First let me say thank you to Ray Vander Laan at Follow the Rabbi and the scholars and authors of Jerusalem Perspective Online for these amazing insights. 

It is officially midnight as I begin to write. The holiday of Easter has ended. But, to the Jews of the first century, today’s celebration would not be Easter, but the Feast of First Fruits, and it would have ended around 7 PM or at sunset.

Beginning at 7 PM on the 14th day of the 1st Jewish month is Passover. The first Sabbath (Saturday) following Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is followed on the very next day (Sunday) by the Feast of First Fruits.

When Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, the 14th day of Passover fell on a Jewish Friday, beginning at sunset (about 7 PM), the time we would call Thursday night. The Jewish day begins at night, which is a very important fact when reckoning the time of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Jesus died the next day, which would be the second half of the Jewish Friday (which would end at 7 PM). He was buried after 7 PM (Jewish Saturday night) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and His body was in the tomb until the end of the Jewish Sabbath that ended at 7 PM (or sunset). At sunset on Saturday, Sunday night officially started (our Saturday night), and Jesus was no longer in the tomb.

These words from John 20:1a, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,” may lead some to believe that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in the darker hours, just before the sun came up. However, the Jewish day was such that evening came first, and was followed by morning. This means that early on the first day, or early on Sunday, was a reference to the earliest hours of the new day following the Sabbath.

The early part of the Jewish day was the time that the sun had just set, which we would refer to as evening. However, evening on a Jewish day was the beginning of a new day. So, what we would refer to as Saturday night, first century Jews referred to as Sunday night, which came before Sunday morning.

If you were able to keep up with all of that, then you can see how the tomb would have been empty on our Saturday night, the Jewish Sunday night.

So what?

Well, let’s go back over the feasts. Passover morning, Jesus is killed. The theme of Passover is “Deliverance from Bondage.” Jesus died while the people were remembering that they were freed from the bondage of Egypt. Jesus died to free us from the bondage of sin.

That night, officially the Jewish Saturday, beginning of the Sabbath, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was buried. The theme of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is “Lord, thank you for giving us life from the ground” or “Please give us life from the ground.” Jesus was buried when everyone was praying for life to come out of the ground.

The next night, Sabbath has ended, and the new day (Sunday), as well as the next festival, the Feast of First Fruits, has begun. The theme of this feast is “Giving to God the first that has come out of the ground, and trusting Him for much more to follow.” Jesus rose from the grave when everyone is offering God their very first crops, and they are asking God for more to follow.

This all reveals a very detailed plan on the part of God. It is only about once per century that Passover (the 14th day of the first Jewish month) falls on a Friday, which allows for the three festivals to fall on three consecutive days.

God is awesome!

Many blessings,
Johnny

© 2008 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

This article is from a letter written by a friend named Tim Williford. I appreciate his writing very much and want to share it with the Flock’s Diner readers.Thank you, Tim, for allowing me to share.  “I was reading through some of your writings on Flocks Diner a couple of days ago. One of the Officers from the Carolinas mentioned your website a few months ago (back in November), but to be honest, Christmas was upon us, and I really did not have time for anything much other than Christmas work. One of your posts especially caught my eye - The Repentant Camel (10/30/07). When I first read it, I thought to myself, “Doesn’t Johnny know that this passage refers to the small door of a large gate in the wall of Jerusalem? Doesn’t he know that this refers to having to unload the camel and getting it down on its knees before it will fit through the door? This is a sign of humility! I have heard this I don’t know how many times in sermons relating to this passage. However, wanting to make sure that I “knew” what I know, I decided to do a little research. The conventional/traditional view is that Jesus, like the other rabbis of the day, often taught using object lessons of things not only they, but also their audience, could plainly see. So, if the above interpretation of the saying was correct, then surely Jesus must have been sitting in Jerusalem, watching some merchant unloading his camel, making the beast struggle through the opening, then reloading the camel. That’s where the problems begin:

May God bless you and yours!

Tim

Last year, I read Dr. Dobson’s book, Bringing Up Boys. In my opinion, Dobson is right on with his advice and insights.

One very funny insight has to do with the act of masturbation. He said that 97% of teenage boys indulge in this practice, and the other 3% have been known to lie. That is quite funny.

Another insight of Dobson’s is in the area of teenage boys getting into trouble. Do teenage boys get into trouble? Is a frog’s rear-end water tight?

Dobson brings up the point that teenage boys can get into more trouble in one day than anyone can fix in one year. It would be so wonderful if our children would recognize that a parent gives advice for no other reason than we love them more than anything or anyone else in the world. It’s unfortunate that our adolescent, inferior minds don’t allow us to recognize that our parents really do want the best for us.

I have a teenage son who got himself into more trouble last weekend than we may be able to fix in a lifetime. If only he had the ears to listen, he would have avoided the misery of this horrible situation.

“Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs 8:6-11) NIV.

Have you ever wished your children would realize how much you as their parent and advisor only want the best for them? As a father, “I open my lips to speak what is right!”

In my estimation, it is not until we do what is right because it is the right thing to do that we are able to finally grasp the concept and value of wisdom. As long as we only do the right thing because it’s the rule or the law, we will continue to resist boundaries and see them as nothing more than obstacles to fun and personal fulfillment. The forbidden fruits of our world are all very different for each of us. We are not all tempted by the same sins, and each of us has a responsibility to learn the value of wisdom that will keep us from destroying ourselves.

Please pray for my oldest son.

Many blessings,
Johnny

© 2008 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

This week I spoke on GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and put a twist on it focusing on direction from God (see the podcast or Godcast1000.com). I believe that our destination is left up to us. We make choices every day that determine our destination. We wake up and make decisions concerning our clothes, what we watch on TV, what music we listen to, and who we interact with.

But what happens when we have interruptions on our journey? There are times when we have detours that come up in our lives. Many people made the decision long ago to follow Christ and at some point took a wrong turn. You ended up on the wrong road and now find yourself off the path–a detour. There are detours in the Bible. Jonah found himself in a Self-Directed Detour when he became disobedient to God and sailed in the opposite direction of Ninevah. Paul and Joseph experienced God-Directed Detours. Paul was in chains for the gospel. Joseph was sold into slavery. Both embraced the detour that God directed and amazing things happened. One wrote a majority of the New Testament and the other saved Israel from extinction. All because of a God-Directed Detour.

Are you on the path that leads to God’s destination? Or are you on a detour? Is the detour Self-Directed or God-Directed?

Talk to Me,

Vance

© 2008 Vance Murphy and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved