It should also be understood that the Jewish religious mouths all begin with the new moon and their religious year began in the spring, while their civil year began in the fall, and was a solar year made up of 30 days to the month.

The Jewish Passover always came on the 14 day of the month of Nisen, and that day was, in every case, the day following the night of the full moon. If the Passover fell on the 7th Day Sabbath, it was celebrated two days before or two days after the Sabbath. In Smith's Bible Dictionary, we read these words: "The cycle of religious feasts, commencing with Passover depended not simply on the month, but on the moon; the 14th day of Adib (Nisen) was coincident with full moon."

To count the time of the Passover in any year since its institution, it is only necessary to locate the day following the night of the first full moon after the vernal or spring equinox, (See Live Link at top of page) which occurs on March 21st, AD 31. The first full moon after, the 14th day of Nisen, occurred on Tuesday, March 27th. The next day, Wed., was the day that the Passover Lamb was killed. It was also the day of the Lamb of God, of our Lord Jesus Christ was killed. 

The following report from the British Astronomer Royal, given by Mr. Hollis, in which he says that the Paschal full moon in A. D. 31, occurred on Tuesday night, March 27th. This Report from the British Astronomer Royal, agrees perfectly with the Report from the US NAVEL OBSERVATORY, in WASHINGTON, D.C..

It will be observed from the above, that in the year of Christ's crucifixion (AD. 31), the moon was full on the night of Tuesday, March 27th, and consequently the day following this was Wednesday, March 28th, which answers to the 14th day of Nisen, the day on which our Lord was crucified. The following letter from the United States Naval Observatory, Washington, confirms the above. Navy Department US Naval Observatory Washington, D.C. January 16, 1919 Sir: In reply to your letter of January 15, you are informed the Astronomical Full Moon occurred Tuesday, March 27, AD. 31 at 1h P.M., Jerusalem time, Julian Calendar. The time may be accepted as correct within two or three hours. By direction of the Superintendent, U. S. Naval Observatory. Very Respectfully W. S. EICHELBERGE Commander (Math) U.S.N.

Director, Nautical Almanac. (See Live Link at top.)  

There is nothing surer than that Christ was crucified on Wednesday, for the Sun and Moon are God's great clocks, set in the heavens, He Himself, said: (Gen. 1:14 NASB) "Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years."

"To show the accuracy and value of astronomical calculations, it may be said that this is the way that all ancient historical and Biblical data are verified. The great cannon of Ptolemy, on which all Old Testament chronology is based, gets its reliability from the fact that astronomical calculations agree with it." Prideaux says in Vol. 1, Page 242:

"But Ptolemy's cannon being fixed by the eclipses, the truth of it may at any time be demonstrated by astronomical calculations, and no one hath ever calculated those eclipses, but hath found they fall right in the times where placed; and therefore this brings the surest guide which we have in the chronology, and it being also verified elsewhere with the Holy Scripture, it is not the authority of any other human's writing whatsoever to be receded from."

Therefore we can safely rest on the astronomical calculations given, as reliable and true, and especially so because it only serves to strengthen the truth of God's Word in the Bible. This truth clarifies some passages that may seem ambiguous.

Wednesday, March 28th, A. D. 31, is the day and date of Christ's crucifixion. So much, at least, is settled beyond even the shadow of doubt.

The Bible is the inspired Word of the Most High God. There is not a contradiction in it. Man's interruptions of God's Word make it appear to contradict itself. The claim that Jesus was crucified on Friday at 3 P.M., is not only unreasonable, but makes the Bible texts clash. By that interruption, Mark and Luke's statements recorded in the Bible about the Crucifixion are placed in a position where they contradict each other. Note please, the fact that Mark tells us that the spices were bought after the Sabbath.

Luke's statement tells us that they were prepared on the day before the 7th Day Sabbath. (Luke 23:54-56 NASB) "And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. {55} Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. {56} And they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." (Luke 24:1-3 NASB) "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. {2} And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, {3} but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus."

In these Scriptures we find that they prepared the spices on the preparation day for the feast of unleavened bread, before the 7th Day Sabbath began according to the forth Commandment. How can one put these two scriptures together without making the Word of God go against itself?

It is unthinkable how these texts can be reconciled, except from the self-evident point of view that Christ was crucified on Wednesday, the preparation day for the Passover Sabbath. The women rested on the Passover Sabbath, (Thursday). After the Passover Sabbath was over they went and bought the spices on Friday the day after the Passover Sabbath. They prepared the Spices the same day, (Friday) which was the preparation day for the "Sabbath according to the Commandment". That would make Mark and Luke's statements harmonies. This could never be done when in forcing the false teachings of the Roman Church, that Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday.

Having proven that Christ was crucified on Wednesday the 14th Day of Nisan, we must ask the reader not to overlook the fact that the day following the slaying of the Passover Lamb was a High Day Sabbath among the Jews.

It was the Day of Unleavened Bread, and was observed as a Sabbath Day. It was called a "Sabbath" and followed the Passover feast day it naturally fell on a Thursday that year, which was the Day following the crucifixion. This is proven by the fact that John calls the Day on which Jesus lay in the tomb "an High Day", Not the text: (John 19:31 KJV) "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross 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."

There need be no question in the mind of the seeker of truth, if one will study the references to the feast of the Passover, and the day following it, in the 12th Chapter of Exodus, and in the 23rd Chapter of Leviticus. No matter which day of the week the 15th day of Nisan (the day following the Passover) fell upon, it was always a "High Day Sabbath", separated, and apart from God's 7th Day Sabbath.

On the day of the slaying of the Paschal Lamb (14th of Nisan), also called the Passover day, the Jews were required to prepare for the days following. (Day of unleavened Bread or High Day Sabbath.) They had to put all leaven out of their houses and thoroughly cleaning their utensils. They had to put their house in order for the feast. The Jews' preparation day, was for the Day of Unleavened Bread, called the High Day Sabbath.

Now we have showed that the Christ was crucified on Wednesday, the day of the killing of the Paschal Lamb. It must be noted that the day of the crucifixion was also the preparation day for the High Day Sabbath. Jesus had to be off the cross and in the Tomb by Sun down or the people would defile themselves by working on the High Day Sabbath. Friday, the day they prepared for the Lord's Personal Seventh Day Sabbath, was never called the Jew's preparation day. God had no preparation Day for His 7th Day Sabbath. Read Gen.

(John 19:42 KJV) "There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand."

We hope we have now showed beyond doubt, and without fear of successful contradiction, that the first Sabbath Day following the crucifixion that Christ was in the tomb, was not the Seventh Day Sabbath, but the Passover High Day Sabbath. In AD. 31, Thursday was the Jewish High Day Sabbath or the day of unleavened bread. It following the Passover day and slaying of the Paschal lamb. The Lord's Sabbath is always on the 7th Day.

The Hour Of The Day.

Having now definitely located the day of the crucifixion of our Lord as Wednesday, March 28th, AD. 31, and having done this by the Bible, History, and Astronomy, there should be no room for quibbling. If any are still disposed to question these facts, they have every opportunity to check up the various references given, which are accessible to anyone who have enough interest to prove all thing from the Bible to see if these things they teach are so. It is not just a matter of finding the Truth, but a matter of finding out if you are truly serving the God of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said He would be in the Tomb Three Days and Three Nights. If you are not serving Christ, the God of Israel, than you are serving Baal, the god of Babylon. If you are serving Baal, remember that there is no Election by Grace for you, as you are bowing your knee to Baal. Its a matter of Life or Death. To be judged of God as served Baal at ones death, brings a second death from Him. To be free from Baal worship, brings the "Election of Grace" from God to save that individual.

We now come to the question as to the time of day, or the hour that marked the death of the Jesus Christ. It is our intention to prove from the Bible that Jesus was nailed to the cross about the sixth hour of the day, answering to twelve o'clock A.M., our time. That Jesus died about the ninth hour of the day, answering to our three o'clock P.M. our time, which was the time of the offering of the daily evening sacrifice. He was our Passover, the Lamb of God offered for us, and in order to fulfill the type, He hung upon the cross at the specific time specified for the offering of the Paschal Lamb by the People of God.

To understand this, it is necessary to make a close comparison of the divisions of the Jewish Day, which our system of reckoning by hours of equal length. There is not the least thing complicated about it, and by following the Bible alone, the whole question solves itself.

The term "day" according to the Bible stands for both the natural and artificial. The natural day is the solar day of twenty four hours, and was reckoned from sunset to sunset, while the artificial day had reference only to the light part of the natural day, beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. The first hour began at the rising of the sun, and the sixth hour was always noon, while the twelfth hour was sun set. All of this is made plain by our Lord in the quotation given in Mat. 20:1-12.

The Passover coming on the first full moon after the Spring or Vernal Equinox when the days and nights were equal, made the day, at that time of year, beginning at six o'clock A.M., which they called the beginning of the first hour. This would make nine o'clock the third hour, twelve o'clock the sixth hour and three o'clock the ninth hour, and six o'clock P.M. the twelve hour. According to three gospel writers, Jesus hung upon the cross at least from the sixth to the ninth hour, or according to our time, from noon to three o'clock in what we call the afternoon, at which time He died.

The Jews had also another division for the artificial day (the light part of the day). All the time from sunrise tell noon they called morning, and from noon to sunset was called their first evening, while they called the whole time of the twilight or from sunset till night, their second evening.

"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."

The Resurrection On The Sabbath.

Now, then, we have left no room for argument against the fact that Christ died at three o'clock on Wednesday, March 28, AD., 31, we shall next proceed to study the day of the resurrection, which one can already see, did not occur on Sunday.

The one self-evident fact that stands out in the first verses of the Bible, and that is that the Sabbath is the day before the first day of the week. The Sabbath, and Sunday, or the seventh day of the week, and the first day of the week are not the same.

Another self-evident fact, as before stated, not only proven by the Bible and History, but also by the traditions of the Jews, is that the day according to the Bible begins at sunset and ends at sunset. (Lev 23:32 KJV) Christ was crucified on the Jewish Passover, which came at the time of the first full moon after the vernal equinox, when the days and nights were equal; hence sunset occurred at about six o'clock, and the dividing line between that particular Sabbath and the first day of the week following, mentioned in Matthew 28:1, was about six o'clock. P.M. The Sabbath ended at six o'clock and the first day of the week began at six o'clock in the evening. The Babylonian Sunday does not begin tell midnight.

It is certain that as long as it dawned toward, or drew on "TOWARD" the first day of the week, that day had not yet come. Aside from this fact, the text itself tells us that the events there occurred "in the end of" or "late on the Sabbath" as the Revised Version has it. In either case we have the positive statement that it was still the Sabbath when the women came to the sepulchre

It was that part of the Universal Pagan Church in the Rome Empire that changed the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, from His Sabbath Day of Rest to the Pagans Day of Rest on Sunday. They do not, and cannot give the Bible credit for such teachings as they are not found in the Jewish Bible. It was by their authority as the official church of Rome, that they changed the Sabbath from the 7th Day to the Pagan Sunday. Therefore they readily admit to changing it themselves. They claim that they are the source of most of the teaching and all the Holidays that the Protestant Churches follow. The sad thing about this is, they are. Name one Holiday that the Protestant Churches keep that does not have it' origin in Roman Paganism. You can't.

The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p.50 3rd edition says, "Question 51;

Which is the Sabbath Day? Answer 51; Saturday is the Sabbath Day. Question 51; Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer 51; We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (AD 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."

Letter from C.F. Thomas, October 28, 1895, "Of course the Catholic Church claims the change was her act70; And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters."

Catholic Record, "Sunday is our MARK of authority70; The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact."

Decretal De Translat. Episcop. Cap., "The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ."

Other Witnesses that all do not believe in the Sunday resurrection.

Writing in Etcrrzity magazine, its editor, Donald Grey Barnhouse, said: "I personally have always held that there were two Sabbaths in our Lord's last week--- the Saturday Sabbath and the Passover Sabbath, the latter being on Thursday. They hastened to take his body down after a Wednesday crucifixion and he was three days and three nights (at least 72 hours) in the tomb." He cites evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls which would place the Last Supper on Tuesday. Not all tradition has favored a Friday crucifixion. He quotes from a Roman Catholic journal published in France that "an ancient Christian tradition, attested to by the Didascalia Apostolorum as well as by Epiphanius and Victorinus of Pettau (died 304) gives Tuesday evening as the date of the Last Supper and prescribes a fast for Wednesday to commemorate the capture of Christ."

In his book Bible Questions Answered, W. L. Pettingill, gives this question and answer: "On what day of the week was our Lord crucified? To us it is perfectly obvious that crucifixion was on Wednesday." The Companion Bible, published by Oxford University Press, in its Appendix 156 explains that Christ was crucified on Wednesday.

In his Duke's Annotated Reference Bible, Finis Dake has said in his note on Matthew 12:40: "Christ was dead for three full days and for three full nights. He was put in the grave Wednesday just before sunset and was resurrected at the end of Saturday at sunset No statement says that He was buried Friday at sunset. This would make him in the grave only one day and one night, proving his own words untrue."

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