Seven Reasons Why Yeshua’s (Jesus’) Resurrection Occurred on the 7th Day of the Week

In support of our article entitled: “Was Messiah’s Resurrection on the ‘First Day of the week’ – Sunday?”, we want to provide additional reasons why we believe Yeshua’s resurrection occurred on the 7th day of the week and NOT on the 1st day (Sunday). All the details surrounding Yeshua’s three days and three nights in the tomb must align, and be in complete agreement with the chronology of events in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As well, we must also understand God’s way of fulfilling His promises to Abraham and his descendants. This requires knowledge of God’s Word outside the Apostolic Writings (New Covenant).

We must reexamine traditional teaching on Yeshua’ death, burial, and resurrection because it does not harmonize the who, what, and when in each of the four gospel accounts. It leaves gaps that are unreasonable. After decades of pondering, reading, and searching the Bible for answers; we now believe we can get past the sense that: “something does not feel right about what we are being taught.”

REASON 1: GOD’S SPECIAL DAYS

There are seven important events that God wants His people to remember throughout time and each one is linked to an historic event. In addition, the apostle Paul tells us in Col. 2:16-17, these are a “shadow of things to come;” meaning they also have future significance.

• Sabbath (Shabbat);

• Passover (Pesach);

• Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot);

• Pentecost (Shavuot);

• Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah);

• Day of Atonements (Yom Kippurim); and

• Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

These special days point to our Messiah Yeshua and to His first and second comings.

According to the Jewish Rabbis, the first Passover lamb was slaughtered on a Wednesday (afternoon), eaten on Thursday (after sunset on Wednesday), and then Israel left Egypt Thursday morning. Rabbi Aron Tendler, in his commentary on Shabbos HaGadol (The High Sabbath), states:

• “There are a number of reasons why this Shabbos is called the ‘Great Shabbos.’ Chronologically, the 15th of Nissan in the year 2448 occurred on Thursday. Erev Pesach, the 14th of Nissan, when the Bnai Yisroel did the 1st Korban Pesach, was Wednesday…”

This, with other reasons we provide below, helps us establish that Yeshua died on a Wednesday afternoon. Besides being perfect and unchangeable, God is very detailed and precise in that Yeshua died on the same day of the week as the first Passover lamb was slain in Egypt. His death also aligns with the Temple offerings:

• Yeshua was placed on the tree when the morning offering was being placed on the outer alter, at the third hour, which was 9 am.

• Yeshua died on the ninth hour, at 3 pm, when the afternoon offering was to be placed on the alter. However, on this particular day, it may not have been possible for the priests to perform this offering since there was complete darkness from noon to three.

• Yeshua was taken off the tree and placed in the tomb before sunset, because the High Sabbath (1st day of Unleavened Bread) began at 6 pm. John confirms this in John 19:31, when he tells us the bodies could: “…not remain on the tree on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath is a high day).” This was a Biblical commandment given in De 21:21-22, to not leave a body hung on the tree past sundown.

REASON 2 – SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER

Within a week of Passover, we have another clue of Yeshua’s death occurring on Wednesday. John 12:1-2 states:

• “Then, six days before the Passover, Yeshua came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.”

This occurred six days before Yeshua would die on the tree. That evening, they sat down to have a “special meal” with Yeshua prior to His last Passover. The Greek word translated “supper” is “Deipnon.” The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon states this was a “formal meal usually held in the evening.” To those who are familiar with the customs, the only day of the week where the “formal meal” took place was on erve Shabbat, Friday evening, to set apart the Sabbath.

Using the Jewish unit of measurement of time, called an “Onah”(defined below), John would have included Friday in his countdown to Passover. So, Friday would be Day I and Wednesday would be Day 6. This unit of measurement is also important for determining the three days and three nights Yeshua was in the grave.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia (vol. IV, p.475):

• “In Jewish communal life part of a day is at times reckoned as one day; e.g., the day of the funeral, even when the latter takes place late in the afternoon, is counted as the first of the seven days of mourning; a short time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though on the first day only a few minutes remained after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day.”

This way of counting was a regular way of measuring time in this Hebraic society. We must not infuse our Greek system of reckoning time back into this culture but try to understand what they commonly used.

REASON 3 – EARLY FOLLOWERS SUPPORT WEDNESDAY DEATH

There are also historical writings that state early followers of Yeshua supported a mid-week (Wednesday) death:

• “Didascalia, an early Christian work (200-250 C.E), in this work, the apostles are quoted saying that it was on Tuesday that they ate the final supper with the Messiah, and on Wednesday he was taken captive and held in custody in the house of Caiaphas.”

• “Epiphanius, a post-Nicene writer (315-403 C.E.), protested that Yeshua could not have been arrested on the night of Thursday-Friday; a false tradition for him that puts the Last Supper on Thursday evening. The correct one according to Epiphanius, is the supper was on a Tuesday. An early chronology worked out by Victorinus of Pettau came to the same conclusion that Yeshua must have been put to death on a Wednesday.”

REASON 4: PHRASE - “FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK” [MIA TON SABBATON]

We defined “mia ton sabbaton” in our previous article but need to address it again as it is our best evidence for a 7th day of the week resurrection. This Greek phrase, “mia ton sabbaton,” was wrongly translated by modern English translators as “first day of the week” eight times in the Apostolic Writings. As an example, the “New Living Translation” even translates this phrase: “Early on Sunday morning.” It should have been translated as “one of the Sabbaths.”

Let’s look at John 20:1, one of the eight times this phrase is used:

• Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” (NKJV)

Young’s Literal translation of this verse, reads slightly different, but correctly translates the word “sabbaton” to “sabbaths”:

• “And on the first of the sabbaths, Mary the Magdalene doth come early (there being yet darkness) to the tomb, and she seeth the stone having been taken away out of the tomb:”

The English word “first” in this phrase is the Greek word “Mia.” According to Christian scholar, Dr. Strong, in his concordance (#3391), the word “Mia” means: “only one, someone.” It does NOT mean “first.”

If the authors of the four books of the Apostolic Writings meant “first,” then they would have used the Greek word “protos,” as in prototype. Protos was translated correctly in Matthew 19:30:

• “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

The other Greek word used in this phrase is “sabbaton.” Modern scholars translate this word in a singular tense as “week.”

Sabbaton is a transliteration of the Hebrew plural word “Shabbatot” meaning “Sabbaths” or “weeks.” This should be understood in the context of counting seven sabbaths or seven weeks to determine when to celebrate Pentecost (Lev 23:15 / De 16:9). Pentecost is called the “Feast of Weeks.”

Therefore, anywhere you see the phrase “first day of the week” in the Apostolic Writings, it should be translated:

• “ONE OF THE SABBATHS”

Finally, the word “day” is not present in the Greek text. It has been inserted by translators for “clarity,” as stated by the publishers of the King James Version in their Preface. Through the centuries, adding “day” to “first day of the week” has misled myriads to believe it referred to “Sunday.”

REASON 5 – “THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS” IN THE TOMB

Yeshua said, concerning Himself, in Matthew 12:40:

• “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

It is impossible to get three days and three nights using a death on Friday and resurrection on Sunday. If we use the Jewish reckoning of time, mentioned above, “Ona,” with Messiah dying on a Wednesday afternoon, then we get a Saturday (Sabbath) morning resurrection.

Remember, God’s days begin at sundown, not at midnight, like we mark time today. Also, in John 11:9, we read:

• “Yeshua answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.’”

Consider our outline below, using twelve hours in a day and twelve hours in a night with the “Ona” rule of counting days:

• Day 1: Wednesday – He died prior to sunset on our Wednesday (3 pm)

• Night 1: Thursday – night begins after sundown on our Wednesday (6 pm)

• Day 2: Thursday – day begins after sunrise on our Thursday

• Night 2: Friday – night begins after sundown on our Thursday

• Day 3: Friday – day begins after sunrise on our Friday

• Night 3: Saturday – night begins after sundown on our Friday

Yeshua’s resurrection occurred between 3 and 6 am, before sunrise, on the 7th day of the week. The women came to the tomb while it was still dark, as stated in John 20:1, and He was already gone.

REASON 6 – TWO PREPARATION DAYS FOR TWO SABBATHS IN THE PASSOVER WEEK

Many get confused with the phrase “Preparation Day” that is used during the week of Yeshua’s death. They mistakenly think this phrase refers only to Friday, the 6th day of the week, which is the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath. This is not true. Before every annual Sabbath, there was a “preparation day” for getting meals ready and other special requirements that God commands us to do/not do in His Torah. For Passover, the Lamb and other food items had to be prepared for the Passover meal, as well as, getting all the “leaven” out of the house.

During the week of Yeshua’s death, there were two preparation days. One was for the annual Sabbath (1st Day of Unleavened Bread), which occurred Tuesday evening at sundown to Wednesday evening at sundown. The other preparation day was Thursday evening at sundown to Friday evening at sundown to prepare for the weekly Sabbath.

In reference to the preparation day for the annual Sabbath, John 19 states:

• V.14, “Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour…”

• V.31, “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day).”

• V.42, “So, there they laid Yeshua, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”

By having two preparation days, there comes two Sabbaths. In Matthew 28:1, we have confirmation. In the Literal Translation, it reads:

• “And on the later of the Sabbaths, at the dawn to the first of the Sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the tomb…”

Separation into paragraphs and chapters did not exist in the original text. If we read Luke 23:56 through 24:1 as one section, then the two sabbaths become clearer:

• “And having turned back, they made ready spices and ointments, and on the Sabbath, indeed, they rested, according to the command, And on the first of the Sabbaths, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bearing the spices they made ready, and certain {others} with them.” (YLT)

The first usage of “Sabbath” here is referring to the annual Sabbath. The second usage refers to the weekly Sabbath, as they began to count off the seven Sabbaths / seven weeks to Pentecost. These days must be understood within a Hebraic society that was applying God’s calendar given in Lev 23.

REASON 7 – PREPARING FOR BURIAL ON THE SABBATH

John tells us the women went home after Yeshua’s burial and rested, as God commanded on the High Sabbath, 1st day of Unleavened Bread. They went the next day (Friday) to buy materials and, as was customary, they went to the tomb on the third day to add more spices to facilitate decay of the body. This was permitted on a weekly Sabbath day. It would not have broken the 4th commandment or any oral traditions. Helping someone who cannot help themselves has always been considered the greatest mitzvah (deed) by the sages, and today it is still regarded as above all other commandments. This certainly applies to times of death.

In the “The Mishnah, A New Translation,” Shabbat 23:5, p. 207, preparing the dead on a Sabbath is addressed. “They can prepare all that is needed for a corpse.”

It was then, and still is today, a customary obligation for grieving friends and relatives to go to the tomb on the third day to pay last respects. Death was considered permanent after three days.

CLOSING

Based on our understanding of the phrase “mia ton sabbaton,” Yeshua appeared to His disciples later on His resurrection day, the weekly Sabbath, not Sunday. In John 20:19 it reads:

• “It being, therefore, evening, on that day, the first of the sabbaths, and the doors having been shut where the disciples were assembled, through fear of the Jews, Yeshua came and stood in the midst, and saith to them, 'Peace to you;‘” (YLT)

Scripturally, the Sabbath always represents “rest” and “renewal.” We believe our Messiah Yeshua rested on the Sabbath and was renewed through resurrection on this special day. After all, He referred to Himself in Matt 12:8 as “Lord of the Sabbath Day.”