Two Sabbaths in a Row

..they [Jewish leaders] will mock him [Jesus] and spit upon him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he [Jesus] will rise again.” (Mark 10:34 NRSV)

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” (Mark 14:12 NRSV)

Have you ever wondered how 2 days and 2 nights celebrated from Good Friday to Sunday jives with Jonah and Jesus saying his death was for 3 days and 3 nights (Mark 10:34)?

I have.

And as I was reading my Holy Week scriptures today around the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, my curiosity was aroused once again.

The answer to this dilemma is solved by having two Sabbath days in a row!!

Let me explain.

On researching the Festivals of the Torah, three of these festivals occur at the same time…

1) Passover - where the passover lamb is sacrificed occurs the day BEFORE a “high Sabbath” day

2) Festival of Unleavened Bread - This 7-8 day festival commemorates the delivery of the Israelites from slavery and their wandering in the wilderness… hence the use of unleavened bread as a symbol. The first day of this Festival is considered a “high Sabbath”. Now a “high Sabbath” is not the usual sabbath day but an extra Sabbath day thrown in.

3) Festival of the Firstfruits - This is a one day festival commemorating spring harvest and it occurs sometime during the 7-8 day Festival of Unleavened Bread. It, too, is considered a “high Sabbath” one more extra Sabbath.

Okay. So what?

Well, the first day of unleavened bread is when the Passover occurs followed IMMEDIATELY by the “high Sabbath” for the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

This “high Sabbath” is followed by the regular weekly Sabbath. Hence we have TWO Sabbath days in a row.

If you want to learn more about this, I found the website “ by Seed of Abraham Ministries has a good article explaining the Jewish calendar and how these festivals fit together. The article is entitled “The Passover Problem Solved” and can be accessed at this link https://www.torahclass.com/topical-teachings/1329-the-passover-problem-solved/

So, if this is true, then today (Thursday) is the day Jesus was crucified with his body asked for and removed from the cross before sunset, the time the “high Sabbath” was to begin (Friday). The regular sabbath occurred the following day (Saturday). And then, the first day of the week (Sunday) saw Christ’s resurrection.

Now we have 3 days and 3 nights as opposed to our classical 2 days and 2 nights from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

May you reflect on God’s sacrifice for us this “Good Thursday”…. as we await Easter Sunday.