Category: Jesus’ Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

What Happened After the Crucifixion?

The seventh puzzle piece in our quest to confirm the dates of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection lead us once again to the Gospel accounts.

Taken together, the Gospel accounts in Matthew 27:57-66 and 28:1; Mark 15:42-16:2; Luke 23:50-56 and 24:1; and John 19:38-42 and 20:1 create a composite picture of the events surrounding the burial of Jesus, including the few hours after His resurrection some days later. These scriptures offer us a window through which to see what occurred in the days following the burial of Jesus.

The following is a summary of what transpired following the death of Jesus, according to Rev. Jack Barr, in his article “Jewish Burial” (2012), and Ralph Gower, from his book The Manners and Customs of Bible Times (2005).

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Events After Jesus’ Death”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

What Sign?

Jesus told the Pharisees that He would give them a sign that he was the Messiah. The sign He gave was this: He would, like Jonah, be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40). Jesus said this twice in Matthew 12:40 for emphasis.

This statement – this sign – by Jesus constitutes the sixth puzzle piece in our quest to discover the actual date of Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as other truths surrounding these events. 

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Jesus’ Messianic Sign”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

Why Two Sabbaths?

It is widely accepted that there were actually two Sabbaths during the week of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.  However, this fact is frequently overlooked, misunderstood, or ignored by those studying the crucifixion of Jesus, adding to the confusion of efforts to properly time the events of Passion Week (Leviticus 23:6–8, John 19:31).

I consider the case of the two Sabbaths as the fifth puzzle piece in our quest to establish the actual date of Jesus’ death.

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Two Sabbaths”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

 Inspecting the Passover Lamb

Jewish law required four days for the chief priests to inspect the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:3–6). On Nisan 10, four days before the Passover on Nisan 14, the High Priest selected the Passover Lamb for the nation of Israel. During the next four days, the lamb was thoroughly inspected for blemishes and defects – anything that would disqualify it from being an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the nation.

At the end of this inspection period – assuming a positive outcome – the High Priest would publicly declare, “Behold the Lamb. I find no fault in him.”

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – The Passover Lamb”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

 The Spring Feasts

Understanding the timing of the Spring Feasts of the Lord (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost, as presented in Leviticus 23:1-22) is the third puzzle piece in our quest to determine the correct date of Jesus’ death.

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Timing of the Spring Feasts”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

A Difference in Terminology

Critical to the determination of the day and time of Jesus’ death is a correct understanding of several Hebrew idioms as they relate to timing “phrases” in scripture. Specifically, we must examine the meanings of “at twilight” and “between the two evening times.” Evaluating these phrases constitute the second puzzle piece in our quest for answers on this topic.

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Passover Timing Issues”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

More Than One Passover

It may surprise you to learn that in first century Judaism there were five Jewish sects which observed “Passover,” each with distinct days for the sacrifice of their lambs.  These Passovers were the Mosaic Passover, the Samaritan’s Passover, the Essene’s Passover, the Sadducees’ Passover, and the Pharisaic Passover. Which one did Jesus observe in his Passover seder (the “Last Supper”) and through his sacrificial death? This is another of the mysteries which I am examining and which many researchers fail to consider.

That there were several “Passovers” is the first puzzle piece in our quest to determine the true day of Jesus’ death.

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Which Jewish Passover?”

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Note: The following Post is taken from the book by Joseph Lenard entitled Mysteries of Jesus’ Life Revealed—His Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascensions. For an overview and complete chapter listing of this fascinating study, click here.

Traditional Dates

Historically, the Christian church has held to a tradition that the death and burial of Jesus were on “Good Friday” of the week of the crucifixion and that the resurrection was on Sunday morning, before the women mentioned in the Gospel accounts arrived at Jesus’ tomb. Is the tradition true?

It should be noted that “Good Friday” was not celebrated in the early Church. For the first 200 to 300 years, the early church celebrated the death, burial, and resurrection events within the framework of the Feasts of the Lord (Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits), as the church was still very Jewish; and Jesus was regarded as the true Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7 – “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”). This early church celebration included two days of fasting prior to the celebration of the resurrection and was not anchored to a particular day of the week, since the Jewish Passover could float to various days of the week, depending on the lunar Jewish calendar.

So how did the first and second day of fasting eventually evolve into a distinct day of celebration known as “Good Friday?” The history leads us once again to the Roman Catholic Church.

Continue reading “Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Traditional vs Actual Dates”