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| "I
understand that Saturday is the Sabbath day commanded in the Bible,
but Christians keep Sunday as their day of worship because Jesus
rose from the dead on that day." Carla |
Dear Friend, I would
like to make two important points in regard to that argument, 1. The Bible
does not teach that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, 2. If He had it would
not change the fourth Commandment or change the character of the Seventh
day. It would not make the Sabbath unholy. If true it may not be wrong to
honor that day but it certainly would give no license to dishonor the
Sabbath day.
Although it is tradition to believe that Jesus was
crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday the Bible does not support this
belief, nor does it confirm Jesus’ own words. When asked what sign would
be given to prove that He was the Messiah Jesus answered -"the sign
of Jonah. . .so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth." (Matt.12:39-40) Three days and three nights
cannot be counted from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. This is one of
the major obstacles to Muslims coming to accept that Jesus was more than a
mere prophet. Since Jesus was crucified on the "day of
preparation" some erroneously assume it was Friday, the day before
the weekly Sabbath. But the Bible clearly shows that Jesus was crucified
on the Passover which is always a day of preparation for the High Sabbath
of the First Day of Unleavened Bread. The Passover falls on the 14th
day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar and can be any day of the
week.
Most scholars agree that
Jesus was crucified in 30 or 31AD -both of these dates had Wednesday
Passovers. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, put in the grave late that
afternoon, remained in the tomb for three days and three nights until He
arose late Saturday afternoon. Days in the Bible begin and end at sundown,
so at sundown Saturday would dawn the first day of the week. Mary
Magdalene went to the tomb early Sunday morning while it was yet dark and
found the tomb empty. The empty tomb was discovered early Sunday but Jesus
had already risen the Sabbath before. If Jesus had stayed in the tomb
until Sunday morning then it would count three days and four nights.
In fairness, many point to Mark 16:9 which reads
"Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week He first
appeared to Mary Magdalene." The original Bible manuscripts have no
punctuation so translators must add it. If you place a comma after
"week" then it would be identifying when Jesus arose. If you
place the comma after "risen" then it would be identifying when
Jesus appeared to Mary. Those who believe in a Sunday resurrection place
the comma after "week" and those who do not place it after
"risen" However the fact remains that the Passover in 30 and 31
AD were on Wednesday.
| These
questions and answers are taken from Ask
Brother Larry Newspaper Column
so the answers had to be brief due to limited space. If you would
like to have more detailed answers please email Brother Larry or
write him at the address at the bottom of this page. |
Jesus
is Lord. Blessed be His Name!
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Points
of Truth Christian Ministries
Crusade Church of God
P.O. Box 102, Russellville, AR 72811 USA
479-498-4524
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Copyright
1995
No limitation is placed upon reproduction of our
documents or recorded messages except that they must be
reproduced without modification or deletions. They may be
freely distributed, but must be distributed without
charge to the recipient. |
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