Quick summary:

1) If you believe the highly illogical myth that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday then resurrected the following Sunday morning then

READ LUKE 23:54-56, 24:1-2 WHICH SHOWS THAT TWO SABBATHS, SEPARATED BY A FRIDAY, OCCURRED FROM THE TIME OF JESUS’ DEATH TO HIS RESURRECTION.

2) Days throughout the Bible ALWAYS ended at sunset. Matthew 12:40 reveals that Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights, which we can reasonably assume means at least 3 days and at least 3 nights and no longer than 3 days and no longer than 3 nights. Luke 24:1,3 shows that He rose sometime before Sunday sunrise, but Jesus MUST have been resurrected BEFORE Saturday sunset. Why? Since He obviously was not in the grave Sunday day, to conform to the Matthew 12:40 3 day 3 night prophesy, He MUST have been in the grave all or most of Saturday day, Friday day, and Thursday day, which means Jesus also HAD to be in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night according to the 3 night prophesy and according to Luke 23:50,52-54 which reveals that Jesus was buried before sunset on the day preceding an annual Sabbath day.

3) TWO (which is the number you always get when you add one plus one) Sabbaths, separated by an entire Friday, occurred between the death and resurrection of Jesus, which is additional, overwhelming evidence that Jesus must have been resurrected before a Saturday sunset. That’s right, 2 Sabbaths, that’s what the Bible says, regardless of whether you or others believe that or not.

4) Those Sabbaths were separated by an entire day, a Friday. Critically important verses in Mark and Luke reveal that Mary Magdalene and others really did view the freshly entombed body of Jesus ON OR BEFORE the first Sabbath, and AFTER, one more time, AFTER THE FIRST SABBATH they later really did buy (Mark 16:1) and prepare spices on a day when work was allowed (obviously Friday). Luke 23:56 reveals that THEY REALLY DID REST ON THE ENTIRE SECOND SABBATH DAY BEFORE THEY LATER FINALLY BROUGHT THE PREPARED SPICES (BOUGHT AFTER THE FIRST SABBATH [MARK 16:1]), BEFORE SUNRISE ON SUNDAY MORNING, TO THE THEN EMPTY TOMB OF JESUS. Mark and Luke then show quite conclusively that an entire Friday MUST HAVE OCCURRED BETWEEN those two Sabbaths.

5) Two (2) Sabbaths plus one (1) Friday equal the three (3) prophesied days that Jesus was in the tomb before He was resurrected. Mainstreamers insist that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday and resurrected on Sunday morning. Mainstreamers, then, it appears, cannot count to three or refuse to admit that 2 plus 1 equals 3. A more logical explanation, though, of course, is that mainstreamers have somehow once again yielded to the overwhelming dominance/power of guess who? Revelation 12:9: “…… the Devil …… who deceives the whole world ……” Satan probably takes great pleasure in tricking Christians into resting on Sundays causing them to break another one of God’s laws: keeping Saturdays work free. (A consequence of incorrectly thinking Jesus rose on a Sunday, mainstreamers believe resting and worshipping Him on Sundays honors Him even more. Ignoring the strict command to rest on Saturdays, still the seventh day of the week, however, actually dishonors and insults their Savior.)

6) Jesus revealed that He would be in the grave three (3) full days and three (3) full nights. You would think that Christians would trust more what Jesus revealed about how many days (3) He would be in the grave than what mainstream Christianity says about how long Jesus was buried, but that is not the case. The words from our precious Savior Jesus Himself should, of course, be trusted more than what mainstream Christianity says about the amount of time He was in the tomb.

7) Since Jesus was buried BEFORE sunset on the Preparation Day that always precedes either an annual festival Sabbath or a regular weekly Saturday Sabbath, to conform to the 3 day and 3 night prophesy, Jesus MUST have been resurrected BEFORE the sun set on the second or last Sabbath, the regular Saturday Sabbath, TO AVOID ENTERING A NON-PROPHESIED FOURTH NIGHT IN THE TOMB.

8) Attempting to shorten the number of days that Jesus was in the tomb, some mainstreamers say incorrectly that one of the Sabbaths involved, the first one, was the Passover that can sometimes immediately precede a Saturday Sabbath, but that is not a true Sabbath because the Bible does not forbid work during the Passover. Mary Magdalene and the other women rested on both Sabbaths. Sabbaton is the Greek word used in Matthew 28:1 describing the number (which is the plural for Sabbath) of true Sabbaths that preceded the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore neither one of those Sabbaths was a Passover day. Also, incredibly, some Christians think that, since Jesus was Jewish, He was referring to only partial days when He revealed the 3 day 3 night prophesy. The partial day theory is proven wrong, though, by Luke 23:54-56, 24:1-2.

Some of the following supporting evidence is mentioned more than once to emphasize its importance.

MATTHEW 12:40: “For as Jonah was THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth.” (New King James Version) Those are the actual words of Jesus Christ Himself, our Savior that we should be able to safely assume does not lie. Each day and night cycle above most likely involves a typical 24 hour period since no other verses indicate otherwise. Most Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Friday and resurrected on a Sunday morning because that is what they have heard or read. Their denominations have taught them that Friday night and Saturday night somehow equal three nights, or that the Bible cannot always be taken literally, or use some other reason to explain away the above verses.

JESUS WAS BURIED ON A WEDNESDAY BEFORE SUNSET. HE WAS RESURRECTED ON A SATURDAY BEFORE SUNSET.

TWO Sabbaths occurred between the time Jesus was buried and the time He was resurrected. The first Sabbath, an annual high holy day, was the first day of the festival of Unleavened Bread. John 19:31: “Therefore because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate…….. ” (New King James Version) John 19:42: “So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day,………” (New King James Version) Side notes in various Bibles explain that the Sabbath in verse 31, an annual high day, refers to the first holy day, a THURSDAY, an ANNUAL SABBATH, which began at SUNSET WEDNESDAY, during the festival of Unleavened Bread.

Luke 23:50,52-56, 24: 1-3: “…….. Joseph …….. 52 …….. asked for the body of Jesus …….. 53 …….. and laid it in a tomb …….. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. (THEREFORE JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THE TOMB ON A WEDNESDAY SINCE THE NEXT DAY, THURSDAY, A HOLY DAY, BEGAN AT WEDNESDAY SUNSET!!! The Jews always called the day BEFORE a weekly Sabbath or before an annual high Sabbath in the annual festivals, the “Preparation Day.) 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they RETURNED (They MUST have “returned” on a Friday, when the work of spice preparation was allowed, immediately following the first Sabbath [the annual first day of Unleavened Bread], additionally verified by Mark 16:1 which revealed that the women BOUGHT the spices AFTER the first Sabbath HAD PAST), and PREPARED spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath (rested on the second or last Sabbath, a regular Saturday Sabbath, following Friday) according to the commandment.” Luke 24: 1,3: “Now on the first day of the week (Sunday, which began at sunset Saturday) very early in the morning (John 20:1 before sunrise, while it was still dark), they …… came to the tomb BRINGING the spices which they had prepared …… 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (NKJV, parenthesized words added for further explanation) Noticing how His body first appeared in the tomb was either before or ON THAT FIRST HOLY SABBATH DAY, a day when work was not allowed. RETURNING TO PREPARE SPICES AND OILS INVOLVED WORK, WHICH WAS ALLOWED THE NEXT DAY, WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN ON A FRIDAY. Some Bibles place a small reference letter next to the word “high” in John 19:31 denoting that it was a high Sabbath day, the first day of the 7 day festival of Unleavened Bread, not just a regular weekly Sabbath. Verse 53 above shows that the body of Jesus was definitely placed in a tomb, a completed act, and verse 54 shows that the day the burial occurred on was the “Preparation Day,” a day that ALWAYS PRECEDED a Sabbath day and was separate from the Sabbath day.

MARK 16:1: “NOW WHEN THE SABBATH (THE FIRST SABBATH, OCCURRING ON A THURSDAY, WHICH WAS AN ANNUAL HIGH SABBATH DAY, THE FIRST DAY OF THE 7 DAY ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF UNLEAVENED BREAD) WAS PAST, MARY MAGDALENE, MARY, …… AND SALOME BOUGHT SPICES THAT THEY MIGHT COME AND ANOINT HIM.”

Mark 16:1 above in the NKJV (parenthesized explanation added) is ADDITIONAL CONFIRMATION, beyond Luke’s testimony, that the women bought and prepared spices on a Friday, AFTER the first Sabbath. If the first Sabbath in the above verse had been a regular weekly Sabbath and the only Sabbath that occurred between the death and resurrection of Jesus, the women must have bought the spices on SUNDAY DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS since Jewish shopkeepers usually do not re-open their shops to sell spices at night after Saturday evening’s sunset. That idea of course is very inconsistent with several verses including John 20:1 which tells us that Mary Magdalene went to His grave Sunday morning BEFORE SUNRISE to discover that Jesus had already risen, which would cancel the need to buy any anointing spices, so the women must have bought their spices on the FRIDAY following the Thursday Sabbath and rested the next day, the regular weekly Sabbath which began at Friday sunset and ended at sunset Saturday. Also, Luke 24:1 reveals that the women early Sunday morning, the first day of the week, BROUGHT (transported) the prepared spices, apparently purchased previously, to the tomb.

Matthew 16:21: “…….. Jesus …….. must …….. suffer …….. and …….. be killed, and be raised again the THIRD day.” If Jesus had been resurrected just ONE SECOND past sunset on that Saturday evening, He would have been resurrected on the FOURTH DAY, Sunday, which is not possible according to the Scriptures because they repeatedly specified the third day. Luke 23:56: “They rested on the Sabbath……..” Sometime after the last Sabbath was over at Saturday sunset Mary Magdalene went to Jesus Christ’s tomb early on the first day of the week Sunday, BEFORE SUNRISE. John 20:1: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was STILL DARK, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” Mary discovered that He Had ALREADY been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:2-6). Matthew 28:1: “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” In the previous verse in many Bibles the singular form of the word Sabbath is actually incorrect. “NOW AFTER THE SABBATHS, as the first day of the week began……..” in Matthew 28:1 is correct, which some translations show, including The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Alfred Marshall’s Parallel New Testament in Greek and English and Ferrar Fenton’s translation. The original Greek word is sabbaton, which is sabbath in the plural, which is additional verification that TWO Sabbaths elapsed between the time Jesus was buried and the time that Mary discovered that He was gone, or resurrected. Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon and placed or buried in an empty tomb by Joseph of Arimathea the same day BEFORE sunset. Matthew 12:40 says that Jesus would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus therefore must have been resurrected at around the same time three days and three nights later, which would have been on Saturday before sunset. He was in the tomb all of Wednesday night, all of Thursday night, and all of Friday night (3 nights). He was in the tomb a short period of time on Wednesday day, all of Thursday day, all of Friday day, and most of Saturday day (a total of 3 days when a small part of late Wednesday just before sunset is added). The Bible does not record anyone witnessing what happened to Jesus’ tomb during the daylight hours on that Saturday. He must have risen sometime Saturday during the daytime before Saturday sunset, to be consistent with the Scriptures, which was BEFORE anytime on Sunday! Mark 16:9 states in many Bible translations that Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, but a literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: “having risen And early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary ……..” The words “having risen” is a verb in the past tense, showing that Jesus had already been resurrected, at some unknown time, before He appeared to Mary early on Sunday morning. Also, since Mark 16:9 does not appear in some of the earliest manuscripts, there is much controversy among scholars even about the authenticity of those verses. Matthew 27:63: “…….. After three days I will rise” does not necessarily contradict other verses. The original Greek word for “After” is meta, Strong’s number 3326. The main, primary, or literal definition of meta is “amid, in the midst of, or with,” and “after” is only a secondary definition. To avoid awkwardness “after” apparently was chosen by most translators as the best translation. Also, “After three days” can be technically correct and still harmonize with the other verses because that period of time can fall within or on the third day. For example, if Jesus was laid in the tomb 20 minutes before sunset on Wednesday and resurrected 8 minutes before sunset Saturday, the elapsed time would actually be in excess of three days, or after three days since Jesus spent an extra 12 minutes in the tomb.

Summarizing, since Jesus, to conform to the above Scriptures verifying the following four events, 1) MUST have been buried BEFORE sunset on one of the weekdays, 2) MUST have been in the tomb exactly THREE (3) NIGHTS, and not a minute less than 3 full nights, (three full nights, excluding all of Saturday night because it was the night that His tomb was found empty and therefore not a full night), 3) MUST have been in the tomb exactly THREE DAYS, although not 3 full days since He was resurrected on the third day, and 4) MUST have risen on the THIRD, not SECOND or FOURTH DAY, He MUST have been buried on a WEDNESDAY (if He was buried on a Thursday He would have been in the tomb all of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and if He was buried on a Friday He would have been in the tomb all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night) and resurrected on a SATURDAY during the day time before sunset!

JESUS CHRIST THEREFORE WAS NEVER RESURRECTED ON SUNDAY OR EVEN ANYTIME EARLY SUNDAY MORNING!

Mainstream Christianity’s claim that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday morning is a complete myth, and Easter, a 100% man made invention, Christendom’s most important day, involves a major deception, which is a reminder of the extent of the deception most people are living under in this pre-Millennial age. It is also a reminder of the need to, as 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says: “Prove all things,” prove what others tell you before you believe them when it comes to critically important matters, especially eternal matters. Many people believe that refraining from work on Sundays honors Jesus because they thought He was resurrected on a Sunday morning. When they learn that He must have been resurrected on a Saturday, if they attach any credibility at all to the Bible, they should then realize that

any support for resting on pagan Sundays, especially super pagan Easter, then COLLAPSES INSTANTLY!

Peer pressure, job concerns, and fear of what other humans will think of them if they start resting on Saturdays, though, often take precedence over any fear of God or respect for His laws. When you research “Saturday resurrection” on the internet you will find that more and more people are finally learning that Jesus really did rise on a Saturday, and they are telling others about it, too. For a more complete, expanded discussion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ visit gnmagazine.org/issues/gn03/eastercommemorate, which in turn is linked to other sites that discuss the validity of a Saturday resurrection. Also, study what is said on thercg.org/books/crwno.

The Old Covenant itself was abolished after the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, not all of the separate and eternally beneficial, humane Mosaic laws. The animal and grain sacrificial laws and circumcision law were done away with, not all of the other Old Testament laws. Both the Old and New Testaments then become harmonious, and Jesus’ dire warning in Matthew 7:21-23, using the anomia word, about living apart from the Mosaic laws makes sense. The Old Testament promised only physical blessings for obedience, not the gifts of the Holy Spirit and immortality which the New Covenant now promises to those that obey all of the Lord’s laws that are still applicable today.

Remember that you can confidently assume that God is not deliberately lying to you in any verse in the original Greek because He told us that He does not lie. Hebrews 6:18: “……it is impossible for God to lie ……” 1 Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion.” Therefore we can confidently assume that the original Greek in the New Testament is not really self contradictory concerning law keeping. Since God will not lie or try to confuse us then we need to really believe LITERALLY the following 13 verses that plainly tell us that Christians still need to obey the law.

1) 1 John 3:4: “…… SIN IS THE VIOLATION OF THE LAW”

2) Romans 2:13: “For not the hearers of the LAW are just in the sight of God, but the DOERS of the LAW will be justified.”

3) Romans 6:1,2: “…… Shall we continue in SIN that grace may abound? 2 CERTAINLY NOT! How shall we …… live any longer in it?”

Romans 6:1,2: “What shall we say then? Shall we keep on doing WRONG THINGS so that God will be more kind to us? 2 NO, SURELY NOT! We died to our WRONG WAYS and no longer live in them.” (Worldwide English [New Testament])

Romans 6:1,2: “So what do we do? Keep on SINNING so God can keep on forgiving? I SHOULD HOPE NOT! 2 If we’ve left the country where SIN is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? (The Message) The word “SIN” appears in this and other verses, so remember, according to 1 John 3:4 above, it means ONLY one thing, BREAKING either the food, festival, tithing, Saturday rest, or some other OT or NT law or a combination of those laws.

4) Romans 6:15: “…… Shall we SIN because we are not under LAW but under grace? CERTAINLY NOT!”

5) Romans 3:31: “Well then, if we are saved by faith, does this mean that we no longer need to OBEY God’s LAW? JUST THE OPPOSITE! In fact, only when we trust Jesus can we truly OBEY Him.” (The Living Bible)

Romans 3:31: “Are we abolishing Moses’ Teachings by this faith? THAT’S UNTHINKABLE! Rather, we are SUPPORTING Moses’ teachings.” (God’s Word Translation)

6) Romans 6:16: “Do you not know that …… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of SIN leading to death, or of OBEDIENCE leading to RIGHTEOUSNESS?” 7) Romans 6:18: “And having been set free from SIN, YOU BECAME SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 8) Romans 6:19: “…… For just as you presented your members as slaves of UNCLEANNESS, and of LAWLESSNESS leading to more lawlessness, SO NOW PRESENT YOUR MEMBERS AS SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HOLINESS.” The Greek definition of UNCLEANNESS includes the Levitically “unclean” or forbidden foods. The Greek definition of LAWLESSNESS refers primarily to breaking the Old Testament, Mosaic LAWS. The word “righteousness” in these Roman verses usually refers to the Jewish LAW keeping type of righteousness. So according to the green, capitalized phrase above, Paul clearly commands us to start or to continue obeying the LAW.

9) Matthew 19:17: “….. BUT IF you want to enter into life, KEEP the commandments.” 10) Revelation 22:14: “Blessed are those who DO His commandments, that they may HAVE THE RIGHT to the tree of life ……” Remember, the Ten Commandments contain the one requiring rest on Saturday, not Sunday, which was started by the Catholics.

11) JUDE 1:4: “…… (impious, PROFANE) persons …… PERVERT THE GRACE …… of our God into LAWLESSNESS ……” (The Amplified Bible)

12) Matthew 7:23: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART from Me, you who practice LAWLESSNESS.” 13) Matthew 13:41,42: “…… His angels …… will gather …… those who practice LAWLESSNESS 42 and will cast them into the FURNACE OF FIRE ……”

Yes, the death of Jesus did wipe away and atone for our sins (violations of the law), BUT IT WAS GENERALLY ONLY FOR OUR PAST, REPEAT, PAST SINS, NOT SINS AFTER REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM!!

ROMANS 3:24,25: “…… GRACE, through …… Jesus: …… 25 in His pity God let the SINS OF EARLIER TIMES GO UNPUNISHED.” (Bible in Basic English) That is why we need to keep on obeying the law after our baptism. New, post baptismal sins, though, when confessed and sincerely repented of, can also be forgiven (1 John 1:9, 2:1,2). Abandoning one’s conversion and baptism, however, or deliberately and consistently sinning may ultimately be judged as unforgiveable according to Hebrews 6:4-6, and 10:26-27.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unless indicated otherwise, all Biblical quotations are from the New King James Version.