Christ's Tomb
The Resurrection
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Christ
rose from the dead after being in the tomb three days and three nights.
See our files
Sign of the Messiah and
Two Sabbaths.
Matthew 28:1-6
Now after the Sabbaths, as it began to light
up into the FIRST OF SABBATHS, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look
at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel
of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat
upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white
as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel
said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for
Jesus who has been crucified. "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He
said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
| Mark 16: 2-6 Exceedingly early to the FIRST OF THE SABBATHS, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he *said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. |
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Luke corroborates the statements made by Matthew and Mark in reference to the time of Christ's resurrection.
Luke 24:1-6 But on the
FIRST OF THE SABBATHS, at early
dawn, they came to the tomb bearing the spices which they had prepared. And
they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did
not find the body [of the Lord Jesus.] While they were perplexed about this,
behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women
were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,
"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but
He is raised. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee..."
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John also relates the story about the
women who came to the tomb at dawn and found Jesus already risen. John 20:1 To the FIRST OF SABBATHS Mary Magdalene is coming early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and is looking at the stone that had already been taken away from the tomb. |
The 4 gospels agree that the resurrection occurred on the morning of the first of Sabbaths that Yeshua/Jesus was already risen.
Observe that there
is no scripture whatsoever that states that the women came on the "first
day of the week." What the Bible actually says is "the first of
Sabbaths".
What is the meaning of the expression "first of
Sabbaths"? The expression "the first of the
Sabbaths" refers to the wave sheaf offering.
What is the wave sheaf offering? The wave sheaf offering was a yearly offering made to God from the first grains of the harvest. This holiday falls every year on the first Sunday after Passover Feast. As you can see in the following chart, Jesus was resurrected on the day of the wave sheaf offering.
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Why is the wave sheaf offering called the "first of Sabbaths"? If we read Deuteronomy 16:9-10 we realize that there is a period of 7 weeks that are counted from the day of the wave sheaf offering until Shavuot/Pentecost. Within these seven weeks there are seven Sabbaths. The wave sheaf offering is an annual holiday (not a weekly Sabbath) and marks the beginning of this period of 7 weeks.
Deuteronomy
16:9 You shall count seven weeks for
yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put
the sickle to the standing grain.
Deuteronomy 16:10 Then
you shall celebrate the Feast
of Weeks [Shavuot/Pentecost]
to YHWH your God with a tribute of a freewill
offering of your hand, which you shall give just as YHWH your God blesses
you;
The Feast
of Weeks/Pentecost
comes from the Greek root "penta" which means five. This is because there is a total of
fifty days. Please refer to the above timeline.
We
calculate the day of Pentecost in the following way: seven days X seven weeks plus one day
( 7 X 7
) + 1 = 50 days.
The Feast of Weeks was therefore celebrated on the 50th day. The Feast of Weeks/Shavuot/Pentecost is one of
God's Annual Holy Days in which no servile work can be done. See our file Holy
Days.
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Leviticus 23:15
'You shall also count for yourselves from the next day
after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the Wave
Sheaf Offering;
there shall be seven perfect Sabbaths. Leviticus 23:16 You shall count fifty days to the NEXT day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to YHWH. |
Therefore the
wave sheaf offering is presented once a year, and always on a Sunday (the NEXT day after the
weekly Sabbath).
The day the
counting was initiated was when the Wave
Sheaf Offering was
offered.
Christ is the
"wave sheaf offering" that was sacrificed for us and He presented
himself to the Father as an offering on the exact day the wave sheaf offering
was being waved in the temple! He is the "FIRST FRUITS" of the
harvest of souls. He is the first person who died and was resurrected to
spirit.
We also share this hope, see our file
The
First Resurrection.
John 20:17
Jesus said to her, "Don't touch me, for I haven't yet
ascended unto my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending
to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
Not only is Jesus
the wave sheaf offering who presented Himself as an offering to the Father on
the day of His resurrection, He is also our Passover lamb sacrificed for us on the 14th of Nisan, the day
the lambs were being sacrificed for the Passover feast of Nisan 15. See
our file Holy
Days.
| Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. |
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Therefore, the biblical translation "first day of the week," is incorrect. The original Greek says "first of the Sabbaths," which as we already saw refers to the wave sheaf offering, a day which occurs once a year as stated in God's calendar!
For the details of Jesus' burial, which started during the night of the Passover Feast, just as the symbolism of the Last Supper/Passover implies, read our file Time of Christ's Burial.
