Photo by Samuel Martin
Many Christians today have a basic understanding of the parallels between the Passover lamb of Exodus and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But most have virtually no understanding of the details surrounding His burial or its significance. Was He actually buried on “Good Friday?”
When God declared the laws for His people, He established several appointed “feasts of the Lord” for Israel to observe at specific times of the year (Leviticus 23) and they were to be observed continuously throughout their generations. These feasts were: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.
But these feasts were not just intended for temporary observance within each year. It was far more than that.
“These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” (Leviticus 23:4 KJV) In this passage, the word “feasts” is the Hebrew word “miqraw” which means a “calling together, or a rehearsal.” And “convocation” is “mow’ed” which translates as “an appointed time or place, an appointed sign or signal.” It implies preparation for the future or a future event.
In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul writes that these holy days are a “foreshadowing of events to come.”
In the Hermeneutics of Biblical prophecy there is the Greek or Western model that translates prophecy in this manner:
Prophecy = Prediction > Fulfillment
But in the Hebrew model of prophetic understanding it is translated in this manner:
Prophecy = Pattern
Jewish scholars saw that God often communicates without words, instead using patterns.
It is well known to Christians that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled all of the spring feasts of the Lord at His First Advent and it is anticipated that He will likewise fulfill the fall feasts at His Second Coming. It is baffling for us that our Jewish friends cannot see how Christ fulfills so many Biblical patterns.
In the week that led to His crucifixion, Jesus perfectly punctuated the prophetic and ceremonial meaning of these feast dates. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem perfectly fulfilled to the exact day Daniel’s prophecy found in Daniel 9:25-26, (and which is recounted in my blog dated January 23, 2019.) In the Hebrew calendar, Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem was the 10th of Nisan and it was on this day that each Jewish family would select an unblemished lamb to be their Passover lamb four days later. Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover, on the 14th of Nisan.
To understand the significance of Jesus’ burial it is important to understand that the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar (unlike our solar or Georgian calendar) and that their day begins at 6pm sundown (instead of our 12:01am) and ends the following day at 6pm. As an example, our “Thursday” would begin at 6pm on Wednesday evening and end at 6pm on Thursday in the Jewish calendar.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified at 9am on Passover and that darkness covered the land from noon until His death at 3pm. In each of the four Gospel accounts we are told that Jesus was buried quickly due to the approach of sundown in advance of “Preparation day” or the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is declared in Leviticus 23:6-7, 10-11.
Although the Feast of Unleavened Bread is quite distinct from Passover it occurs at the same time and lasts seven days. During this time Israel was to eat bread without leaven (leaven symbolized sin) in remembrance of their baking unleavened bread in their haste to escape Egypt during the Exodus. The Matzoh (unleavened bread) that is eaten reminds Israel of that terrible but hopeful night when they ate the sacrificial lamb and unleavened bread in obedience to God’s command.
Thus, the Matzoh represents or symbolizes bread without sin.
Jesus described Himself, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35). In fact, much of His life and ministry centered around the image of bread. Even Bethlehem, where He was born, translates as “house of bread.”
On one occasion while talking to His disciples, He said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit….Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” (John 12:23-24, 27-28)
Jesus Christ, the kernel of wheat that is the basis for bread, did indeed have to die and be buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He was buried on that Thursday at sundown as the 15th day of Nisan began in the Hebrew calendar. He rose three days later on the Feast of Firstfruits (Sunday) to become the “first fruits” of our resurrection.
Jesus said that there would be “three days and three nights” between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection in Matthew 12:40, which in our calendar would be the nights of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and their following days before His empty tomb was discovered Sunday morning. If He had been buried on Friday there would have only been two nights but because Friday began at 6pm Thursday night, this is the origin of the “Good Friday” observance.
In the Seder meal at Passover, the Matzoh is also known as the “bread of affliction” with reference to the Exodus. And to this day the unleavened Matzoh bread is always presented in Jewish homes with stripes and punctures to it, and incredibly the Jews do not comprehend its significance. There are other reasons always cited but the unleavened Matzoh bread, in fact, represents their promised Messiah who was afflicted and bore stripes:
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:4-7)
In the Hebrew, the word for “stripes” is translated as “blow” (“chabburah’-Strongs 2250) and it comes from the same root word as “friend,” and therefore we can also read this as “in His friendship we are healed.” Yeshua gave up His life for us so that we could become his friends. As He later told us regarding His sacrifice, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Maybe you have a friend or know of someone who is seeking God or trying to understand who Jesus Christ is to them. Maybe you even have a Jewish friend who is seeking quietly. Please forward this to them to lend further consideration of who Jesus really is, as you accompany them on this part of their spiritual journey.
Happy Resurrection Day! He is risen indeed!
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In the midst of this ongoing drought in southern Africa we continue to ask for your donations to Sons of Thunder to help in food distributions to those in need, details can be found in last week’s blog posting. We are grateful for your prayerful generosity.