I have believed and taught this truth for 50 years. I even wrote a tract about it and hundreds were distributed back in the late 1970s. It was also published in a Christian periodical.
Some would say, "What's the big deal? Why does it matter if I observe Good Friday and participate in a moving Sunrise Service on Sunday morning at sunrise?"
Jesus condemned following the doctrines of men, which make VOID the word of God. That's no small matter!
Was Jesus crucified on a Friday? No.
Did Jesus really spend 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth, as stated in the Bible? Yes.
So no one would miss it, Jesus used the familiar account of Jonah in the Old Testament as a type of His own death, burial and resurrection.
So how many days and nights was Jonah in the belly of the whale? That's right! 3 days & 3 nights. We learned that in Sunday School. But there's a problem. You can't get 3 days and 3 nights if you claim Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Do the math.
**Jesus was crucified on BAD Wednesday, not Good Friday. The darkest day in history!**
Jesus rose from the dead at sunset on SATURDAY evening. (The Jews followed the reckoning of time as recorded in Genesis chapter one: and the evening and the morning were the first day, and the evening and the morning were the second day, etc.) The Jewish day is reckoned different from the manner that we practice today. Our new day (AM) begins at midnight, while a new day among the Hebrew people begins at sunset. The Jews would say, evening and morning; we say morning and evening. Keeping this in mind is helpful in understanding the time Jesus spent in the tomb.
Two Sabbaths That Week
It is also vital to know that during the passion week leading up to His crucifixion, there were actually TWO sabbaths observed, one of which fell on a different day each year. The year of Christ's crucifixion the annual sabbath fell on a Thursday and the weekly sabbath was on Saturday as usual, making two sabbaths observed by the Jews on that week.
In John 19:31 we read, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation [for the sabbath], that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for THAT sabbath day was AN HIGH DAY) [In other words, NOT the regular weekly sabbath; it was a sabbath that week prior to that Saturday sabbath, but on a Thursday that year.] besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.")
To observe Good Friday and Easter Sunrise Service is to follow the doctrine of men and not God's revealed truth.
"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For LAYING ASIDE the commandment of God, ye hold the TRADITION OF MEN, as the washing of pots and cups: and MANY OTHER SUCH LIKE THINGS ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye REJECT the commandment of God, that ye may keep YOUR OWN tradition."
(Mark 7:7-9, truth matters to God).
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is vital to believe, because it is belief in THAT GOSPEL that results in salvation available during this age of grace. Don't mess with God's message of salvation by polluting and mixing it with the doctrine of men.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4- Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are SAVED, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ DIED for our sins according to the SCRIPTURES; And that he was BURIED, and that he ROSE again the third day according to the scriptures:
God is glorified and well pleased when His children care to follow His revealed word.
