The Resurrection was not on Sunday

This booklet is Published by The Eternal Church of God with the permission of the authors. It is provided free as an educational service in the public interest. It is not to be sold.

    Each Spring millions of churchgoers gather together at sunrise to celebrate an Easter Sunday morning resurrection of Jesus Christ. This tradition is so widely accepted that few ever give it much thought, much less question it. These churchgoers would be shocked upon learning the truth about Jesus' resurrection. The truth is that the traditional Friday crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection story is absolutely contrary to the Biblical account. In fact, what Jesus told us about His resurrection proves He could not possibly have been crucified Friday afternoon and resurrected Sunday morning.
    But if Jesus didn't rise from the grave on Easter Sunday, when did he rise? Where did our modern Sunday morning come from? Could it be that what the modern churches teach about Easter Sunday is false? Jesus did warn His disciples saying that "many false prophets shall rise and deceive many," (Mat. 24:11). Is it possible that you may have been deceived about Christ's resurrection?
    The question of Christ’s resurrection is of the utmost importance because the events surrounding it are inextricably tied to much deeper spiritual truths all Christians need to know. The truth is that Jesus was not resurrected Sunday. Instead, He ascended to be accepted by the Father, and this had to occur before any of us can be accepted by God.
    Before deciding that all the modern churches that teach a Sunday resurrection can't possibly be wrong, look at the facts. Compare what you read in this booklet with the pages of your own Bible, and prove it for yourself!

Jesus Promised Us A Sign
The religious leaders of Jesus' day demanded that He show them a sign. Threatened by His popularity, they sought to discredit Him with a challenge that He prove His messiahship. Jesus replied that He would give them one and only one sign that He was the true Messiah. He would be in the grave three days and nights. Matthew records Jesus' words:

Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But He answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40)

The sign of Jonah was the only sign Jesus gave proving He was the long awaited Messiah. He said plainly that He would be in the grave three days and three nights. By Christ's own admission, if Jesus was not in the grave three full days and three full nights, He was not the Christ!
So important was this promised sign, that He spoke of it on many occasions. Notice Mark's example. He records Jesus' words stating:

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)

The demand for a sign recorded in Matthew 12 was not the first time Jesus had been challenged to prove that he was the Messiah. Earlier in Jesus' ministry, the Jewish religious leaders had also raised this question. The apostle John writes:

Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? (John 2:18)

Jesus gave His critics the answer, and they promptly misunderstood Him. John explains this in the next verse:

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days? (John 2:19-20)

Christ's antagonists did not realize that He spoke of His own resurrection. The apostle John clarifies this stating:

But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (Jn. 2:21-22)

Although the Jewish religious leaders did not understand at first, by the end of Jesus' ministry they were acutely aware of Jesus' claim that he would rise after three days. The following verses show just how cognizant they were of this. Speaking of the day after Jesus' crucifixion, Matthew writes:

Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that the deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead. (Matthew 27:62-64)

Jesus made it clear that he would be three days and three nights in the grave. It was a sign he gave of his Messiahship. Either he was truly three days and three nights in the grave, or He lied and was not our Savior.

No Three Days And Nights In the Easter Tradition
Take a moment to count the days and nights in the context of the Good Friday crucifixion Easter Sunday resurrection tradition. If Jesus was crucified Friday, put in the grave that evening, and resurrected Sunday morning, he would have been in the grave only one day and two nights.

Friday Night	Saturday Day	Saturday Night	Sunday Day	Sunday Night
In the grave	In the grave	In the grave
Night One	Day One	Night Two

This chart demonstrates that according to the Easter tradition, Jesus would have been in the grave one day and two nights, not three days and three nights as He said.

God's Word Or The Tradition Of Men?
In spite of the obvious conflict with scripture, modern theologians still attempt to squeeze three days and three nights between Friday evening and Sunday morning. Clearly their convoluted and tortured arguments, whereby they interpret His words to mean something other than three full days and three full nights, are nothing more than an attempt to force the Bible to conform to human tradition.
Preferring human tradition over Biblical truth is a fundamental flaw in modern, professing Christianity. Read God's indictment of religious leaders who teach the worship of God by traditions of men:

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by precept of men, (Isaiah 29:13)

Isaiah was inspired to decry the fact that all too often the fear of God, the way we worship Him, is taught by the precepts, or beliefs and traditions of men. There is no question that modern theologians view the Bible through the lens of the traditions they have been taught by other men. As a result, the errors and misconceptions of each generation are passed along to the next.
The example of the early Church stands in stark contrast to our modern practice. The apostle Peter boldly proclaimed the rule for all Christians when he said:

It's time for all of us to stop taking our religious beliefs for granted. It's time to stop simply going along with the error we have been taught by the traditions of men. It's time to look into the Bible itself, and verify the truth for certain.
So important is this vital axiom, the apostle Paul recorded:

The Bible Interprets Itself
Making the determination to accept and believe what the Bible says is the first step toward discovering the truth. But how does one go about studying the Bible? The Bible answers the question. The prophet Isaiah explains this very important principle:

Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. (Isaiah 28:9-10)

The truth about any single subject is rarely found in one place in the Bible. We must search the word of God thoroughly, and then put all the scriptures on a given subject together to form a true picture. Like a jigsaw puzzle, you can't see the whole picture until all the pieces are fitted together. We too then must put the pieces of God’s truth together on a specific subject in order that our vision becomes clear.
The apostle Peter conveys another important principle all Bible students must understand and abide by. We cannot apply our own thoughts and interpretations to God’s Word. Peter writes:

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (II Peter 1:19-20)

Understand what Peter is saying! The Bible is not to be interpreted by men. This is one of the great truths of Biblical understanding. The Bible interprets itself. For example, if we want to know what Jesus meant by three days and three nights, we must let the Bible interpret its own terms. In this case, the Bible actually defines the terms "day" and "night".
This booklet will search the Scriptures to find all the pieces of the puzzle and we will let the Bible define its own terms. In so doing, we will discover the truth.

How Long Are Three Days And Nights?
The Bible defines the terms "day" and "night" in the very fist chapter in the book of Genesis. There Moses records:

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5)

Could any thing be more clear than this simple statement? God here defines "day" as the daylight portion of a 24-hour period, and "night" as the dark portion of the same 24-hour period.
How does Jesus define the terms "day" and "night?" After all, He's the one who said he would be in the earth three days and three nights. What did he mean? Jesus defines the length of a day with these words:

Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. (John 11:9-10)

Could anything be more clear? The Bible defines its own terms, and in Genesis Moses tells us a day is comprised of two parts, night and day. Later, Jesus Christ Himself defines a "day" as 12 hours of daylight, and "night" as the darkness that makes up the remaining 12 hour portion of a 24-hour period. In that context Jesus said:

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40)

Christ would be in the grave the same amount of time that Jonah was in the fishes belly. Many commentators attempt to argue around Christ’s clear statement saying that three days and nights is only a Hebrew idiom and can mean any part of three days and nights. Regarding this view, famous Bible commentator Bullinger writes in his Companion Bible:

The fact that "three days" is used by Hebrew idiom for any part of three days and three nights is not disputed; because that was the common way of reckoning, just as it was when used of years. Three or any number of years was used inclusively of any part of those years, as may be seen in the reckoning of the reigns of any of the kings of Israel and Judah. But, when the number of "nights" is stated as well as the number of "days," then the expression ceases to be an idiom, and becomes a literal statement of fact, ... it means exactly what it says, and this can be the only meaning of the expression in Matt. 12:40 (Appendix 144)

Bullinger is extremely clear regarding this. Jesus' use of the expression "three days and three nights" in reference to Jonah can have one and only one meaning. Both the accounts of Jesus and Jonah refer to the days in terms of their respective nights, and therefore Jesus was in the grave a seventy two hour period, no more and no less. The three days, and three nights must be full days and full nights.

Was The Crucifixion On A Friday?
Another mistake Bible students commonly make involves the day of Christ’s death. Many have thought the day of Jesus' crucifixion was a Friday because the Bible states that day was the day before a Sabbath. Luke writes

Most people correctly understand that since no work was to be done on a Sabbath, "the preparation" refers to the day before a Sabbath. The mistake occurs in assuming that this was a preparation day for a weekly Sabbath. Actually, this was the preparation day for one of the annual Sabbath days outlined in Leviticus 23. John makes this clear when he says:

And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. (John 19:31)

The preparation day that coincided with the day of Jesus' death was the preparation for an annual Sabbath, the high Holy Day marking the beginning of the seven day spring festival. This feast season was sometimes called the “Passover," and other times the “Days of Unleavened Bread,” (Lk. 21:1). John continues:

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. (John 19:31)

So we see that the day before Christ’s crucifixion was indeed a Sabbath, but not the weekly Sabbath. It was a high day, an annual Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Two Sabbaths While Christ Was in the Grave
There were actually two Sabbaths during the seventy-two hours Jesus was in the grave. The annual Sabbath or "high day" which marked the beginning of Passover but also the weekly Sabbath. Matthew actually records this fact, but translators have often glossed over this evidence. He writes:

In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. (Matthew 28:1)

The word translated "Sabbath" here is "sabayon" in the original Greek. It is the plural of the word "Sabbath." Though the King James translators missed the point regarding the two Sabbaths in this verse, the meaning in the original Greek is unmistakable. The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament explains the meaning of "sabayon" the following way:

    The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament translates Matthew 28:1 in a similar way, as simply recording the words: “After the Sabbaths.”
    Matthew used the plural form of Sabbath precisely because there were two Sabbaths during the seventy-two hours Jesus was in the grave.
    Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, came to the grave before dawn Sunday morning - the morning after a weekly Sabbath. But another Sabbath had also passed since Jesus' death. Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover, the day before an annual Sabbath the high Holy Day that marked the beginning of the seven day festival called "the days of Unleavened Bread."
    The fact that Jesus was crucified on the eve of this annual festival holds tremendous significance for all of us. The first Passover ceremony was kept by the ancient Israelites on the eve of their Exodus from Egypt. The ceremony included sacrificing an unblemished lamb and smearing the lamb's blood on the doorframe of each home. Moses records the very words of God regarding this sacred ceremony:

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year...and the whole assembly of ...Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood , and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherin they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:5-7)

When the death angel passed through Egypt, killing the first born of every creature, the blood protected the firstborn inside their homes from the death angel. God's words ring out:

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

The sacrificial Passover lamb that saved the lives of the Israelites was a type that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus, the Savior of the whole world. The death of the firstborn enabled the Israelites to escape the slavery of Egypt. And – the death of Jesus, God's firstborn, is what enables us to escape the slavery of sin. Notice what Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth:

For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast. (I Corinthians 5:7)

    Jesus was the Passover lamb that was sacrificed for all mankind! His sacrifice was the fulfillment of what the sacrificial Passover lamb pictured.
    The Passover lamb was always killed on the fourteenth day of the first month (Lev. 23:5). The high day which marked the beginning of the seven day festival called Unleavened Bread, was on the fifteenth day, which began at sunset at the close of the fourteenth (Lev. 23:6)
    For many years the Jewish custom had been to kill the Passover lamb at about three o'clock on the afternoon of the fourteenth. Notice the time of day when Jesus died on the cross. Luke records that:

It was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:44-46)

Jesus died at the ninth hour, exactly at three o'clock in the afternoon, the time it was customary to kill the Passover lamb!

What Time Of Day Was Jesus Buried?
Knowing the time of day Jesus was buried is the key to knowing the time of day he was resurrected. Whatever time He was buried, the passage of seventy-two hours brings us to the exact same time of day, three days and three nights later.
We know that Jesus died about three o'clock in the afternoon (Lk. 23:44-46; Mat. 27:46-50; and Mk. 15:34-37). Reading the events that followed ,we find that Jesus was buried that same evening a few hours later before sunset and the beginning of the annual Holy Day. Matthew documents this time period with these words:

When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. (Matthew 27:57-60)

Jewish law required that dead bodies be buried before the Sabbath, and Sabbaths are observed from "even unto even" (Lev. 23:32), so Joseph would have had to complete Jesus' burial before the Sabbath began around sunset. Between obtaining permission from Pilate to bury Jesus, preparing the necessary burial supplies and performing the actual task of burying the body, there wasn't much time. John tells us that Joseph was aided by Nicodemus, and conveys their sense of urgency to complete the task before the Sabbath began.

And there came also Nicodemus... and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes... Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand, (John 19:40-42)

Apparently the reason Joseph and Nicodemus chose a sepulchre near at hand was because they were so pressed for time. In the words of Luke, "the Sabbath drew on," (Lk. 23:54). No doubt when Jesus was finally buried and the stone rolled over the tomb, it must have been very near sunset.

When Was Jesus Resurrected?
The Easter Sunday sunrise resurrection tradition is built entirely upon the gospel accounts of the women coming to the tomb at sunrise and finding that Jesus was risen. But understand He did not rise at sunrise, He was already risen! John records:

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. (John 20:1)

    When Mary came to the sepulchre Sunday morning, it was still dark, and the stone was already taken away. Jesus had already risen!
    It is now possible to put the pieces of the puzzle together to form the true picture of when Jesus was resurrected. We know that Jesus died at the same time the Jews sacrificed the Passover lamb. We know that Jesus was buried that evening just before sunset. We know there were two Sabbaths during the seventy two hours Jesus was in the grave. We also know that when the women came to the grave early Sunday morning it was dark and Jesus had already risen.
    When we look at the ancient calendar, we find that only twice, in what could have been Jesus' lifetime, did the weekly Sabbath end three days after the Passover began. The only times this occurred was 31 A.D. and 34 A.D. In those years, the fourteenth day of the first month was a Wednesday. This is the day Jesus was crucified.
    The overwhelming weight of evidence leads us to one conclusion:   Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday. He was buried as the sun was setting Passover evening. He lay dead in the grave Thursday day and night. He was in the grave all day Friday, and Friday night. Finally, He was in the grave all day Saturday. He was then resurrected in the end of the Sabbath, at sunset, Saturday evening. He was a full 72 hours in the heart of the earth. Three days and three nights just as he said and exactly according to the scripture.

Jesus buried Holy Day beginsFirst High Day observedBought and prepared spicesWeekly Sabbath begins at sunset	Rested on the Sabbath day
Wed Night	Thurs Day	Thurs Night	Friday Day	Friday Night	Saturday Day
In the grave	In the grave	In the grave	In the grave	In the grave	In the grave
Night One	Day One	Night Two	Day Two	Night Three	Day Three

Christ was in the grave three full days and three full nights. He was resurrected at sunset Saturday and when the women came to the tomb Sunday morning while it was dark, He was already gone.

Does Luke 24:21 Indicate Sunday Is The Third Day?
The scriptures make it abundantly clear that Christ was to be in the grave for seventy two hours. He said He would be raised both “in three days,” and “after three days.” The only way both of these statements could be true is if the time was not more than three days and nights or less than three days and nights. Therefore He was raised at that exact time, not more not less. Further, the only way all the Biblical criteria can be met is that He be crucified Wednesday.
Still, in an attempt to justify the Easter Sunday tradition, some try to prove that Sunday was the third day using Luke 24:21. There the story is told of two followers of Jesus walking late Sunday afternoon after having found the grave of Jesus empty early that morning. Perplexed over the recent events, they were ostensibly long faced. Jesus came and spoke to them while remaining yet unidentified. He asked these two disciples the reason for their apparent sorrow. One of the men, Cleopas, answered Him stating the following:

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he (Jesus) said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. (Luke 24:18-21)

In verse 21, it can appear from the King James version the disciples are stating that "to day," Sunday, is the third day. But, is this what is actually meant by the scripture?
Notice first that the word "to day" is the Greek word "semeron." This word is identified by Strong's Concordance as number 4594 and is defined as: on this day, (or night current, or just passed), generally now, at present or hitherto, this, or today. In stating to day is the "third day" in verse 21, "day" is the Greek word "hemera" and defined as: the time between dawn and dark, or the whole 24 hours. As we have seen, "semeron" can mean the "day or night current, or just passed." It can also mean "hitherto," referring to a period leading up to a specific point in time. An example of this exact usage for "semeron" is found during the trial of Jesus. In the morning of the trial, Pilate's wife sent him a message about Jesus. The scripture records the account as follows:

When he (Pilate) was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him, (Matthew 27:19).

     Pilate's wife stated she suffered many things in a dream "this day." The words, "this day" are translated from the word "Semeron." Because she sent the message in the morning, it is likely she was not experiencing the dream in the day time, but rather had done so during the night before the trial. This fits Strong's definition of the "night just passed," or "hitherto."
    With this understanding, Luke 24:21 should better have been translated, "the past day or past night concludes the third day since these things were done." Indeed, several other translations have used this approach. The Cassirer Translation records the verse, "To Crown it all, three days have already passed."
    The Berkley translation places similar emphasis on "semeron: recording it as: "Three days have already passed." Moffat translates "semeron" in Luke 21, "He is dead, and that is three days ago."
    It becomes clear that the two disciples spoke of either the previous day or the night just passed. They referred to the day preceding Sunday as being the third day. Since the two men were walking the afternoon of Sunday, the night before was Saturday and that night ended the day that was the third day since all these things happened. Luke 24:21 does not prove that Sunday is the third day, but rather proves that Jesus was resurrected Saturday evening exactly 72 hours after He was buried as scripture says.

What Really happened That Sunday?
    The real tragedy of the Easter tradition is that it prevents people from clearly seeing God's transcendent plan for all humanity. By mistakenly focusing on a Sunday resurrection which actually took place the previous evening, modern professing Christianity misses out completely on the true meaning of what really took place that Sunday morning nearly two-thousand years ago.
    God's plan is portrayed through the annual festivals that He designed. Each one pictures an important event in His overall plan of salvation. The first of these is Passover. We have already seen that Jesus' sacrifice was a fulfillment of the ancient Passover sacrifice. Jesus died to pay the penalty of sin in our stead. Just as the blood of that sacrificial lamb saved the lives of the Israelites, so Jesus' blood saves our lives.
    Further, as the death of the firstborn enabled the Israelites to escape the slavery of Egypt, the death of Jesus, God's firstborn, is what enables us to escape the slavery of sin. Passover pictures the redemption of man through the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
   Once pardoned for past sins, we must work diligently to put sin, out of our lives. This is what the festival of Unleavened Bread pictures. God uses leaven as a physical analogy to picture sin and instructed the Israelites to put leaven out of their homes and to eat unleavened bread for seven days Exodus 12:18-20, Leviticus 23:5-6).
    Notice the spiritual implication of this festival for Christians today. Paul writes to the Gentile Christians in Corinth:

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (I Corinthians 5:7-8)

    The first day of Unleavened Bread is a high day. The Israelites left the slavery of Egypt, symbolic of sin, on this very day (Num. 33:3). The seventh day of Unleavened Bread, also a Holy Day, pictures leaving sin completely behind. On this day the ancient Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea while the pursuing Egyptian army drowned. Just as the Egyptians were buried in the watery grave of the sea, a Christian's baptism pictures the death and burial of the old sinful self (I Cor. 10:2, Rom. 6:3-4).
    The next of God's festivals is the Feast of Firstfruits. The observance of this festival coincides with the harvest at the end of spring preceding the bigger fall harvest in Israel. This feast pictures the firstfruits of God's spiritual harvest. God will eventually give the opportunity for salvation to every human being who has ever lived, but he will first harvest a small group of people to assist Him, ruling with Christ during His later bigger, millennial harvest (Rev. 20:4-5).
    The Feast of Firstfruits does not fall on a specific calendar day, but rather is celebrated exactly fifty days after the Sunday immediately following the first weekly Sabbath within the days of Unleavened Bread. The Israelites would count seven weeks and a day, or fifty days, from that Sunday. For this reason, the day was sometimes called the Feast of Weeks and later came to be called Pentecost meaning "count fifty." Christ told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until this day arrived, and they would be indued with power from the Holy Spirit. On that day God sent His Spirit and thereby began His first harvest of souls (Lk. 24:49, Acts 2:1-4).
    But – before any other humans could become a part of God’s harvest, there had to first be the harvest of Jesus Christ. This is what occurred that Sunday. The Sunday after the first weekly Sabbath within the days of Unleavened Bread was the day for an important ceremony called the wave sheaf offering. The timing of the wave sheaf offering is extremely important and pictured what Christ did the Sunday after His resurrection.
    Until the wave sheaf offering was complete, no Israelite was allowed to harvest any of his first Spring crop. On the fourteenth day of the first month (Passover) the priests would tie off the first sheaf that was to be cut from each chosen field. Then, at the close of the weekly Sabbath, just as the sun was going down, the sheaves were cut. On the following day, a Sunday, the High Priest would then lift up and wave each sheaf before God for acceptance before placing it upon the altar.
    The symbolism here is unmistakable. The wave sheaf was a type picturing Christ, the first fruits of all mankind. He had to be cut off and lifted up, raised to be accepted by the Father. Notice His words to Mary:

Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)

Jesus could not be touched until He had first presented himself before the Father to be accepted as the ultimate fulfillment of the wave sheaf offering. Christ did not ascend the very moment He was resurrected. As He died the same moment the lambs were sacrificed on Passover, in all likelihood, the very moment the High Priest lifted wavesheaf to be accepted, Christ rose to be presented to the Father and accepted as the first to be harvested of mankind. Jesus Christ is the first to be raised. The apostle Paul later wrote:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, (Romans 8:29)

Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren the first of the firstfruits. He ascended to heaven and like the wave sheaves that the Israelites presented before God, he presented himself before his Father. For this reason, Paul wrote:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (I Corinthians 15:20-23)

What Does All This Mean To You?
    Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9). We've all been deceived to some degree by him. Satan blinds the minds of men lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine to them (II Cor. 4:4).
    The Friday crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection story is a deception designed to keep us all from understanding the marvelous plan God is working out here on earth. It's a lie that came from the author of lies, Satan Himself (Jn. 8:44).
    Much of modern, professing Christianity has been led astray into false worship much the same way that Satan has led God's people into false worship for centuries. Thousands of years ago God revealed to his people Israel his law and his Holy Days, but they soon forgot him and fell into the idolatry and pagan practices of the people around them.
    The Israelites picked up an age old pagan practice that so many professing Christians still observe today – Easter. Easter Sunday worship is nothing more than an extension from that same ancient pagan sun worship. For more information about the origins of Easter, you may request our free booklet, The Truth About Easter.
    God has always condemned such pagan practices. We read in Ezekiel 8:13-14 that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz. Tammuz was the deity of spring vegetation, which grows from the sun. Tammuz was the brother of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility. This "Ishtar," is the goddess from which the Easter celebration gets its name. That is why Easter is celebrated with symbols of fertility such as eggs, bunny rabbits and worship before the sun. The prophet Ezekiel records:

Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, (weeping for Tammuz) O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east, (Ezekiel 8:15-16)

    Every Easter, millions of professing Christians continue to practice this worship which God condemns. On Easter Sunday they go to services early and worship while facing the rising sun. They do so falsely believing that Jesus was resurrected Sunday morning. But now you know the truth.
    God is working out a marvelous plan. God's annual Holy Days, which were designed to portray his plan have been replaced with counterfeit "holidays" by misguided, professing Christians. But did you know there are still groups of true Christians who celebrate God's annual festivals just as Jesus and the apostles did two thousand years ago?
    Approximately two thousand years ago, exactly fifty days after Jesus' ascended to his Father, the apostles and the other disciples were gathered together to keep Pentecost as Jesus had instructed them. It was on that day that God poured out his spirit on His firstfruits. If God is calling you (Jn. 6:44), He will make that same spirit available to you, (Jn. 14:16-17).
    It is time to stop taking your religious beliefs for granted. It is time to stop simply going along with error you have been taught by the tradition of men. It is time to look into the Bible to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good" (I Thess. 5:21). It is time to act on what you now know.