CRUCIFIXION DAY

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last (Luke 23:44-46).

Jesus was crucified at about noon on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. There are those who argue that the day of Jesus' crucifixion was Wednesday. Others say, Thursday, but tradition says, "Friday." There will always be arguments about the day of the week because the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar. As a result, today there are even disagreements about how one calculates the dates for the Easter season. But, there is no disagreement that Jesus was crucified on the 14th day of Nisan, the beginning of the Passover celebration.

The 14th of Nisan was the day God prescribed for the Jews to reenact the events of the Passover. One can read about the institution of the Passover holiday in Exodus 12. Jesus is the real Passover Lamb! He died at about three in the afternoon, the time when it was allowed for the beginning of the sacrificing of the Passover lambs. What the day of the week was is not nearly so important as the fact that He went to the cross for you and for me. Love is the reason for this season because it was His love for God the Father, His love for you and me that held Him on that cross, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (I Peter 2:24).

In Jesus Christ is the healing of the relationship of God and man; the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The Passover Lamb was slain that we might have exodus from sin to a life of righteousness. All this because of Crucifixion Day! Have you applied the blood of the Passover Lamb to your life?

Grace&Peace,

Tom

The picture is of a likely place for the crucifixion near the garden tomb.