Easter vs Passover Part I: Why It Is Actually Good Wednesday and Not Good Friday.

Only one can stand. Let's find out which one!

It is quite shocking to see how modern Christianity is so disconnected from Scripture, and how pagan traditions have crept into Yehovah's Word. During my research in preparation to write this teaching, I was astounded at what I found.

The chocolate eggs have been in the stores since the end of February and now it is time to celebrate Easter - "The most important time for any Christian". Let's read about Yeshua's death and resurrection and see if the traditions we celebrate now have any scriptural basis.

I loved Easter. It was my favourite time. My parents would hide easter eggs around the house for me and my brother to find. I always had a tradition - Easter eggs for breakfast! Of course that was a terrible idea - but I found so much joy in that. Of course, the buffet of chocolate eggs was followed by Church. The Churches were always packed and it seemed like God was really working in these moments.

But now as I have grown in the ways of the Lord, I have come to realise that this holiday too, has some worldly aspects that go against what God commanded us.

Let's unpack Easter in this teaching, and see if we can reconcile it to Passover, the original festival during Yeshua's death.

Easter vs Scripture

The order of events on Easter are:

• Good Friday - Yeshua (His true name) dies on the cross
• Black Saturday - A time of mourning Yeshua's death
• Resurrection Sunday - Yeshua defies death, victorious over death, giving us eternal life.

Let's find some scriptural evidence for this above:

Good Friday

Did Yeshua die on a Friday? It appears so on the surface. We know this because we know the Sabbath day:

Jhn 19:31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

Pilate instructed the dead bodies to be brought down before the Sabbath, which is on a Saturday. Please read this article if you want to see concrete evidence as to why that is.

We also see that Yeshua was laid in the tomb just before the Sabbath was to start:

Luk 23:54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

Luk 23:55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.

Luk 23:56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

So indeed it looks like Yeshua did die on a Friday.

We also have no mention of any activity on Black Saturday, and this lines up with Scripture as this was the Sabbath day. No work was to be done.

Resurrection Sunday

Indeed, we also see strong evidence of Yeshua rising on a Sunday. We read that Yeshua's empty tomb was discovered after the Sabbath, which would be on a Sunday (i.e. The actual first day of the week):

Mat 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Luk 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

So clearly the modern version of Easter seems to match the Bible quite well. That is, until you start digging deeper. Then this whole story falls apart. Let's reveal why modern Christianity's ideas are false:

The First Calendar Shift

I will start with a verse:

Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Here, we are told that Yeshua's Easter story will take 3 days and 3 nights. In these times, a day consisted of 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night:

Jhn 11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light.

Note - This could vary between seasons, but since it was spring during the crucifixion, daylight time at most might have decreased by 20%.

Some people argue that this is a figure of speech and that some liberty can be taken with these verses on account of the disciples' writing. Ask yourself - Did God or the Son of Man ever leave things open to interpretation? I believe God always accomplishes what He says.

In addition to a day consisting of 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night, a day was considered finished as soon as sunset. A new day would then start. In our modern times, we consider a day finished at 00:00, and a new day subsequently starting. This is a standard adopted by the Romans. But in Biblical times, a day was from sundown to sundown.

Let's now revisit the timeline we established at the start, but now add what we know about the days used in Biblical times:

Yeshua died on Friday, just before the Sabbath began

• The Sabbath would have started at SUNDOWN on the Friday. This means Yeshua was dead for about 3 or 4 hours on Friday before the new day started on Friday evening.
• We know this because it states here that Yeshua died at about 3 in the afternoon:
• Mat 27:46: About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Black Saturday.

• Saturday consists of Friday evening to Saturday Evening. One full day has passed. If we then include Friday, we have about 1 and a sixth of a day since Yeshua died. Although the time of burial is not clear and so we could even disregard Friday's time.

Resurrection Sunday

• We read that in Luke 24:1 the women went to Yeshua's tomb at dawn on the first day of the week (A Sunday). But Sunday started at sundown on the Saturday. So dawn would be about 10-12 hours later.

Doing the Maths:

So if we add all the days together from when Yeshua dies to when he rose, according to the Biblical versions, we have:

• Friday - About 4 hours (Depending on when Yeshua's tomb was sealed)
• Saturday - 24 hours
• Sunday 10 hours

Total time from Yeshua dying to rising = 38 hours, or roughly 1.6 days.

Even if we take some liberty with these numbers. Friday night to Sunday Morning is nowhere near 3 days or 72 hours. This goes against Yeshua's own words! He said he would be in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights.

And even if we do not count hours - Yeshua said 3 days and 3 nights. How many nights are there between Friday evening and Sunday morning? Definitely not 3!

This is a bombshell, as it proves our whole understanding of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is wrong. If you choose to believe the modern narrative, you are saying that Yeshua did not accomplish what He said he would.

How do we solve this? Answer - The Passover

A big clue to unraveling the mystery of Easter is found in verses in John:

Jhn 18:28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

Jhn 19:14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

The verses reveal the key to the real truth behind Yeshua's story - Passover

Passover Recap:

Passover was an act of God in Exodus. It was the final plague brought unto Egypt so Pharoah would let the Israelites leave their lives of slavery and bondage. For this final plague, God sent an angel of death to all the firstborn children of Egypt. God instructed the Israelites to slay a lamb and to apply the blood to their doors so the angel of death would not touch them.

God says this is an appointed time forever and ever:

Exo 12:14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance.

The Passover festival was to be celebrated forever and ever by all generations - Do you think God changed his Word?

The instructions on how to celebrate this festival are:

Every year on the 1st Month according to God’s Calendar:

1. Kill the Passover lamb on the Passover of the 14th of the first month (No, this is not January - we will discuss the calendar shift II later)
2. Make unleavened bread and eat it with the lamb on that same night.
3. For 7 days after the Passover, they must continue to eat unleavened bread. This week is referred to as the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
4. They must do no regular work on the first day and last (7th) day. This is considered a special Sabbath.

So to illustrate it better, let's use this:

In the 1st month of the year:

• 14th day - Kill Passover lamb & make unleavened bread. Eat this and the lamb in the evening.
• 15th - Day 1 of Unleavened Bread - Considered a Special Sabbath.
• 16th - Day 2 of Unleavened Bread.
• 17th - Day 3 of Unleavened Bread.
• 18th - Day 4 of Unleavened Bread.
• 19th - Day 5 of Unleavened Bread.
• 20th - Day 6 of Unleavened Bread.
• 21st - Day 7 of Unleavened Bread - Considered a Special Sabbath.

The festival is then finished.

That is the summary of Passover. Now let's try to relate this to Easter.

Comparing Passover to Easter - Calendar Shift II

Just like the Romans changed our day times from ending at sundown to ending at midnight, we also had a calendar shift in our years and months. We currently follow the  Roman Gregorian Calendar (RGC), which is completely disconnected from God's calendar.

The RGC works on a month-to-month basis ending on the 31st or 30th day, whereas God's calendar works on a New Moon-to-New Moon basis. Our English Bibles have also translated "New Moon" to "months".

So, when God says "In the 1st month", He is really saying "In the 1st New Moon". This is important to know because the New Moon does not fall on a fixed day. This year in 2024, Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread will fall on these dates:

With Passover starting on a Monday. The New Moon for April is on the 8th. So if we want to observe the festivals, we need to go to the 14th day after the New Moon, which is (8th April + 14 days = 22 April), which is how we arrive on 22nd April in the graphic above.

But last year in 2023, it fell on a Wednesday, on the 5th of April. As you can see, it is aligned to the Moon and God's calendar. The first month of God's calendar is Nisan - which coincides with April (and sometimes March) when comparing it to the RGC.

What ties this all together is the special Sabbath. Normally, the Sabbath is observed on a Saturday, however, the special Sabbath can fall on ANY DAY because the Passover start date can start at ANY DAY due to the New Moon coming at different times every year. So is it possible that the Sabbath that Yeshua died before was a SPECIAL SABBATH?

The answer to this question is 100% YES! For these reasons:

1) We know that Yeshua died on the evening of Passover (The day before the Special Sabbath).

Jhn 18:28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

Jhn 19:14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

We know the "Last Supper" was had just before Passover.

Note this is not a Passover meal, but more a celebratory meal that Passover is about to start. Another common misconception in Christianity.

Luk 22:15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

 Luk 22:16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

3) John indicates this Sabbath was special

Jhn 19:31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

John tells us directly that this was a special Sabbath.

This all shows that Passover was about to begin, and so was the festival of Unleavened Bread. Now if we add this new information into our Passover guide, we see a clearer picture of what happened (New parts are in BOLD):

In the 1st New Moon of the year:

• Yeshua has the "Last Supper" with the disciples.
• 14th day (Of the New Moon)- Kill Passover lamb & make unleavened bread. Eat this and the lamb in the evening. Yeshua is crucified.
• 15th - Day 1 of Unleavened Bread - Considered a special Sabbath. This is a Special Sabbath.
• 16th - Day 2 of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua does not rise. As this would not be 3 days and 3 nights.
• 17th - Day 3 of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua rises!
• 18th - Day 4 of Unleavened Bread.
• 19th - Day 5 of Unleavened Bread.
• 20th - Day 6 of Unleavened Bread.
• 21th - Day 7 of Unleavened Bread - Considered a Special Sabbath.

You might be thinking that I am blaspheming the Lord, saying that this event does not run over 3 days, but we are still missing something - the dates. This will bring everything into perspective.

We know from before that Yeshua was indeed crucified on the Friday, and rose on the Sunday. But when we account for how days were measured in God's calendar and for scripture not to have inconsistencies, that means that the Passover happened on Wednesday. So if we add these to our summary, the picture becomes much clearer:

• Tuesday - Yeshua has the "Last Supper" with the disciples.
• Wednesday - 14th day - Kill Passover lamb & make unleavened bread. Eat this and the lamb in the evening. Yeshua is crucified.
• Thursday - 15th - Day 1 of Unleavened Bread - Considered a special Sabbath. This is a Special Sabbath, not a normal Sabbath on a Saturday.
• Friday - 16th - Day 2 of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua does not rise. As this would not be 3 days and 3 nights.
• Saturday - 17th - Day 3 of Unleavened Bread. Normal Sabbath, as this is a Saturday. Yeshua does not rise. As this would not be 3 days and 3 nights.
• Sunday - 18th - Day 4 of Unleavened Bread. Yeshua has risen!

Remember, Sunday starts on Saturday evening, after sunset. So by the time the women came to the tomb, Yeshua had already risen!

To summarize everything into one piece of text:

The Events of Yeshua's Crucifixion:

Day 0: Tuesday Sundown -> Wednesday Sundown

• Passover begins.
• Yeshua is crucified and dies at 3 pm. He is then buried about 3 or 4 hours before the start of the next day, which is a special Sabbath. The 3 days now begin since he is now in the tomb.

Day 1: Wednesday Sundown -> Thursday Sundown

• This is a special Sabbath, not falling on a Saturday.
• Yeshua is buried before the start of this special Sabbath (i.e. the previous day)
• It is a special Sabbath because it is the first day of Unleavened Bread.
• Yeshua is dead for 1 day and 1 night.

Day 2: Thursday Sundown (Friday) -> Friday Sundown (Saturday)

• This is the second day of Unleavened Bread.
• In the evening (i.e. Friday Sundown), it will become Saturday, and the official Sabbath begins.
• Yeshua is dead for 2 days and 2 nights.

Day 3: Friday Sundown (Saturday) -> Saturday Sundown (Sunday)

• The official Sabbath begins for the whole day.
• Yeshua is dead for 3 days and 3 nights.
• In the evening (i.e. Saturday Sundown), it becomes Sunday, and Yeshua then rises from the grave, after the official Sabbath.
• A little later at dawn, the women arrive at the tomb to find it empty.

Adding these together gives us the full 3 days and 3 nights, fulfilling Yeshua's words:

Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So now we can see, taking into account the Biblical way of measuring days and New Moons, the real events that happened to Yeshua. He was crucified on a Wednesday!

Here is a graphic (Taken from 119 Ministries - Give all credit to them) that illustrates what I have written:

This is just the beginning of this teaching. In Part II, we will unpack Easter, and specifically why Easter and Passover are on different days and times. Spoiler alert - If you want to learn about sex gods, bunny rabbits, fertility, and pagan practices, get ready for part II!

Conclusion

In this teaching, we dived into Easter and its links to Passover. We showed that modern-day Christian thinking of Yeshua being crucified on a Friday evening and rising again on Sunday morning is completely contradictory to what Yeshua told us - That He would be 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb. The modern belief of a Friday afternoon death and a Sunday morning resurrection does not give 3 nights.

We showed that the way time was measured was changed during the Roman rule - God's calendar went according to New Moons for the months and the way days are measured was changed by the Romans from sundown to sundown to every day ending at midnight.

We then discussed Passover, the event that happened during Yeshua's crucifixion to help get clarity on these dates. We saw that if we instead use God's calender to map the events that happened, we see that Yeshua was in fact crucified on a Wednesday, and rose again on the Sunday (Which is our modern-day Saturday night). It was also shown that because it was Passover, there were 2 sabbath days, which explains the reason for Yeshua rising after Saturday's Sabbath and not the Sabbath seen on Thursday, which is considered a Special Sabbath according to the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

In conclusion, we have managed to reconcile what Yeshua said with what actually happened, disproving the modern belief of a Friday evening - Saturday - Sunday Morning set of events. Which are far too short to be true.

In part II, we will discuss modern Easter traditions and unpack the pagan practices behind them. See you there!