover falls from sunset 4/7 to sunset 4/8 on the 5th day of the
week, which would be Thursday§68.1. The day
before becomes the preparation day for the Passover. So all the passages
in the gospels which mention "preparation" mean the day before the Passover,
and not the day before the weekly Sabbath.
§37.5
Having disposed of the Friday preparation argument above, we now turn to
another argument fatal to the Friday-Sunday chronology. The Messiah
said he would rise "after three days" in Mark 8:31, 9:31, and 10:34.
Well, Friday afternoon to Sunday morning is simply not "after three days"
(see Fig. 4.5).
.
§38
If we take the day to begin and end at sunset, then Sunday morning brings
us to only "after two days," and if we take the day to begin and end at
sunrise, the result is the same. Even with the midnight to midnight
reckoning for a day, the result is the same. It would only be after
two days. The only way for it to be after three days is to cheat,
by changing the definition of when a day begins and ends, in the middle
of the problem, or to be linguistically crafty and use a definition 
of
that does not fit the context (see §68.35).
§39
On the other hand, if Christ died on the fourth day of the week, the problem
is neatly solved (see
figure 5): The dots mark the burial and resurrection of
Christ. But Christ also said he would rise from the dead on "the
third day" (I Cor. 15:4). How is this also possible? Yayshua
made this statement on a different occasion, and when he made it, he was
thinking in terms of the common day. The common day begins at sunrise
and ends at sunrise (see Fig. 6). It is the counterpart to the standard
day which begins and ends at sunset.
.
.
§40
The use of the common day is explained by Samuele Bacchiocchi:
A
host of scholars have for many years argued for the existence in Biblical
times of two methods of reckoning the day: one from sunset to sunset and
the other from sunrise to sunrise (pg. 58, The Time of the Crucifixion
and the Resurrection).
Furthermore, Yayshua and his parents spent some time in Egypt, where they
would have become familiar with the Egyptian day, which begins and ends
at sunrise. If so, then Yayshua could easily have had the common
day in mind. The use of the common day is also illustrated in the
instructions for the day of atonement in Lev. 23:32, "Ye shall afflict
your souls in the ninth day of the month." The day of atonement was
the 10th standard day of the month, but here we see that it is the ninth
day, which it appears can only be reconciled if the night following the
daytime part of the ninth day is included in the ninth day (i.e. a common
day is in use, figure
6).
The sons of Israel who came out of Egypt were familiar with the Egyptian
common day (see Julian Morgenstern, Hebrew Union College Annual, 10 (1935),
pp. 15-28; 20 (1947), pp. 34-38), which explains why Lev. 23:32 defines
the day of atonement as beginning on the ninth day. "This clarification
was apparently needed because, as Finegan points out, 'in making the shift
from a morning reckoning to an evening reckoning, the "day" was in fact
moved back so that it began half a day earlier than had been the case previously.'"
(Bacchiocchi, ibid., pg. 69).
It should be noted, that the daylight portion of the xth common day is
always the same as the daylight portion of the xth standard day.
The only question is as to which night, the one before a day, or the one
after a day, is being associated with the day.
§41
To apply this to Yayshua's statement that he would rise on "the third day,"
we need to use the common day, and not the standard day. (See
Fig. 7). Again, note that the common day is from sunrise to sunrise,
and that the dots represent the death and resurrection of Christ,
respectively.
§42
The resurrection of Yayshua occurred before sunrise on the Sabbath day.
This is clearly implied in John 20:1, "And on the first of the Sabbaths
Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb, while it was still dark, and sees the
stone moved away from the tomb." If it is "still dark" we may presume
that the sun was not yet risen, and the stone having been moved implies
that Yayshua had already risen from the dead. The traditional view,
on this account, fails doubly (see Fig. 8). It has only two
days and two nights. It cannot be after 3 days, and it cannot be
on the 3rd day according to the common day.
.
.
§43
It can be "on the third day" according to the standard day, but this is
small consolation in the light of the other contradictions the traditional
view creates. Two days and two nights is simply not three days and
three nights. After two days is simply not after three days.
The first of the Sabbaths is simply not a Sunday.
§44
Another objection we now need to answer is the frequent claim that the
Passover was never called "the Sabbath." The gospels plainly tell
us that Yayshua died on the day before "the Sabbath." It is argued
that this can only be the weekly Sabbath. However, both the day of
Atonement and the Passover are called "Sabbath" by the scripture.
And, in fact, the Passover holy day is called "The Sabbath," with
the definite article. The text we refer to is Leviticus 23:11, "And
he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: in the
time following the sabbath the priest shall wave it." The Hebrew
text also reads, "the sabbath." This Sabbath, mentioned here, was
understood by the Rabbis, the Septuagint, the Targums, Philo of Alexandria,
and Josephus to be the Passover holy day, and it is still interpreted this
way to this very day.
§45
The traditionalist claim that the Passover was not called "the Sabbath,"
is based upon the interpretation of the Sadducees, who denied the sheaf
was to be waved on the 16th of Abib. They are contradicted in this
by Joshua 5:11-12, which has the Israelites eating new grain on the 16th
of Abib.§68 The Passover was called, "the
Sabbath," and the day of Atonement, "your Sabbath" (Lev. 23:32).
In addition, the day of Atonement is also called a Sabbath of Sabbaths,
or a Sabbath of solemn rest. Another designation for these Sabbaths
is "great Sabbath," or "high day."
§46
John 19:31 clarifies the matter, "The Judeans therefore, because it was
the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the tree§68.2
on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate
that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."
The preparation is that of the Passover (John 19:14), and John plainly
tells us that the following Sabbath was a "high day."
§47
This means that there were two Sabbaths in the week of our Lord's death
and resurrection. The first one was the Passover Sabbath, and the
second one was the weekly Sabbath after the Passover:
§48
Matthew also distinguishes between these two Sabbaths in his account of
the resurrection. He writes, "And on the latter of the Sabbaths,
at dawn on the first of the Sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
came to see the tomb" (Matthew 28:1). The "latter of the Sabbaths"
is the second of the two Sabbaths (see
Fig. 9), that is, the weekly Sabbath. We have noted before that
this Sabbath was also called "the first" with respect to the other 6 which
follow it. We will go into this more, later (see §246-255).
Matthew is very precise, and he gives a dual reckoning for the resurrection
Sabbath. First he calls it "the latter," and then he calls it "the
first."
§49
But note the word "latter". This word in Greek is
,
and its use by Matthew, in this passage, has baffled scholars for centuries.
It usually means "late," or "later." In sequences of events in time,
it would indicate the "later" event. Compare the compound 
,
found in Liddell and Scott. They cite an example where it means "later-born,
i.e. younger". Our contention is that 
simply means, "later Sabbath," or "later of Sabbaths." This is a
much more plausible explanation than the suggestion that
should mean "after," here. So, according to Matthew, the women went
to the tomb on the "later" Sabbath. But he also calls this the "first
of the Sabbaths," and we will return to this subject (see §246-255).
§50
Directions for the seven Sabbaths, of which the resurrection day was the
first, are found in Leviticus 23:15. The King James reads, "And ye
shall count unto you from the time after the sabbath, from the day that
ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:"
The time after the sabbath is the day after the Passover holy day.
All the sources which interpret Lev. 23:11 as the Passover Sabbath also
interpret the time after the sabbath as the day after the Passover holy
day.
§51
Hence, beginning after the Passover Sabbath, seven Sabbaths were to be
counted out. It would go this way, "first of the sabbaths," "second
of the sabbaths," ... "seventh of the sabbaths." That this counting
was actually done in practice we have shown before (see §27).
The resurrection was on the first of these sabbaths.
§52
A further note on the definition of day: In Gen. 1:5, God calls the light
"day." This makes the primary definition of "day," the time between
lightrise and lightset, when the light is shining (remember the sunlight
did not replace the first light till the fourth day; see §513).
Likewise, the Hebrew definition of "night" is the period of darkness between
lightset and lightrise. The definition of "morning" corresponds exactly
to our English usage, i.e. the period from midnight to midday in the broadest
sense. Morning is that period of time in which the light is "rising,"
which technically begins when the light stops retreating at midnight (see
§532). Evening (in the Hebrew sense), begins at noon,
and ends at midnight. It is the period of time in which the light
is "setting" or retreating. That is why the Jews say "evening," when
the English say "afternoon".
§53
When a day is in view, the question is which night is going to be counted
with the day, the night before, or the night following. Only, when
a defined feast day, such as the Sabbath or Passover, is in view is the
matter settled. In that case, the night before goes with the day,
and is reckoned as part of the day.
.
The Spiritual Importance of the Sabbath Ressurection
§54
First and foremost, there is no better proof that the death and resurrection
of Yayshua actually happened than a correct history of it. If Satan
can succeed in confusing the facts, then he has a major weapon for sowing
doubts in the minds of people. This includes the chronological matters
of the question. Any intelligent attack upon the historicity of the
resurrection will also move to confuse the timing of the event as much
as possible, and so by this means to prepare the ground for doubt.§68.3
§55
The fact of the resurrection is one of the central pillars of the faith.
Pulling it out, or weakening it, is nothing less than an attack on the
good news of salvation. The same things can be said about the death
of the Messiah. For Paul wrote in I Cor. 15:1-8:
Now
I make known to you, brethren, the good news which I preached to you, which
also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved,
if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed
in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that the Anointed One died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according
to the Scriptures ...."
§56
Now notice the fact that Paul lists "died for our sins" in his list of
most important things first? This is because when the good news is
preached, it is preached "Repent and faithfully trust the good news," and
repentence requires turning from sin. For if we do not turn from
sin, then the death of the Anointed One is not efficacious. It has
no effect.
§57
Now Satan has viciously attacked each of these three elements, (1) the
timing of Messiah's death, (2) the timing of his resurrection, and (3)
the need for repentence in view of forgiveness of sins. By changing
the times, he sows doubt, and doubt sows unbelief. By changing the
Sabbath Resurrection to the Sunday Resurrection, he attacks the Sabbath,
and by attacking the Sabbath he attacks God's Law and the need for repentence.
By changing it to Sunday, he prepares the ground for idolatry, and idolatry
leads to perdition.
§58
Now, it is evident, that Satan has succeeded in his attack beyond the wildest
dreams of his human accomplices. For he has persuaded the world that
if they must entertain belief in the resurrection, that it was on Sunday,
and that if they must believe that Christ died, it was on Friday, and that
the meaning of his death is that we do not have to repent and keep God's
Laws!
§59
It is necessary to repent of known sin. Rebellion while believing
the intellectual 'facts' of the death and resurrection (Friday and Sunday
in most cases) does not cut it. Now, I am not saying that one has
to be perfect to be saved. That was the mistake that some Pharisees
made at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-4), by advocating that one had
to first keep the whole law to be saved. Rather we recognize that
that salvation is acomplished by Yayshua's death and resurrection, and
not by the Law. However, repentence of known sin is a necessary precondition
to the receiving of this salvation. Our works do not earn forgiveness,
but the pursuit of evil deeds can certainly keep us out of the kingdom
of God (Gal. 5:21).
§60
Now, the attack of Satan upon the good news begins with the most necessary
thing to the receiving and comprehending of the good news, repentence.
He undermines this truth craftily through the Sunday Resurrection, and
by teaching that a Sunday Resurrection implies the abolishment of the Law
(whether all of it, or just parts of it).
§61
Now, once Satan plants the Sunday Resurrection in the minds of men, he
can also better teach a Sunday Pentecost. For the Sabbath Resurrection
clearly refutes the Sunday Pentecost by counting the Sabbaths from the
day after the Passover rather than the day after the weekly Sabbath (see
§589.3-589.4).
§62
Is it any surprise that the feast days retained by the Church with some
connection to the Law are the Sunday Pentecost (viz. Shavuot), and Easter
Sunday (viz. Passover)? Out of these two errors the whole Church
calendar is built up.
.
The Messiahship of Yayshua
§63
Not only is the Sabbath Ressurection spiritually important for the sake
of repenting and believing the good news; it also establishes the Messiahship
of Yayshua in conjunction with Daniel's Prophecy concerning the coming
of Messiah (Dan. 9:24-27). The Sabbath Resurrection fixes the year
of Yayshua's death. Nehemiah fixes the beginning point of Daniel's
prophecy, which predicts exactly how many sabbatical years (sevens) it
will take for Messiah to come and atone for sin. And it all fits
together perfectly (see §93ff).
§64
Therefore, there is no greater predictive proof than this that Yayshua
is the the correct Messiah for God's people.
§65
Therefore, the Sabbath Resurrection and Daniel's Prophecy together, prove:
(1) Yayshua is the Messiah, (2) that the Law cannot be dismissed by reason
of a Sunday Resurrection. That is why understanding these things
is a powerful boost to any believers faith.
.
End Notes
§66
Bauer's Lexicon cites the "first Sabbath": "
the so-called first Sabbath PK 2, p. 14. 28." The
phrase translates: "sabbath, the one called first"; the Lexicon's
belittling "so-called" is not in the Greek.
§67
Paul Jewett notes that "first day of the week" is an "idiomatic translation"
which "is literally translated 'the one of the sabbath,' or 'of the Sabbaths'"
(pg. 75, The Lord's Day, pub. by Eerdmans, 1977). This reminds me
of a children's verse translated by a Sunday School teacher, "Jesus went
to Church on Sunday," as idiomatic for "Yayshua went into the synagouge
on the day of the sabbaths as was his custom" (Luke 4:4). Even if
it were idiomatic (which it is not), the essential truths in view to the
Greek ear would be hidden.
§68
See Keil and Delitzsch on Lev. 23:11-15, and on Josh. 5:11 (see §177-178;
§555-557; §608-610.
§68.1
This date is the astronomically correct one, not the Rabbinic date.
See the Feast Tables (1993-2014) for theory of the new moon.
§68.2
Literally, "pale," but not "cross."
§68.3 It is amazing how many apologetics of the
resurrection have been written which do not address the controverted chronology.
§68.35
Commenting on Mark 8:31, in the notes on pg. 346,
the Anchor Bible, says "In the LXX and in the Hellenistic writers the phrases
were identical." It means to say here that the Greek 
can mean "midst" in the older sense, so that it would be "in the midst
of three days arise" and then continues to comment, "The phrase used in
Mark may therefore mean a period less than three full days (i.e., less
than seventy-two hours) or something akin to "in a very short time." (pg.
347). This is because amidst three days can be any time in the stated
period, not just at the end. I.e. it could be on the second day.
That Mark intended such a nebulous use of meta
in the context of 8:31, 9:31, and 10:34, is doubtful, and raising the objection
of less than 72 hours is disingenuous, because taking the Markan passages
literally as meaning "after" in a strict sense, we can show that "after
three days" did come in less than 72 hours. In any case, the traditionalists
cannot argue that Mark 8:31 means "in the midst of three days" and turn
around and deny us the use of "midst" for
in Acts 20:6, where such usage would not be nebulous.
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