Expert: Mr. McClellan - 4/12/2010

Question
QUESTION: It can be credibly illustrated that the Original Passover Lamb was slain on a Wednesday.  With Jesus stating that he fulfilled all things in the laws of Moses, why do Christians claim Jesus died on a Friday preparation day instead of a Wednesday preparation day?

The reason I ask is due to the very detailed study found at this link which seems to be the most complete study on this topic to date viewing all factors that one must consider to correctly determine these final events.

Does the information at this link speak according to the Laws and testimony (laws of Moses and spirit of Prophecy)? Does it give good evidence from History that Jesus was chosen by the people on the tenth day and then killed on the 14th day?  Does it illustrate within the realm of possibility that Jesus fulfilled 3 days and 3 nights in the manner that the scriptures define this duration of time?

http://www.thedeathandresurection.com/pdf/the%20death%20and%20resurrection.pdf

Very Respectfully,

Todd Vetter"

ANSWER: Hello Todd,
In Jewish time keeping methods and telling about time, part of a day was spoken of as a whole day. Jesus was resurrected early on Sunday morning, that would count for one day. He was in his tomb all of Saturday, that's two. He had to have been crucified on Friday to make it three. That's the short answeer. Those who argue for a different day are simply trying to prove something that they already believe based on a false understanding contrary to the facts. They are not exegeting the scriptures, they're eisogeting them. That is, they're putting their own ideas into the "mouths" of the writers of the Bible.

As another person puts it, "In the Jewish mind of the first century, a part of day was considered as a full day. Since Jesus was in the grave for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday—He could be considered to have been in the grave for three days. One of the principal arguments for Friday is found in Mark 15:42, which notes that Jesus was crucified “the day before the Sabbath.” If that was the weekly Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, then that fact leads to a Friday crucifixion."

There's no reason at all to believe that "the Sabbath" spoken of wasn't the weekly Sabbath. Since he was, according to the Bible, definitely raised on Sunday, there would have had to be two Sabbaths in a row (Both Saturday and Friday would have had to be Sabbaths) in order for him to have been crucified on Thursday and that would not have been the case. Wednesday is definitely out as a choice because that would mean that he was in his tomb four days and not three. There's just no way that the writers of the gospel accounts would have made such a glaring mistake.

Hope this helps.
Mr. McClellan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: did the author present less than facts on any page 2-37?  I'm especially interested in the facts presented on pages 19, 20, and 25.  He seems to disagree with you but makes a much better case than you.  Who is telling the truth?

ANSWER: Hi Todd,
I base my view on the unlikelyhood that the writers of the New Testament and those early Christians who wrote about what they said would have consistently been mistaken. Considering the way the Jews kept time and spoke about it, Thursday would have been the earliest possible time Jesus could have been crucified unless a deliberate lie was being propagated in order to fit a prophecy. In that case, however, the lie would have been detected immediately by a lot of people alive at the time. Of course, if a lie was being presented it means that the Bible cannot be trusted to be truthful about anything that cannot be coroborated by solid evidence outside of the Biblical writings. Sometimes, there may be some confusion caused by not being able to determine with certainty if a writer is refering to Roman time keeping or Jewish time keeping. But, if you go with the Wednesday theory it means that either a lie is being told or that a mistake was made. One point that some make has to do with embalming items being purchased before the Sabbath and events taking place afterward. The point is that there would be the violating of the Sabbath law by the women who made the purchase. The problem that I see with this is Jesus' teachings concerning the purpose of the Sabbath laws and the reasons for his own Sabbath law "violations" which were not violations in reality. If his disciples understood him correctly, they would have had no problem "violating" the Sabbath in this instance.
Since the writers didn't make the date of Jesus' crucifixion perfectly clear (to us in this late day and age) a serious problem would only exist if it could conclusively be shown that a lie was being promoted or that a mistake had been made by the writers. As I said earlier, that would mean that the New Testament could not be counted as being reliable. If there is no lie or mistake, a Wednesday crucifixion is out of the question entirely. All kinds of arguments are being invented to discredit the writers of the Bible and it's not easy to always know who has nailed down the truth. If only miracles were "still being done" (but, obviously they aren't)to confirm who has the facts. This should ..... Hmmm : )

Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If God defined time in the Scriptures (evening and morning make a day/seven days in a week) as well as Passover (14 Nissan), Feast of unleavened bread(15 Nissan)being held at appointed times; and the gospel writiers are not speaking according to the Law and the testimony (spirit of Prophecy), how can one claim the gospels were inspired by God?

Below is an exerpt from page 37 of the link study shared.

"These three verses allegedly spoken on 13 Nissan imply Christ was still alive on 15 Nissan and was not crucified until 16 Nissan If Jesus fulfilled the time line of Events portrayed in Lev 23:4-8!  These verses do not speak according to the Law and spirit of Prophecy that would bare witness to Jesus as the Lamb."

Matthew 26: 17-18  
17 Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”

Mark 14:12  
12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”

Luke 22: 7-9  
7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” 9 So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”

Can the bible be trusted if it does not speak according to the Law and the Testimony?

One more question regarding the information on page 43 of the shared study and i'll leave you in peace.  Do you think that the information presented on that page gives an accurate reflection of the state of salvation for mankind?  The information presented is verifiably ancient and fulfills every prophecy listed on the page; where the bible testimony for that event presents two half truths and only fulfills one prophecy that was mistranslated according to Jews.

Please write back concerning these things.  Here is the link.
http://www.thedeathandresurection.com/pdf/the%20death%20and%20resurrection.pdf

God Bless

Answer
Hello Todd,
About 40 years ago I first read some of Alfred Eidersheim's works. In one of them, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah" I think, he talked about a discrepancy in dates that had taken place in the distant past so that there was some confusion which caused, as you can imagine, a serious problem. I don't recall the exact situation that he described (perhaps you know about it). So, IF he is correct it would help to explain the problem you've presented. However, in order to nail down the truth hard and fast, you have to solidly prove that the miracles done by Jesus and his apostles and so many others were fake or never happened because it would be these that would prove who was correct.

I know how to establish the truth about this as absolutely as anything can be proved but it is the topic of a book I intend to write if I stay healthy of mind and body long enough to do it. I grew up dissatisfied with all the bias and guesswork mistakenly called faith concerning things that humans must know the real answers to in order for certain other things to be true and I determined at an early age to find that truth if it could be found. I spent many thousands of dollars, I obtained what I believe to be the finest formal education in the Bible that anyone could ever have, I spent thousands of hours on my own doing research, attending live debates, reading and listening to anyone who seemed to have something of value to say as well as a good many who did not. I left no stone unturned and spared no expense. It took a long time but I finally discovered what everone else was overlooking and the mistakes they were making. I also know that no matter what I say, many will dispute it. I guess my satisfaction will be in that no one will be able to refute it and I will know that I have contributed something of great value to mankind even if many will not recognize it.

I know that I have not satisfied your mind and I want to caution you that you will not find a true final answer in this direction. Whatever you decide, it will just be another piece of guesswork, maybe very convincing guesswork, but guesswork none the less. The truth is actually much more obvious that you might guess.

If you have any other serious questions, I'll be happy to comment on them.

All the best to you and yours,
Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan