The Narrow Path Ministries

I was listening in on TNP radio today when Dane called. I got interrupted but got the gist of what Dane and Steve said (and will listen again later). Someone had asked Dane about the (alleged) "conflicting accounts" between the Synoptics and the Gospel of John regarding when Jesus was buried and/or raised.

I've posted on this before but can't find it. However, I have a couple links by Brian T. Huie that offer a very in-depth analysis of this. I've written Brian before and he's a real nice guy. I should mention that I do not agree with all of his theology. He is binitarian and sabbatarian, while I'm trinitarian and non-sabbatarian. But that's somewhat beside the point for what I'm posting here.

Posting from Huie's link -
WHEN WAS CHRIST RESURRECTED? -

Matt 12 (NKJV, caps are Brian Huie's emphasis)
39 But he answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 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.

From the same link, 2 charts (Nisan 15 is Passover) -





These 2 charts argue against a "Good Friday" burial. Also, 14 Nisan occurring on a Friday would have been in "our year" 33AD (Gregorian calendar).
("No 3rd night" was cut off in the chart).

The next to last chart Huie has is -



With this chart, three days and nights are accounted for. Nisan 14 occurred on a Wednesday in the year 30AD (I verified both Nisan 14 dates for 30 and 33AD). Of course, I'm not providing all the answers that Brian Huie has. But I do think he's offered biblical support for what he presents.

In a nutshell, Brian Huie says that -
Jesus was buried on Wednesday, Nisan 14, 30AD. He was raised "before dawn" on Saturday, Nisan 17.

One other relevant Huie article -
WAS THE "LAST SUPPER" THE PASSOVER MEAL?

Again, Brian Huie presents his case well. Summarized - Brian says Jesus did not eat the Passover but, rather, had a last meal with his disciples in Preparation for the Passover. This was something like what we would call "graduation" or a "graduation ceremony (or) celebration."

According to Brian (who quotes Josephus for support), Jesus died on the Day of Preparation (Nisan 14) - at the same time the Passover lambs would have been prepared (slain).

At the end of this article, Brian Huie wrote: CONCLUSION

We can see that the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) do not conflict with John's account of the "last supper" when understood correctly. A careful study of all four Gospels shows that Yeshua and the disciples did not eat the Passover meal. There was no way they could have, since the time had not yet come to sacrifice the Passover lambs. They simply prepared for the Passover by deleavening the location they planned to use for the Feast. Afterward they ate some type of celebratory or preparatory meal on the evening of Nisan 14. At this supper, Yeshua instituted the New Covenant symbols of the bread and wine. After the meal, Judas Iscariot rose and left to betray Yeshua to the Jewish authorities. When approached with an open mind and the belief that the Scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35), we can reconcile all these accounts.

Bryan T. Huie
August 22, 1997

This is a lot of information to take in.
'Just thought I'd post some of it.
Thanks!

P.S. Brian Huie's pages load "too wide" on my computer. To make them readable I choose "no style" (under View, if you use Firefox). Otherwise I use "Readability" (a Firefox add-on for making posts much easier to read. It works fine with Huie's articles. However, the charts are unviewable when "in" Readability).
Thanks, page 2!

Hi Rick,

The Sabatarians make a big deal about Jesus' burial & resurrection days. I think they are badly mistaken when they insist that Jesus' "three days and nights" be taken literally, a statement which only occurs one time. At least eleven times Jesus either said it would be "on the third day" when He would rise or the apostles said he rose on the third day. The Jews kept time differently than we do. In fact, if you read Luke's account of Peter's visit with Cornelius, in Acts 10, you will find Peter making one of the "on the third day" statements (Acts 10:40), while in the same narrative we find that Cornelius stated "Four days ago to this hour" (ACTS 10:30) when it was precisely three days by our method of counting time.

God bless bro. Any success on the job hunt?

Homer

Hello Homer

Huie's articles are very detailed, a lot to read! (I've had to reread them several times to see what all he's getting at). Sabbatarian or not, I still think he's probably right on the biblical data & details. I'm one of those people who doesn't care "what day you worship." In that sense, I'd disagree with Huie.

It doesn't really matter to me what day Jesus was raised. However, I want to study it further to see if there's "any difference" and what it might mean for stuff like "he appeared to them over a period of 40 days," etc. You know - the countdown to Pentecost! Also, other things like "entering the Sabbath rest" and so on. If Jesus was raised on a Sabbath, what would that mean for us on these kinds of things, etc., etc.

I've gone back to the calendar I used to verify Huie's day & date for Passover, googling several. In the year 32AD, Passover was on what we would call a Tuesday. 30AD, Thursday. 33AD, Friday. I didn't try 29AD or earlier, though the Lord may have died and resurrected then. (I'll use different calendars to verify my verifying).

As far as what you cited in Acts, I haven't looked into it much. Cornelius, being a God-fearer, may have reckoned "days" like Jews do. His mentioning "the ninth hour (3PM, Acts 10:30)" is probably a Jewish reckoning. But I'm not for sure. 'Haven't made (or had) time to look into it.

A Job?
I'm working on another resume, and will find something soon, I hope.
I know God will provide & thanks for asking!
God bless you & yours, Homer!

RickC wrote:Hello Homer
I want to study it further to see if there's "any difference" and what it might mean for stuff like "he appeared to them over a period of 40 days," etc. You know - the countdown to Pentecost! Also, other things like "entering the Sabbath rest" and so on. If Jesus was raised on a Sabbath, what would that mean for us on these kinds of things, etc., etc.

I found Anna Jaubert's The Date of the Last Supper useful (though I didn't agree with all of it). The basic idea is that the Qumran/Zadokite calendar held the Passover on Tuesday evening every year, and that Jesus and his disciples kept this calendar, while the Temple authorities ate the passover the following day.