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● Luke 23:50-54 . . And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a
counseller; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not
consented to the counsel and deed of them) he was of Arimathaea, a city of
the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
. . .This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it
down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in
stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the
preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
NOTE: For the benefit of those looking in who may not be familiar with the
ancient Jews' religion: the day of preparation is set aside for the Jews to rid
their homes of leaven; plus slaughter and roast lambs with fire ready to eat
for that night's Passover dinner. (Exodus chapter 12)
The sabbath mentioned in Luke's passage was very special.
● John 19:31 . .The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the
bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that
sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be
broken, and that they might be taken away.
"high" is translated from the koiné Greek word megas (meg'-as) which
essentially means big, i.e. great.
Regular sabbaths are neither high, nor, big, nor great days; they're same-o,
same-o days; i.e. just routine. There's nothing all that special about a
regular sabbath like there is the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
because that sabbath's night is the Passover lamb dinner.
● John 18:28 . .Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of
judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the
judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the
passover.
● John 19:14 . . And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the
sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
There are more sabbaths in the Bible besides the usual seventh day. For
example:
Yom Kippur (Lev 23:32)
Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25)
Feast of Unleavened Bread; a,k.a. Passover. (Ex 12:16, Lev 23:5-8)
Passover sabbath is interesting. The usual sabbath always falls on the very
same day of the week every time. But Passover sabbath floats; hence it can,
and it does, occur on any given day of the week; sometimes even coincident
with the usual sabbath; for example 2018, and sometimes consecutive with
the usual sabbath; for example 2008.
Factoring the Passover sabbath into the chronology of Matt 12:40 in order to
obtain a third night is actually fairly easy once you're aware of it. But be
forewarned; there are a number of Good Friday's resolute defenders who
refuse to allow John's high day to be other than the routine sabbath; and
they've concocted some very convincing sophistry to support their view.
It's sometimes objected that whereas Yom Kippur and the Feast of Trumpets
are specifically called sabbaths; the first day of the feast of unleavened
bread isn't. It's set aside for an holy convocation which just simply means a
sacred assembly. But it's also added that no manner of work shall be done
on that day; which is exactly what a sabbath is all about (Gen 2:2-3). In
reality, the objection is just semantic nit picking.
Anyway; John calls that day a sabbath, which pretty much settles it for me.
But it's a sneaky sabbath that usually escapes people's notice so they end up
counting only one of the sabbaths related to Christ's crucifixion and
resurrection. Without that sneaky sabbath, they're pretty much stuck with
the Good Friday model; which of course is unworkable.
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