The Good Friday Hiccup
Every year as we close in on the spring, it becomes obvious Easter is coming upon us by watching the seasons change, watching TV commercials, or simply going to the grocery store.
Welcome to BibleStudyMinistry.com, your online Bible supplement source, I’m Elder Ishe with another vitamin for your spiritual health. Let’s dive in…
When I go to the grocer, I see all the easter sales and easter paraphanalia, one would have to be sleepwalking not to know easter is around the corner. In the protestant and catholic Christian world, lent, good Friday, and easter Sunday headline the events.
As a bible student, I know lent, good Friday and easter Sunday usually fall around the same time as the Hebrew Biblical New Year, the Passover, and the week-long festival of Unleavened Bread. Years ago it was pointed out to me, the vast differences in the two. In addition to this new awareness, I did a private investigation myself.
This website is the result of my private investigation, but more particularly to this subject, this article came about.
The early church (roughly 300-325 AD), around the time of the first council of Nicaea, when Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea at the request of the Roman Emperor Constantine, things started to change in the Christian world.
Things began to change from what the Lord and the first ambassadors (apostles) taught, implemented, and shared, to what the Romans taught, implemented, and required.
In order to appease people, Christianity at this time began to introduce many pagan practices and ordinances Jesus Christ never mentioned to keep. There was an internal coup d’etat of the church to appease the sun, idol, and graven image worshippers, and it was all kept under the name of Christianity.
Take a look at what was added during what is known as “Holy Week.” Holy Week, as supposed, began when Jesus made His “triumphant” entrance into Jerusalem for what would be His final Passover with the brethren.
Enter the Lord on a Donkey
Jesus glide into Jerusalem from the mount of Olives on a donkey with the donkey’s child, and the city was in a mild uproar as He rode in. People and disciples of His were shouting, “We are saved now, bless the King, we are saved now, here comes our Savior!”
They believed Jesus Christ would deliver Israel out of the hands of the Romans, and literally save them. They forgot He had to save them from their sins first. At any rate, what day did Jesus make this triumphant entry into the city?
The scripture doesn’t say directly, but when Jesus came into Jerusalem, He had a violent tirade with some guys in the Temple for making it a den of thieves, then He set out to teach and He taught. By the time He took a breather, He’d told His disciples that they had two days until the Passover (Matt 26:2).
There are plenty of things to understand, and for someone totally new it would take a few scriptures to explain, so we will do an ultra-conservative explanation here.
- First, Jesus Christ is our Passover (1st Corinthian 5:7).
- Second, Jesus Christ represented the original Passover ordinance from Exodus chapter 12.
- Third, the practice of the lamb Passover was a schoolmaster to bring us to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24).
The above references are important for the Jewish, Hebrew and Christian communities to understand because it follows that Jesus Christ had to be killed also on the 14th day of the first month Abib.
Daniel the prophet wrote that the Messiah (Hebrew word for Christ), was going to be cut off or killed in the middle of the week (Daniel 9:24-27).
The Good Friday Hiccup
During the middle ages, when the Catholic church began to institute easter, good Friday came along with it. Good Friday was established as the day the Lord was killed because the consensus was that Jesus Christ had been killed a day before a Sabbath Day (John 19:31).
The day before a Sabbath Day is Friday, Saturday being the Sabbath, this is where the hiccup begins. The problem is that the scripture says “that Sabbath was a High Day.” This simply means the Sabbath before the day the Lord was killed, was actually a High Sabbath Day.
The Lord’s High Sabbath days are listed in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus. Jesus Christ is our Passover, and that is the day He died. According to Leviticus chapter 23, the day after the Passover is the High Sabbath Day, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
These Festivals can fall on any day of the week. Without this knowledge, it is possible to believe the Friday to be the day the Lord died, but it simply is not.
It’s a small hiccup, but large enough to make a dent in the ordinances and practices in sound Christianity. Good Friday should really be Good Wednesday, and Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday should really be Resurrection Sabbath Day.
Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that our Lord died and rose from the dead, for our sins and unrighteousness, to restore the Kingdom of God on the earth that He never took away. I’d be remiss for not mentioning that subtle changes can eventually land you way off course in the long run.
Small Hiccups Lead to Big Health Problems
It’s like an airplane’s nose off one inch at take off, the mishap or hiccup could put the plane one thousand miles off course for its destination landing. The Good Friday hiccup is much like that inch, which can lead to practicing things Jesus Christ never said to practice, and omitting things Jesus commanded to do.
In the end, our Lord died for our sins and was resurrected into eternal life to the glory of God. For this, we should be grateful and thankful all of our days, and spend time telling people about His coming Kingdom on the earth. Amen.
Thanks for being here today, At BibleStudyMinistry.com (BSM), we believe the Bible is one integrated story that leads to Jesus Christ, His Kingdom on the Earth, with His Royal Family, and that the Bible has profound practical wisdom we all can use as we journey towards the Kingdom together.
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Elder Ishe for BibleStudyMinistry.com, your online, Bible Supplement source!
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