From the Upper Room to the Empty Tomb

The title of our sermon study today is, From the Upper Room to the Empty Tomb.

Now, these words and these themes might point us to the fact that the Passover observance is quick approaching. So we want to turn our focus onto the Passover and these events leading up to Christ's crucifixion. Of course, these details are recorded for us in the Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In a sense, when you read the Gospel accounts, you get the feeling. And what you notice is right around the pre-crucifixion time, where they start to record those events, the Gospel writers just seem to slow down. And they really begin to go into the details. And that's understandably so, because these events that we're going to review today, they are events that actually have altered the course of humanity. With these events, we find ourselves reading what is the pivotal event, these events leading to the pivotal event of all of human history. So it's good for us to think about this. On a hillside outside of Jerusalem, the sinless Son of God gave His life to put an end to sin, put an end to its power, put an end to its condemnation to death. And so the events Christ's journey leading up to His sacrifice is what we're going to turn our focus on to today. We're going to be ambitious, and we're going to go through a moment by moment sequence of events from the upper room where Judas betrayed Jesus, all the way to Christ's resurrection and the discovery of the empty tomb. We're going to see that this is actually a study in the Gospels, and we're going to look at the Gospel Harmony. Has anybody been through a study in the Harmony of the Gospels? All right, so we're going to go to class today. I should have told you this before. So class, we are going to turn our focus on to this. First, to the upper room. So if you'd like to open your Bibles, let's turn to John 18, verse 1. John 18. We're going to begin right at verse 1.

Again, we're going to begin here, and we're going to come to the upper room, as it's referred to.

As you turn there, I would like you to begin to picture a calendar in your mind.

On this calendar, we are going to begin on this calendar with Tuesday evening. Okay? Tuesday evening, where the very next day we will see, Wednesday, will be the death of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion.

But here in John 18, verse 1, we're going to begin at the events of Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, we must begin at an incredibly dark place here, where we find Judas at this point. The devil, having already entered into him to betray Jesus, Judas had left after the footwashing, but before the partaking of the bread and wine in the new covenant Passover symbols. He would now go to fulfill his betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, and he would go until the high priest, where they could find Jesus. So Jesus had completed a prayer in chapter 17 for himself, for the disciples, for the world, and now they are leaving. Jesus Christ and the disciples are leaving that room. So John 18, verse 1, John records, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with the disciples over the brook, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. So they're leaving the upper room here. Now the brook, it ran parallel to the walls of Jerusalem, and so as Jesus Christ and the disciples walked out, they would have crossed over this brook, kid drawn here, heading to the garden, the garden called Gethsemane. This would have been during Passover season. What do we know about Passover season at this time? Well, they were sacrificing a tremendous amount of lands there at the temple, and historical writers indicate that there was as many as a quarter million lambs slain in a typical Passover season. So there would have been a lot of blood from that 250,000 lambs mixed with the water in the ritual cleansings. Why is that important? Well, the water and the blood would flow down from the altar area, carried to the Kindred Valley, outside the temple walls. Kindred, kid drawn, kid drawn, excuse me, means black brook or gloomy brook, and it would have the crimson stained banks. So all of this blood from the sacrificial animals would have been poured out into this channel, came down the brook, kid drawn. So likely, it is that Jesus and his disciples now crossed over this stream. You begin to think about this. This stream would have been blood-red as he walked. This would have been a stark reminder of the cup he was now moving to, and he was about to drink. They came into the Garden Gethsemane.

Interesting note, it means Old Press Gethsemane. So there would have been olive trees around, a real pleasant garden at that time there, where they would have collected and pressed olive oil. This is the garden. Verse 2 and 3, "...and Judas, who betrayed him, also knew this place," this garden.

"...for Jesus often met there with the disciples." Verse 3, "...then Judas, having received a detachment of troops." So let's stop there for a moment. So this was a place that he would have known. This was a place of gathering, this garden of Gethsemane. Jesus and his disciples would go there. They would, no doubt, plan the day. There would have been many joys, many happiness, many perhaps shared meals at this garden. But the garden, which was a gathering for joy, was now going to be a place of darkness and betrayal. Verse 3 mentions troops. Troops, you'll notice. Whose troops? Well, the high priests did not have troops. So this is the Roman guards. So at this time, you had this unholy union between the Roman authorities and the high priests. High priests, no doubt, convinced the Roman authorities that Jesus Christ was a traitor, an insurrectionist along those lines. So you have religion and government coming together against Jesus Christ in this way. We read in Revelation, in the end, what is the unholy union that will come about? It's a religious entity and a government entity in the end. So we're seeing a precursor of that here. Verse 3 again, notice in verse 3, the officials from the chief priests and Pharisees came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. They perhaps were convinced that Jesus Christ was going to have weapons himself. He didn't. Rather, verse 4, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? So he's not shrinking. He's not heading to the back of the garden. He's coming forward. Verse 5, and they answered him and said, Jesus of Nazareth. That's who we're seeking. Jesus said to them, then, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. So he no longer stood with Jesus and the disciples. He stood with them.

Now, when he said that to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again, whom are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I've told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way. Stop there. So you may have noticed here in this in this interaction that the most translations have the word he in italics. Did you notice that? Verse 5, I am he in italics. Verse 6, I am he. Verse 8, I am he. So it's in italics. If you see anything in italics, that means it's not part of the original text. It's added. So when you look at these three verses, it should simply be as Jesus answering, I am. I am. So, for example, verse 8 should read, Jesus answered, I have told you that I am. So this was quite a statement. And he's identifying and revealing to this group that he is the pre-existing one. He is the God of the Old Testament. He is the spokesman. For your notes, we won't turn there, but you can actually find it in Exodus 3, verse 13 and 14. Exodus 3, verse 13 and 14. Moses is being dispatched by God to free the Israelites from the Egyptians. And Moses says, whom shall I say sent me there in Exodus? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent you. You see? So no doubt this is what made those soldiers fall back. You know, this proclamation, I am. You think that had been enough to stop, but it didn't. They knew what this proclamation meant. In fact, later, the charge of blasphemy would have been placed on Jesus Christ. And it's because of these, what they view as blasphemy, his claim to be God.

Continuing here, verse 10 and 11, John 18, verse 10 and 11. 10 and 11. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's servant, cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into your sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? I stopped there. So Peter, acting a little spontaneously, I guess you could say it nicely, he pulls out his sword. Now, I've said this before, I don't know if Peter was going for Malchus's ear. Have you ever thought about that? I think Malchus was fast and to his own credit, and I think he ducked. And I think Peter got his ear in the meantime. And it's so remarkable. You don't read this here with John, but the other Gospel accounts record Jesus picks up John's ear and puts it back on Malchus's ear, puts it back on his head. And I can almost just picture Jesus telling Peter, go back to sleep, go back to sleep as he's putting the ear back. Sorry, Malchus. Sorry about that. It's so interesting to look at the different personalities of the disciples.

God can work with and loves to work with every personality. Jesus Christ gave John the care for his mother at his crucifixion. John was loving. That's the right choice.

Interestingly enough, he gave Peter, in the end, comes and makes breakfast for Peter and walks him on the beach and says, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And he says, feed my sheep. And in the end, he builds his church on spontaneous Peter.

So no matter your personality, we don't want you to change your personality. We just want you to be the best version of yourself you can be. And it took some time, but Peter got there and there was a great zeal with Peter that God could certainly use. A little bit of a side note. So Peter wasn't having any part of it and is, I'm sure, chastised by Jesus Christ, and he was here, to put away his sword. Continuing here, I think putting the ear back on the head would have made me to go ahead and flee this particular operation if I was one of the guards. But they keep going forward, so we will too. From John 18 verse 12, let me just summarize this a little bit. So moving on from verse 12, they arrest Jesus. They first take him to Annas, A-N-N-A-S. He was the high priest, was no longer, but then he's transferred from Annas to Caiaphas. And Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. And Caiaphas was the high priest now. If we skip down to verse 24, we see this transfer. Verse 24, then Annas sent him, as Jesus, bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. So at this point, he had not been charged. He had not been convicted. He was still bound. This is illegal, you know, this is unjust treatment, just the beginning.

So let's think about this calendar in our minds here. We are now moving into what we would call Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning. So again, we had the foot washing, the Passover established by Jesus Christ there in the upper room. There Tuesday evening, Jesus was up all night. He had prayed. And now we're moving in from that garden, moving into the early hours here, Wednesday morning.

This would have been around sunrise, perhaps around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Jesus is sent to Caiaphas, and there with him would have been the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is simply the governing council. They were the governing elders. They were to help legislate matters for the nation of Israel. They would have been there with Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, these governing elders. Jesus is actually brought to the high priest's home and not the court. I'll show you this and how we know that. They were trying to rush this through, rush this prosecution through. If you'll turn with me to Matthew 26, Matthew 26 and verses 57 through 58, we're going to pick up the story with Matthew's account now. Matthew 26 verses 57 through 58. Again, how do we know that the transfer of Jesus to the high priest is Caiaphas' home and not the actual court, the high priest's court? Well, it's by what we're told here in Matthew's recording. Matthew 26 verses 57 and 58. Matthew writes, And those who had laid a hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled, the Sanhedrin. But Peter followed him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Stop there. So Peter was there. He's viewing at a distance. We'll get back to Peter in a moment. But it says the high priest's courtyard there in verse 58. So the court did not have a courtyard here. All right? So this would have been Caiaphas' home and not at the actual court, in which they meant the Sanhedrin court had no courtyard. So they took him to the high priest's courtyard. Again, no doubt to try to push to judgment, push to conviction. All of this is illegal. All of it. It's all ugly. Here happening in the early hour, you know, we need to get him convicted. I'm sure the elders were all scrambling together at the command of the high priest to come together, start making judgments. So again, Peter's there. Skip down to verse 73. Verse 73, where we see Peter now denies Christ. Well, actually, if you look up at verse 71, we have a young girl who recognized Peter. Verse 71, and she questions the crowd. And then picking up in verse 73, and a little later, those who stood by came up and said to Peter, verse 73, surely you are one of them, one of one of Jesus's, for your speech betrays you. So you don't speak like a native person from Jerusalem. You must be one of them. And then Matthew records here, verse 74, then he, Peter, began to curse and swear, saying, I do not know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed. Stop there. So you can just imagine this feeling there. We won't take the time to turn there, but previously, Jesus Christ, of course, prophesied that Peter would deny him before the rooster crowed. And of course, this is now all being fulfilled here. This is the denial here. So this would have been right around sunrise.

We know, I was thinking, we know that roosters crow at sunrise, of course. But make sure, no doubt, that this particular rooster, it crowed because its creator established it so to fulfill prophecy. So again, we're here at Wednesday morning, and the captain and the officer of the Jews arrested Jesus. They now lead him, of course, again, to the home of the high priests. And now they're going to take him to Pontius Pilate. So we're still around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. So Matthew 27 in verses 1 and 2. Let's move to the beginning here of Matthew 27, verse 1 and 2.

Here's another indication it was morning. When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Let's stop there. There's something interesting about this moment that's brought out by John. So let's turn over to John 18, verse 28, if you will, and pick up this transfer of Jesus to Pontius Pilate. John 18, verse 28. If you'll turn there, I told you we're going to have a class today. If you need some coffee, go right ahead. I totally understand. We are, again, going through this harmony of the Gospels in many ways as we look at these events. We haven't come yet to the most difficult, mind-challenging part of this. So you may definitely want to get coffee for that, but we're building to that moment. Here, I want to pause at this transfer from Jesus to Pontius Pilate now because I want to show you something interesting. The scripture is so replete with so much valuable information. John 18, verse 28. John now records this transfer to Pilate. John 18, verse 28. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. So we're still early Wednesday morning.

But notice this next detail. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Verse 29. Pilate then comes on to the scene, and he asks, What accusation do you have against this man? So Pilate is now in the picture. Let's stop there for a moment. So they're leading him to Pontius Pilate here. The Praetorium is just a Roman fortress area. And again, what John mentions here, they did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. So the Jews at this time were keeping the Passover on this evening, which would have been Wednesday evening. Note, this is not the evening that Jesus Christ instituted for the New Testament Passover. That was on Tuesday night, you see. So again, to keep them ceremonial clean, so they wouldn't be defiled, they couldn't interact with the Gentiles in this way, and they would have become defiled, so they weren't able to keep the Passover that night, which would have been Wednesday night. So the Jews observed Passover erroneously at the end of this day, and this would have been Wednesday evening. Again, Jesus Christ established it the night before. Remarkably, remarkably. We don't have the time to go into it today, but many of the Jews to this day observed the Passover on the wrong day, a day different than He instituted. For your notes, you can go back to Exodus 12, and you can see established that the Passover begins at sunset on the 14th day of Nicene. That's the day we keep it. Many of the Jews today keep it on the 15th, contrary to Scripture. Contrary to what Jesus Christ established. Again, it's an interesting study. We won't take the time to turn there, but it's just a little side note in the narrative of this story. The Scripture tells us so much.

But now, moving back to Jesus and our narrative, here He is brought before Pontius Pilate, Pilate the Jewish leadership. They changed His charges now to treason, so from blasphemy to treason.

Out of necessity, I'd say, you know, they needed to change the accusation to something that they could crucify Him for. So they say, treason. He's an insurrectionist. He's against Caesar. So this was the new charge. Matthew 27. Let's turn back there now. Matthew 27. And we're going to begin in verse 11.

Matthew 27. And we're going to begin in verse 11 here. With Jesus now standing before the governor. Okay. So Matthew 27, verse 11.

Matthew's going to record here, and picking up at the moment here before Pilate. Matthew 27, beginning in verse 11, says, Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, It is as you say.

Stop there. What do we know about italics? Is it italics in your Bible? The italics I have in my Bible, so this phrase, It is as you say, it is as is in italics here. What do we know? That's not part of the original script. So actually what Jesus Christ is saying here is, when Jesus asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? He says, You say. That's what you say, you know. You know, if he was claiming to be king of the Jews, he would have been in opposition to Caesar. So he says, That's your charge. You know. That's what you say.

Continuing here, verse 12 through 14. And while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, they're all there, verse 12, he answered, Nothing. Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? Verse 14. But he answered him, Not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. Pilate was amazed. Why isn't he defending himself? Pilate knows. Pilate knows he's there and he's not worthy of any death. Because look at this, verse 15 and 16. Pilate knew. Verse 15 and 16. Now at the feast of the governor, at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had the notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So stop there. Barabbas was already condemned to death, just a matter of time for him. Verse 17 and 18. Therefore when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, this crowd that had gathered, Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas or Jesus? Who's called to Christ? Who's called to Christ? For he knew, Pilate knew, that they had handed him over because of Enthi. So here again, Pilate knew in his heart of hearts why they had handed him over. It wasn't a guilty sentence by any means. So Pilate's not free of responsibility here. You know the story, they actually picked Barabbas to be released and not crucified. And to Pilate's surprise, they choose rather to crucify Christ. That's verse 26. Going down to verse 26. Then they released Barabbas to them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified, to be brought to the stake for his crucifixion. There. So that brings us to the moment of Christ's crucifixion. And for this part of the record, I want to turn over to John 19.

And we're going to pick up this part of the record of Christ's crucifixion in verse 14. John 19 verse 14. Now, I want to capture your attention at this moment. This is the part of the timeline where, unfortunately, most Christians misunderstand. Okay? There is, if there's one place in all of Scripture where doctrinal confusion surrounds, we could say this is the place right here that we're about to read. So I hope you have your coffee, because we're about to, as we begin here. We're going to pick up right here at the crucifixion here. All right.

John 19 verse 14. Now, it was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews, this is Pilate, Behold your king. Okay? Let's stop there. Now, most assume, most erroneously assume, that this preparation day is speaking about Friday. You know, most of the Christian world knows that Friday is the preparation day for Saturday, the weekly Sabbath. But bear in mind, we have not left Wednesday. All right? We haven't left Wednesday. You remember, and this is historically proven, Jesus Christ shared and instituted the Passover Tuesday evening.

He's up all night praying. He's arrested. He's brought before Pilate. We're still early Wednesday morning here. So the preparation day, that term, it's an expression that's used before a Sabbath. Okay? And a Sabbath can either be a weekly Sabbath or it could be an annual Sabbath, a holy day. All right? So this, this preparation day, Wednesday here, is a preparation day for the first day of Unleavened Bread. First day of Unleavened Bread, which would begin at sundown on that day. All right? This is not a Friday preparation for a weekly Sabbath, Saturday.

But because of that error, that error, what you find is many well-intentioned Christians faced with trying to fit a three full days and three full nights from what they call Friday, Good Friday, to a Sunday morning Easter service. They're faced with trying to cram Christ's promise that he would be in the ground three days and three nights into that because of the misunderstanding that this preparation day was before a weekly Sabbath when, in fact, in historical records prove it, you go back to this week, that crucifixion week, and this is a preparation day for the first day of Unleavened Bread, the high Sabbath, the holy day.

That is, this is a doctrine with a misunderstanding which is wrong, and they count it in error. So we're going to flesh this out a little bit. Staying here in John 19 verse 14, here we are Wednesday morning, John 19 verse 14, now it was the preparation day of the Passover.

Whenever they refer to the Passover, that can also refer to the days of Unleavened Bread, the first day of Unleavened Bread. It's kind of like when we refer to the Feast of Tabernacles. We'll say, oh, we're going to the Feast of Tabernacles. We also mean the eighth day, but we just say Feast of Tabernacles. It's kind of along that line. So now is a preparation day of the Passover, meaning including the first day of Unleavened Bread, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, again, this is Pilate, behold your king.

So Pilate is handing over Jesus about the sixth hour. So let's talk about the sixth hour. I want to give you a little bit of education here. The Jews and the Romans used different standards of reckoning the hours of the day. Okay, I'll repeat that. The Jews and the Romans used different standards of reckoning the hours of the day. So when they refer to the sixth hour, the third hour, the Jews and the Romans used different standards.

It's very well documented. Both systems, the Jews and the Romans system, split the day into 12 hours. A new day for the Romans, like us, begins at midnight. So we would say a day is midnight to noon, noon to midnight. All right, so our new day begins at midnight. That's how we reckon it, like the Romans did. Whereas a new day for the Jews began the evening of the sundown, we could say 6 p.m. So the Jews would have reckoned in their calculations they would split up the day between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

because their day starts at sundown, as we know. So I'll repeat that again. The Jews and the Romans used different standards of reckoning the hours. This is going to become important for us to understand as we look at the gospels and the harmony of the gospels. Various clues indicate that John was using our system that we use today, the Roman system, when he states about the sixth hour when Pilate was handed over Jesus.

So again, John 19 verse 14, now it was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour. So using the Roman time reckoning, which we use today, this would have been approximately 6 a.m. So the sixth hour from midnight to 6 a.m. So here we are, Wednesday about 6 a.m. It's the Wednesday before the high day, the high Sabbath is going to begin at sundown. All this is happening here.

This is Wednesday morning. If you look at clues, John, using the Roman system, makes sense. When you look at who he was writing to, he was often writing to those outside of Palestine. He was writing to a Hellenistic audience. So it makes sense that he would use the Roman reckoning for the clock. Further confirmation, if you need it, John begins this whole account of Jesus' audience with Pilate by noting it was early morning. We've read this a few times. If you look at John 18 verse 28, if you go back a little bit, John 18 verse 28, you see the fact that leading up to this, he refers to early morning.

John 18 verse 28, when they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, it was early morning. If you go up one verse to verse 27, John 18 verse 27, you have the mentioning of the rooster crowing. Again, roosters crowing at any time, but most famous for signaling the beginning of the day. All right, got that. However, however, there's indications and strong indications that the other three gospel writers, they use the Jewish system for reckoning time. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, they use the Jewish system where we have the day from 6 p.m.

to 6 a.m. and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. So when you read their gospel accounts, you will see them reference from the X number, X hour and those kind of things. Well, you will know in your mind that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are using the Jewish reckoning. So in all of this, there's still harmony in all the gospel records. So John here has Jesus being handed over for crucifixion at 6 a.m.

So let's look at Mark's account and pick up there with continuing this narrative right where we're at. Turn over to Mark 15 verse 25. Mark 15 verse 25. If you've ever been through a harmony of the gospels, this is feeling very familiar. You're doing great. Mark 15 verse 25. Here's Mark's account. And we're going to notice here in Mark 15 verse 25 that Jesus is actually put on the stake at 9 a.m. Okay, so this is what we're going to read here. Mark 15 verse 25. Mark records using the Jewish system. Now it was the third hour that they crucified him. Okay, so from 6 a.m. This is where we're counting from. Mark's referring to here. From the third hour, they crucified him. They put him on the stake. So John has Pilate being handed over for the crucifixion at 6, using the Roman time reckoning. Mark has Jesus actually being put on the stake. Three hours later, this is 9 a.m. 9 a.m. That time frame makes sense. If you want further harmony here, staying here in Mark at the end of chapter 14, if you look at the end of chapter 14 verse 72, chapter 14 verse 72 of Mark, you see the account of the rooster crowing. Okay, so again, we're all in the same time period here. Verse 72, the second time the rooster crowed, Peter called to mind the word that Jesus gave him. Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. He thought about it and he wept. So, and then Mark 15 verse 1, we have the Jews had delivered Jesus to Pilate in the morning. If you look at Mark 15 verse 1, immediately in the morning, the chief priests held the consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole councils and they were bound Jesus and led him away to be delivered to Pilate. So now, here, we're seeing the sequence of events. He's being delivered. Pilate is delivering him over for crucifixion and he's on the stake the third hour, which would have been nine o'clock. Nine o'clock. Going to Mark 15 verse 33 and 34. Mark 15 verse 33 and 34.

Mark, again, using the Jewish reckoning. Now, when it was the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then moving down to verse 37. Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. Okay, so Jesus dies there. So the sixth hour from 6 a.m. would have been, this would have been noon. So from noon to 3, from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, noon to 3 we have this darkness. And just after 3 p.m. we have Jesus Christ breathing his last breath.

So we see how all this is in harmony and going together perfectly.

So darkness from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and there in verse 37, Christ dying about 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Now, if you'll turn over to John 19 verse 31, we're going to continue our narrative there from this point. John 19 verse 31.

John picks up the narrative here and John records, therefore, because it was the preparation day, we know before the high Sabbath, this is Wednesday, about 3 o'clock, just after 3 o'clock, therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, very clearly there. It's the first day of unleavened bread. You see them separate that out. So the body should not remain on the cross because sundown is coming. That's when the high day, the first day of unleavened bread begins. So they have to get the bodies down. So the Jews asked Pilate that their legs would be broken, so that they would die, so they could get them in the grave before sunset, before the holy day began. So again, this is Wednesday afternoon between 3 and sunset, 3 o'clock and sunset. Going down to verse 42, verse 42, so there they lay Jesus, because of the Jews' preparation day for the tomb was nearby. Okay, so He's now in the tomb Wednesday afternoon, just before sundown. So they wouldn't be violating the high Sabbath, which would begin at sunset. So He's now in the tomb late Wednesday afternoon, just before sunset. So let's count it. Are you ready? Let's count it forward. All right?

The next day is Thursday, just before sundown. Friday, just before sundown. Saturday, just before sundown. Saturday, just before sundown, Jesus Christ would be resurrected. Three days, three nights. Okay? So counting His death there Wednesday afternoon before sundown, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Jesus Christ is resurrected Saturday, just before sundown.

So we're at the resurrection here. When you begin to think of those conclusions and those consequences, there is nothing in the Bible about Good Friday. There's no Good Friday. You don't, you don't, there's nowhere to be seen. There's no Easter Sunday sunrise. It's not there. You will not find it in Scripture. And because of the misinterpretation of the Preparation Day, they am assuming that it's for the weekly Sabbath and not the high Sabbath. They have to then try to fit three days and three nights from Friday, Good Friday, quote, to Sunday morning sunrise. Well-intentioned, good people, not knowing what the Scripture actually says. So we, we look into the Bible and we try to, sometimes not perfectly. I can say, often not perfectly. We try to look in the Bible and see what it actually says. And we try to mold ourselves to worship God in truth, in truth. This is part of it. We don't, we don't do so arrogantly. We don't do so in any other way but humility. But it's here. It's here. So let's conclude our narrative here with the empty tomb, John 20 verse 1. Moving on just barely here. We're getting close to the conclusion here. John 20 verse 1. Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, get this, read this. Let's really pay attention to this. John 20 verse 1. This is, this is further proof of the Saturday before sunset resurrection. John 20 verse 1. Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. While it's still dark. You know, she was there. Bringing us here and seeing here that he is raised. He wasn't there. The stone had been taken away.

He had already risen Saturday before sunset. While it was still dark. So this brings us from the upper room all the way to the empty tomb. And with that, we'll begin to come to a conclusion. I appreciate you taking this journey with me. And let me just conclude this narrative. I encourage you to read on. It's a wonderful story. You know, the ladies had gone to get spices. And the scripture actually says, after sundown. So after Sabbath sundown, they went out and found some of the booths around and got spices. They returned the short journey back to the tomb. They arrived while it's still dark. Expecting to see their beloved one there. Gripped with a sense of helplessness and hollowness. They must have said what to want to know. I'm not sure what we're going to do with that stone and these spices. I don't know how we're going to get to him. But rather, instead of being confronted by a stone, looking into the tomb, they are confronted with the appearance of two angels. Two angels are sitting there, if you want to read the narrative. And they're at the foot where Jesus had laid, and at the head and foot where Jesus had laid. It's a beautiful story. Angels there in their radiance, a symbol of victory, of all that they were about to discover. The angels presumably had moved this stone, sitting there. It's a terrific picture. Let me add a little conjecture here at the end. A little conjecture, if you'll allow me. I could just imagine the angels there saying, ladies, there's no need for the spices. There's no need for the spices. They can put nails in His hands. They can ridicule Him all they want. But there is no power on earth that can keep your Savior down. Because your Savior has made an incredible journey, an incredible journey, from the upper room to the empty tomb.