Easter: What Does That Word Mean? | Part 3 | The Preparation Day & The Truth About Good Friday

In Part 3 of our Easter study, we turn our attention to one of the most debated questions surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Did Jesus actually die on Good Friday?

Using Scripture as our guide, we examine the meaning of "The Preparation Day" mentioned in the Gospels, the significance of the "High Day" Sabbath described in John 19:31, and the possibility that two separate Sabbaths occurred during the week of Christ's crucifixion.

Together we explore:

•  The biblical meaning of the Preparation Day 
•  John 19:31 and the High Day Sabbath 
•  The Feast of Unleavened Bread and its connection to the crucifixion timeline 
•  Matthew 12:40 and the prophecy of three days and three nights 
•  The role of the women who witnessed Christ's burial and prepared spices 
•  Why some believe the traditional Good Friday to Sunday timeline does not align with the Gospel accounts 
•  A chronological review of Christ's final week leading to His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension 

This episode encourages listeners to examine Scripture carefully, compare traditions with the biblical record, and seek understanding through prayerful study of God's Word.

Key Scriptures:
Matthew 12:40, Matthew 27–28, Mark 11–16, Luke 23–24, John 19:14, 31, 42, Leviticus 23:6-7, Joshua 24:15, and Revelation 18:4.

If you have not yet listened to Parts 1 and 2, we encourage you to do so before diving into this concluding installment of the series.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Tomorrow's Truth Found Today.

"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." — Joshua 24:15

Transcript

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Well, here we are again, my friends. Your host, Mark Long, with another episode of Tomorrow's Truth Found Today. This is number 20, and it's part three of Easter. What does that word mean? Our study. It's come a long way. But hang on, because we're not done yet. In part one, we studied Matthew 12:40, Acts 12.4, and Ezekiel 8, 10 through 18. In part two, we checked out the history of the Easter rabbit and the egg, and we discovered that both came from paganism. We learned that the word Easter comes from the name of a pagan goddess of fertility. Then we read in Ezekiel 33:11 that God pleads with us to make correct decisions and not to die. Along with that, we looked at the hot cross bun and showed how Sunday was named for Easter and the fact that it was in fact man and not God that decided these things. I ended up by stating that Easter as we know it is a farce and should be avoided. Please take a few minutes and review parts one and two for a better understanding about Easter and what we're studying. Now, before we jump into part three, I again want to ask that you like and subscribe to this channel. And please share this information with anyone you can. My friends, life is moving fast, and just as we're told in Joshua 24, 15, parts A and C of that verse, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. That scripture asks you to make a conscious choice about your priorities, your faith, and your ultimate allegiance. My prayer is that we all make the right choice. Eternity depends on what you decide, your eternity. If we do nothing, then nothing changes. Now, let's get into part three. The preparation day of John 1931. As a child, I was completely sure that Good Friday was the day to commemorate Jesus dying for the sins of the world. After all, nobody questioned it, so why should I? What I didn't know at the time, but I eventually learned was that he actually died two days before that on Wednesday that week and not on the Friday, like most everyone believes. Learning that made me very curious as to how that could be. And with that, I had to ask, how could all the churches that teach Good Friday, how could they be wrong? I eventually found that the only way to be sure was to let the Bible teach what actually took place that week. I learned that by looking at Matthew 27, 62, Mark 15, 42, Luke 23, 54, and John chapter 19, verses 14, 31, and 42, that he was put to death on the preparation day, and that that particular day preceded a Sabbath day. At that point, I had to find out, was Good Friday the day they called the preparation day? Or was there some other day that we called the preparation? That led me to another question about the Sabbath day that was approaching, as it states in Luke 23, 54. That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. I then had to ask, was that Sabbath day the seventh-day Sabbath, or was there another day that week called a Sabbath, making two separate Sabbaths that week? My answer came from John 19, 31, which says this. Therefore, because it was the preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Seems reasonable. After that, I had to learn what was meant by the term high day. Here I had to look to the Companion Bible written by E. W. Bullinger, which states in his appendix 156, we are furnished by Scripture with certain facts and fixed points, which, taken together, enable us, one, to determine the events that fill up the days of the last week of the Lord's life on earth, two, to fix the day of his crucifixion, and three, to ascertain the duration of time that he remained in the tomb. Passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles were a holy convocation called a Sabbath, on which no servile work was to be done. See Leviticus 23:7, verses 24 and 35, and also Exodus 24, 16. That told me that that Sabbath day and the high day of John 19, 31 was one and the same, and therefore a holy convocation where no servile work could be done. Understand this, my friends. That high day began the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, which quite overshadowed the normal weekly Sabbath day of Leviticus. You can find that out in Leviticus 23, verses 6 through 7. I now knew the preparation day was obviously the day before the high day of John 1931. Sounds pretty reasonable. Here I have to stress there were two separate Sabbath days that week. These facts proved that Good Friday is not the preparation day, that Friday was the day before the normal weekly Sabbath or Saturday, and not the high day spoken of in John 1931. So now I had to learn which day of the week this high day fell on. Many people have speculated about this. Also, they speculate about what year this all took place. Some have suggested the year was A.D. 29, 30, 32, or 33. But nobody ever used the year A.D. 31. Why? The reason is because if AD 31 were to be used, it would completely destroy the traditional Good Friday and Sunday morning resurrection. And you can prove this by studying the Jewish calendar, which shows that the year A.D. 31 and the 14th day of the month called Nisan fell on Wednesday that week, and therefore the preparation day of John 19, 31. This, my friends, should indeed put to rest the idea that Good Friday was the day of his crucifixion. Now, continuing, with his last week we're going to look at. In order to study this, we have to look at several scriptures that paint a picture of his last seven days. By doing so, we can trace his steps that lead up to his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension back to the Father. However, because of the numerous scriptures involved, I'm going to paraphrase these events by just giving the highlights of all these scriptures. This is essential information. So please take the time and read these scriptures. All four Gospels are going to be used, but the book of Mark is what holds the key to these events. Please understand, God reckons time differently from how we reckon it today. That's found in Genesis chapter 1, verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and verse 31. Now, knowing that, let's start with the 11th day of the Jewish month, Nicen. That's in Mark 11, 1 through 11. Jesus, he has two disciples retrieve the colt on his way to Jerusalem. He's met by a multitude proclaiming Hosanna. He weeps over the city, and then while in the city, he enters the temple. He looks around, and then he eventually leaves. He goes to Bethany that night and stays the night with the twelve disciples. On the 12th of Nicen, again from sunset to sunset, or Sunday to Monday, Mark 11, 12 to 19, he heads towards the temple again. He sees a fig tree. He finds no fruit on it. He curses it. And then he enters the temple and finds the buying and the selling and becomes anger. He clears the temple and he states in Mark 11, 17, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves. He then leaves the city again. The 13th of Nisan, Monday sunset to Tuesday sunset. That's Mark 11, 20 to 33. That Tuesday morning, he heads back to Jerusalem, sees the fig tree that's withered, and he explains why. He teaches in the temple and questions arise. While leaving the temple, his disciples ask him about the end times. Then he gives prophecies. Then in Mark 14, 1, we're told that after two days is the Passover. He then goes back to Bethany and has another supper with Simon the leper. 14th of Nicen, Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset. That's Mark 14, 10 to 53 and 15, 19 to 47. Judas plots to betray Jesus. Preparation is made for the Last Supper. Jesus washes the disciples' feet. Supper is eaten, and the new covenant is made with the wine and bread. Yeshua or Jesus announces his betrayal. And after that, they all go to Gethsemane, where Jesus prays in agony. He is arrested, and his trial continues throughout the night. At about 6 o'clock in the morning or 6 a.m., he's taken before Pontius Pilate, who says, Behold your king. Jesus is then led away to be crucified. At approximately 9 in the morning, our Wednesday morning, he is crucified. At noon, darkness falls until 3 p.m. Then he dies. He's taken down and buried before sunset on Wednesday. These time settings are found in Matthew 27, 45, Mark 15, 33, Luke 23, 44 to 45. The 15th of Nicen, Wednesday, sunset to Thursday sunset. This is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the high day Sabbath of John 19, 31, our Thursday, which is the first night and day he's in the tomb. 16th of Nicen, Thursday sunset to Friday sunset. Second day of the feast, Friday and the second night and day in the tomb. 17th of Nison, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, which is the weekly Sabbath day, also the third day of the feast and the third night and day in the tomb. These events fulfill Christ's words to the Pharisees that the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, as found in Matthew 12, 40. This information should convince anyone of this truth. But to be completely clear, we're going to look at other scriptures that further prove he could not have died on Good Friday. This brings us to our last part of our study. Here we're going to talk about the women that were present at the crucifixion. These women play a very significant role and provide valuable information that proves Christ, his sacrifice did not happen on Friday, and therefore his resurrection did not take place that following Sunday morning. We're going to prove that. Starting at the time he was taken down from the stake or the cross, we find in Mark 15, 40 and 41, where it says, There also were women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less, and Joseph, and Solome, who also followed him and ministered to him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

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Okay.

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Mark 15, 47 tells us, and Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, observed where he was laid. Okay, stands to reason. Now remember, the Sabbath drew near and his burial was done in haste. Okay. Next, in Mark 16, 1, it says, Now when the Sabbath was passed, very which is a very important point, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Solome bought spices that they might come and anoint him. So here's what we have so far. We have the women witness the crucifixion. They witness the burial site. It's late in the day, and therefore they have to rest on the holy convocation or the high day of John 1931. Here, no work could be done. After that, the next day, they buy the spices to anoint his body. That had to be that Friday. Why? Because the day before was Thursday, the high day of John 1931, as already said. Now, for the remaining events, Luke 23, 56 states this. Then they returned and prepared the spices and fragrant oils, and they rested the Sabbath according to the commandment. Understand this, in order for them to prepare the spices, they first had to purchase them after the Sabbath. Remember, nothing could be purchased or bought on a Sabbath day. That makes Friday after the high day, the only day they could have purchased the spices. It's pretty simple. Now stay with me, because remember, they rested after the Sabbath day, desiring to go to the sepulchre after purchasing and preparing the spices. That Sabbath day they rested was the second Sabbath day that they rested that week. There is no other explanation. Remember, Luke 24, 1 says, now on the first day of the week, Sunday, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. It's easy. This information offers two problems. First, people fail to realize that there were two separate Sabbaths that week, with Friday being the only day they could have possibly purchased the spices. And second, people fail to realize that all of these events line up perfectly when the year AD 31 is used. Churches refuse to acknowledge these facts today because they know if they don't refuse them, they'd lose their traditional Good Friday and Sunday morning resurrection Easter. It's pretty simple. Now, for some more food for thought. When the women arrived at the tomb that Sunday morning, the stone was already rolled away. And the angel explained that Jesus was not there, but is risen. That is Matthew 28, 6, Mark 16, 6, and Luke 24, 6. That, my friends, is past tense. The truth is, Jesus rose back to life the preceding day on the Sabbath at the same time he was placed in the tomb, three days before, just as he said. In closing our study, let me say this: Easter, for the lack of a better term, it's a lie, and we must all depart from it or risk suffering the consequences of our own making. Please, my friends, study all three parts offered here and pray that God grants all of us the sight to see through the lies, deception, and traditions that have blinded us for so many years. And one last scripture to look at. Remember Revelation 18, 4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. Truth has to replace lies and tradition, or we will continue running down the road of destruction. The choice, of course, is yours to make. Take care, my friends. And always remember, God loves you and only wants the very best for you. And know this you are worth it. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.