From the Upper Room to the Empty Tomb

Well, for the main message today, we are going to turn our attention in full focus onto the Passover, and specifically, the days leading up to that faithful event with the title of our sermon, from the upper room to the empty tomb. From the upper room to the empty tomb.

It is a remarkable journey that Jesus Christ took in fulfilling His mission to come to this earth.

So taking a look is profitable for us, and it's so needed to know that this was a man.

The Son of God willingly giving up His life for us. And to be able to take a look at all the events leading up to that moment, and to see this truly did happen. It is history, and He did that for us. And what you find in really a remarkable way that all of the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what they each do is when the narrative begins to come to those last days before Christ's crucifixion, the narrative seems to slow down. And they begin to give a tremendous amount of space and details of those events, those pre-crucifixion events. And understandably so, and rightly so, because they did change the course of human history.

So today we're going to be ambitious. I hope he stretched out before you came to church today.

Get comfortable, because we're going to endeavor to go through in a moment-by-moment way the sequence of events from the upper room where Judas Iscariot would move on to betray Jesus Christ.

We're going to detail all the events in the time that we have leading up to the discovery of the empty tomb in Christ's resurrection. And what we're going to find today, really in a remarkable way, that while each of the Gospel writers wrote in such a way to give us their unique perspective, to provide their own unique impressions of the activities and the events, regardless, they are in perfect harmony with one another. So let's begin.

If you have your Bibles, let's open them up to John 18. We're going to begin with the Gospel writer John in chapter 18 and verse 1. John 18 and verse 1. And as you turn there, if you will, I'd like to have you picture in your mind's eye a calendar. And on this calendar, we are arriving at Tuesday evening of that crucifixion week, Tuesday evening, where the next day, Wednesday, at about three o'clock, Jesus Christ would breathe his last breath. And here in John 18, unfortunately, we begin at a dark place. Let me just set the scene here of the immediate events leading up to this moment in John 18 verse 1. Again, leading up to this point, Judas Iscariot has already eaten the meal. He did remain for the foot washing. But now he has left to set the course into betrayal of Jesus Christ. Judas has left before the partaking of the symbols of the bread and wine to fulfill his betrayal for 30 pieces of silver. So Judas has left the upper room. And with Judas gone, and Jesus then instituted the New Covenant Passover symbols of the bread and wine. Jesus has prayed for himself, the disciples, and the world.

And at the completion of that, Jesus and the other disciples are now leaving the upper room where all that has taken place. So John 18 in verse 1, John records, "...when Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered." Okay, let's stop there.

The brook Kidron. This ran parallel to the walls of Jerusalem. As Jesus and his disciples exited that upper room. They were in the temple area. They were walking across the brook Kidron there, heading toward the garden. They were heading toward the garden Gethsemane.

And of course, at this time, this was Passover season. And historians estimate that there were some quarter of a million lambs slain at a typical Passover season. Quarter of a million. So that would have been a lot of blood from those 250,000 lambs mixed with the water in the ritual cleansings. Why is that important? Well, all that blood and all that water would have drained from the altar area and run down the the Kindren Valley outside the temple walls. Kidron means black brook or gloomy brook. There would have been, no doubt, crimson-stained banks to which this flowed. All of the blood from the sacrificial animals would have flowed into the channel and come into the brook Kidron. And I mention that because it's very likely now at this moment that Jesus and his disciples would have crossed over the stream, which would have been blood-red. A reminder of the cup that Jesus Christ, the cup of his sacrifice that he was about to drink.

Now, coming to the garden, Garden Gethsemane. Gethsemane simply means oil press. So there had been numerous olive trees there and where they pressed olive oil. Continuing here in verse 2 and 3, and Judas, verse 2, who betrayed him, Jesus, also knew of this place, the garden. For Jesus often met there with his disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there to the garden with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

This is so sad. Of course Judas knew of this place. The garden previous to this had been a gathering place of joy, no doubt. Where Jesus and his disciples could gather and discuss the events of the day as they were going forth and doing God's work.

Well now it becomes the place of betrayal and darkness. Verse 3 mentions troops. Whose troops? Were these the high priests' troops? No. The high priests didn't have troops. So these are the Roman guards. So that's important to note because now we see that the high priest was actually working with the Roman authorities at this point. What an unholy union! Now this will point your thoughts toward the book of Revelation, the end of days, where you have another unholy union occurring of this type. The beast, the governmental entity, along with the false prophet, the false religious authority of the day, coming together unifying to fight against God's people and against Jesus Christ's return. This is a sort of precursor here. And note at the end of verse 3, they brought their weapons. You know, I don't know if they thought Jesus Christ was going to fight against this. Not at all. He wasn't going to fight, but he also wasn't going to shrink from this moment. Verse 4 tells us that Jesus, therefore, knowing all these things would come upon him, went forward, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? They answered him. Verse 5, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus responded and said to them, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. Amazing. So horrible. Their friend, who used to stand with them, now stood with, well, on the other side. You can imagine the eye contact between Judas and his friends, who they thought was his friends. In this moment, a betrayer. Verse 6, and he said to them, I am he. And they drew back and fell to the ground. He asked him again, whom are you seeking? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 8, Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way. Let's stop there. Protecting his friends. Now, in my translation, probably in yours, I don't know if you noticed this, did you notice that the word he is in italics? Verse 5, I am he, italics. Verse 6, I am he, italics. Verse 8, again, I am he, and the he is in italics.

That just simply means it wasn't in the original text. Kind of an important note there, because the actual interpretation should have been, whom are you seeking? Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus responds, I am. I am. And they all fall back and faint, no doubt. Why? When that moment he is proclaiming that he is the one, the pre-existing one, the god of the Old Testament, the creator of all things, the creator God. For your notes, we won't turn there, but for your notes, Exodus 3, verses 13 through 14, Exodus 3, verses 13 through 14. Of course, this is the most notable interaction where Moses is being sent by God to the Egyptians to fulfill their release, the Israelites' release from the Egyptians. And in that moment, we have recorded for us that Moses asked, whom shall I say sent me? And the answer comes from God, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent you, has sent me to you. So Jesus is employing the same verbiage here. And of course, they draw back. They knew what this proclamation means. They received that, and the first initial charge against Jesus was blasphemy, because he was in their eyes falsely claiming to be God, the Son of God.

Now, we would be remiss if we didn't mention the famous or infamous interaction between Peter and Malchus. That's in verse 10 and 11 there.

Truth and Peter's nature act before you think, you know. Some of us have that nature, can relate. And then Simon Peter, verse 10, having a sword, drew it. Amazing. Struck the high priest's servant, cut off his ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

So Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword into it the sheath.

Shall I not drink Peter the cup which my father has given me? So Peter was stepping in, no doubt moved by emotion here. I've said this before, I don't think Peter was going for Malchus's ear. I think he was going for his head.

Malchus being nimble, you know, ducks, and Peter gets the ear, perhaps. That's conjecture. I don't know that. Now what's interesting, the other gospel writers record that Jesus actually picks up the ear and dusts it off and puts it back on Malchus's head and it heals. I think if I would have been part of this Roman guard detachment, I'd have been backing up at this point, you know, ready to make my exit. Perhaps some did. We don't know. But they are filled with this fervor, no doubt, influence from Satan the devil himself to destroy the Son of God. So they continue with this. And moving on into the narrative, if you look at John 18, if you look from verse 12 on, you can read in the narrative later that they first take them to Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the current high priest. There in verse 24, you see that they first took him to Annas, verse 24, and then sent him bound to Caiaphas, who was the current high priest. So this is a complete sham. No conviction. They still bind him. It's a complete mockery of justice here. So let's think about our calendar again here.

On the calendar of that crucifixion week, we are now moving into what we would call the early hours of Wednesday. Okay. The dead of night. We are in the dead of night in the early hours of Wednesday. Again, they're in the upper room. The foot washing. Jesus institutes the Passover New Covenant Passover symbols. That was Tuesday evening. Jesus has been up all night praying, and now we're entering into the early hours of Wednesday morning of that crucifixion week. We are still at the dead of night, so we haven't reached sunrise yet. So we're some here. We're in between before 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, and I'll tell you how I come to that conclusion in a moment. We'll get to that. So we're in the dead of night. Jesus is first taken to Annas. Then he's transferred over to Caiaphas. Again, we're sometime before sunrise, before 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. Now, with Caiaphas, there would have been the Sanhedrin.

That was the governing elders of the day. They made decisions to legislate the activities of the nation of Israel. The Sanhedrin now is convened now with Caiaphas. Typically, the Sanhedrin would have come together at the Sanhedrin court, but we know from the narratives that they did not go to that official Sanhedrin court. Caiaphas actually brought them to his home. In the middle of the night here. How do we know this? Well, let's go over to Matthew's part of this recording. And let's go to Matthew 26 verses 57 and 58. We're going to pick up with the story at this moment. Matthew 26 verses 57 through 58, where Jesus is now being transferred over to the high priest Caiaphas' home. And the Sanhedrin, the Council of Elders, have been gathered.

Part of the purpose in going back and forth to the gospel writers today is just to see that there is story flow and there is harmony. How do we know it wasn't the official court, Sanhedrin court? Well, Matthew records Matthew 26 verse 57, 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. Verse 58, but Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Okay, let's stop there. So Peter had enough gumps, courage to follow, but he's following at a distance there. And we notice it said the high priest's courtyard. Well, if you look at any historical writings, you'll know that the court, the Sanhedrin court, did not have a courtyard. So this indicates that this is Caiaphas' home, where the Sanhedrin have gathered and they're bringing Jesus here.

What does this tell us? Why is that important? Well, I just want to punctuate the fact that this is a rush to judgment and conviction, moving in the darkness of night, keeping things going. You know, it's been said that the most evil deeds are done in the cover of night.

Well, that's what's occurring here. Don't even wait to have anything official come to my home. Let's gather the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas says, we're going to keep this moving. We're going to get him on that stake, on that cross, as soon as possible. Cover of night here. So Peter, again, we would be remiss if we didn't just take a moment to reflect on Peter's perhaps most infamous moment, his betrayal of Jesus Christ, staying here in Matthew 26.

If you go down to verse 73, we have the narrative given to us by Matthew here, Matthew 26 verse 73. Matthew records those who stood, came up and said to Peter, surely you are one of them, for your speech betrays you. So you don't speak like a native, so you must be with one of them. Verse 74, Peter began to curse and swear, I don't know the man, and immediately a rooster crowed. Verse 75, Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

So he, Peter, went out and whipped bitterly. There, let's stop there. You know, whenever you're lying, I can receive this. Whenever you're lying, sometimes you get boisterous and, you know, I don't know, you know, he cursed, he's swearing. So obviously Peter's heart was convicting him in this moment, as he's remembering Jesus's words here. I'm sure he just had such a sinking feeling in his stomach.

We've all been there. We can't be too hard on Peter here, but we can see and know that this is right around sunrise. Perhaps this moment that was just described by Matthew is just before 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, maybe just as the sun is about to rise. Well, we know roosters crow at the announcement of a new day, right? We know that. So there's some logic here, but we know this particular rooster crowed because Jesus prophesied it, right?

We know that, of course. But we are moving on here. This is the morning, early Wednesday morning hours, and they now, at this point, lead Jesus from Caiaphas, and they take him to Pontius Pilate. Okay, so let's stay here with Matthew and look at chapter 27 verse 1 and 2.

Chapter 27 verse 1 and 2, where Matthew records, when morning came, all of 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. So let's stop there. So from Annas to Caiaphas, now to Pontius Pilate here. Now, in this moment where Jesus is being transferred from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate, the gospel writer John picks up a pretty interesting detail that Matthew doesn't record in this moment.

So we want to pick that up, and again, this is for the purpose of to show harmony between the gospels in the narrative. So let's pick up with John's writings at this moment and turn to John 18 verse 28. If you'll turn there, John 18 verse 28, where John is speaking about this moment with the transfer from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate, and add some more details here, which are pretty interesting.

John 18 verse 28. John records of this moment. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morning. So Pontius Pilate was at the praetorium. That's just the Roman fortress area for the governor, Pontius Pilate. And we are here Wednesday morning, again, right at about 6 a.m. at this point. But you'll notice another detail that John provides. Verse 28, and they themselves, the Jews who were participating in this transfer, did not go into the praetorium, the Roman fortress area, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. So let's stop there.

So they're leading Jesus from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate. The Jews at that point did not go into the praetorium here, because they would have defiled themselves with this interaction with the Gentiles, and they would not be able to keep the Passover that evening, Wednesday evening. Note, one day later, from when Jesus instituted the New Covenant symbols there in the upper room, which would have been Tuesday night of this crucifixion week, you see.

One day later, again, they didn't want to become unclean or defiled by participating in this activity, because they would then have to miss their Passover observance that night, which would have been Wednesday evening, you see. So the Jews at this time, some of them, were keeping the Passover in error at a wrong time. They were actually keeping it at the end of this day, Wednesday, of the crucifixion week, rather than the day in which Jesus instituted. And remarkably, to this day, there's a portion of Jews that keep the Passover on a different day.

We, following Jesus Christ's example, we keep the Passover on the 14th day of Nisan, beginning at sunset, the 14th. For your notes, we won't take the time to turn there, but Exodus 12 shows us that there's the designated time in which that original Passover in Egypt occurred. We don't have the time to go through that, but the Jews were keeping it already incorrectly on the 15th day of Nisan here. Interesting side note. Interesting side note.

So we got to be careful. You know, there's so many details in this narrative that really highlight and help us continue to observe God in spirit and truth, you know, and to be revealed to us where some of them got it wrong. So let's go back to our narrative. Let's go back to Matthew 27 verses 3 through 10 there, and pick back up with our narrative here with Matthew's recording. Matthew 27 verses 3 through 10. Now, if it helps you, if we look at this like a stage, the lights on the stage is going to go down where Jesus is before the governor Pontius Pilate. So those lights on the stage are going to dim, and now the lights on the other part of the stage is going to light up where Judas comes back onto the stage, comes back into the narrative, if you will. So Judas had left the narrative there in that interaction at the garden. Now he's back in the narrative with Matthew picking up with Judas coming back into the narrative. Matthew 27 beginning in verse 3. Matthew then records Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he, Jesus, had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned. Judas saying this by betraying innocent blood. And they said, well, what is it to us? You see to it, you saw to it. Then he, Judas, threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. Verse 6, But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, It is not lawful, oh, it is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood. And they consulted together and then bought with the 30 pieces the potter's field to bury strangers in. Therefore, that field was called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet. They took the 30 pieces of silver, the value of him who was priced, whom they the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me. So let's stop there. So remarkable moment here. You know, I don't know what was in Judas's heart. I think remorse is a good emotion. A godly sorrow leads to repentance, leads to restoration.

I don't know if this was a worldly sorrow, which we avoid, but this might have been a godly sorrow. I hope it was. It seems there is some confession here of his heart.

Perhaps some future availability for even Judas to be restored in the second resurrection. We're not sure. We'll leave that in the counsel of God there. But, you know, Judas could not go into the temple. He was not a priest. Perhaps the door was open. He throws the coins in. Dramatic moment. Dramatic moment. Absolutely dramatic moment. And then the epitome of hypocrisy.

Oh, we can't submit this back into the treasury. Oh, it has the price of blood on it. Who put the price of blood on it? You know, so ugly. Such a dramatic, but certainly ugly, scene here. A sorry ending to Judas's physical life. A sad scene, for sure.

But moving back to Jesus and our narrative, we'll allow the stage lights to dim now for good on Judas. And now the lights come back on with Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate, the governor of that day. The charge had been changed to treason.

From blasphemy to treason. They could crucify Jesus for that charge. And so he's now standing before Pontius Pilate. And moving back to the narrative with Matthew, chapter 27 and verse 11 here. Matthew 27 and verse 11. Once again, Jesus is standing before the governor, Pontius Pilate.

And the governor asks him, he begins to quiz Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? Matthew 27 verse 11. Jesus said to him, it is as you say, you can take out the italics.

And really Jesus's response was, well, you say, you know, you say that.

That was the accusation. A traitor, an insurrectionist here. Well, that's what you say. Continuing here, Matthew 27 verses 12 through 14.

And while he, Jesus, was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. And Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he, Jesus, answered not a word. So the governor, Pontius Pilate, marveled greatly. He was amazed. He's not defending himself. Verse 15 and 16.

Now, at the feast, the governor, Pontius Pilate, was accustomed to releasing, setting free, to the multitude, one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time, they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Let's stop there. So Barabbas had already been convicted of murder, charged and convicted, condemned to death. Verse 17 and 18. Therefore, verse 17, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, notorious Barabbas, the murderer, or Jesus, who was called Christ. For he, Pilate, knew they had handed him over because of envy. So Pilate knew this was a sham here.

So he has some responsibility. And you know the story. Remarkably, they pick Barabbas to be set free. And they choose for Jesus to be crucified. Going down to verse 26, verse 26, then he released Barabbas, Pilate released Barabbas to them to go free. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Remarkable. And so this brings us to the moment of Christ's crucifixion.

Pilate is now going to hand over Christ to start the process of his crucifixion. And for this part of the narrative, we're going to go to the Gospel writer, John, and pick it up there. John 19. And we're going to pick up the story at verse 14 here. John 19 and verse 14, where John details this moment of Pilate handing over Jesus to be crucified here. Again, we're purposely going back and forth, just so you can see the narrative here. You can see the perfect harmony between the Gospel writers. And this actually happened. It's in great detail. Here's the evidence before us. I hope you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took these steps for us, moved to his crucifixion willingly. And I hope that changes us.

Well, John picks up the details here of Pilate handing over Jesus. Here it is, John 19, verse 14. Now, it was the preparation day of Passover in about the sixth hour.

And he, Pilate, said to the Jews, Behold your king. Let's stop there. Now, just so you know, whenever the Gospel writers refer to things like it was the preparation day of Passover, just so you know, they're including also the days of Unleavened Bread.

Similarly, like we would say, oh, we're going to the feast, the Feast of Tabernacles. And we also mean the eighth day. We might not say that, you know. The same way, they'll refer to the Passover just as the Passover season, which would include the days of Unleavened Bread. So it was the preparation day of the Passover in about the sixth hour. Now, this is an important note here. Most assume, incorrectly, most mainstream Christian churches assume incorrectly, that when it mentions preparation day, this is talking about Friday, preparation day for the weekly Sabbath. But bear in mind, on that crucifixion week, we have not left Wednesday morning. Okay? You remember, Jesus shared the, an institute, the Passover symbols there in the upper room Tuesday evening, stayed up all night. Eventually, he makes his way before Pontius Pilate. We're still here in the early Wednesday morning hours. So the preparation day is simply an expression for any day before the Sabbath. Okay? And a Sabbath can either be a weekly Sabbath or a high Sabbath, a holy day. All right? So this is preparation day, Wednesday, in preparation day, in preparation for the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was going to begin at sundown and go into Thursday. You see, this is not a Friday preparation for the weekly Sabbath, Saturday. Okay? This is a preparation day, Wednesday, in preparation for the high Sabbath, first day of Unleavened Bread, which would begin at sundown that Wednesday and last into Thursday. This is not a Friday preparation for the weekly Sabbath, Saturday. Very important because of that error in thinking, many mainstream Christian churches are faced with the challenge of forcing three days and three nights into what they would call Good Friday to a Sunday morning sunrise resurrection. That's what they in error think, but they're forced to fit in three days and three nights. Any child, probably six years and older, would know you can't fit three days and three nights from a Friday crucifixion to a Sunday morning sunrise resurrection. It just doesn't work. It's wrong. But here, but that's how they count it, but here in John 19, verse 14 again, here we are Wednesday morning, verse 14, it was the preparation day of the Passover, about the sixth hour, and Pontius Pilate is handing over Jesus, behold your king, here.

Now, I want to give you a little education at this moment, which will greatly help you as you're reading these narratives. So, class, put on your thinking caps. If you need to go get a cup of coffee, you're welcome to do so, because there is a little bit of education here that's needed.

As we think about this reference to sixth hour, because you'll find that other gospel writers in the narrative right around this moment will also reference other hours. John here references the sixth hour. Okay, let me give you a little education here. The Jews and the Romans at this time used different standards for reckoning the hours of the day. Okay, the Jews and the Romans used different standards of reckoning for the hours of the day. This is well known. It's well documented in history. Both systems, the Jewish system and the Roman system, have 24-hour periods, and each system breaks up their days into 12-hour increments. Okay, a new day for the Romans begins at midnight, just as it does for us. Whereas a new day for the Jews begins at sundown, or we could say 6 p.m. All right, so I'll repeat this. The Jews and the Romans used different standards of reckoning, the hours of the day. Both systems split up a day, a 24-hour period into 12 hours, when they're speaking about hours. A new day for the Romans begins at 12 a.m. midnight. A new day for the Jews begins at sundown, which we could say would be 6 p.m. if we just want to put a time on it.

And there's various clues that indicate John, when he references the sixth hour, is using the Roman system. Okay, the Roman time reckoning. So this, when John refers the sixth hour, it was the preparation day of Passover, about the sixth hour, this would point to six hours from midnight. So this would be 6 a.m. Okay, so this would have been 6 a.m. Wednesday morning of that crucifixion week. Side note, it makes sense for John to use the Roman time reckoning when he's using hours. He wrote to the Hellenistic audience, and there's other reasons why he would choose to reference the Roman time system. And just know, if you look at John 18 verse 28, we see that he references the early morning, right, where Jesus goes from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate at the Praetorium. And we even have the rooster-crowing incident in verse 27. So it all lines up, all right?

This is the sixth hour. This would have been 6 a.m. of that crucifixion week, Wednesday 6 a.m. in the morning. Now, class, there is strong indications that the other gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, whenever they're referencing hours, they're referring to the Jewish time reckoning. Okay? Again, the Jewish time reckoning splits. It has a 24-hour period, but they split up their 24-hour day into two 12-hour segments, but beginning at 6 p.m., 6 a.m., 6 a.m., 6 p.m. Okay? And there's really a strong indication that Matthew, Mark, and Luke, whenever they're referencing hours, they're referring to the Jewish time reckoning. So there's absolute harmony if you know that bit of little bit of education. And so John has Pilate handing over Jesus to start the crucifixion process at 6 a.m. that Wednesday morning. Behold your king. Behold your king.

And Mark picks up this moment in the narrative, and Mark, the gospel writer Mark, has Jesus on the stake on the cross at 9 a.m. Let me show you this. Let me show you this. Mark 15, verse 25. If you'll turn over there, we'll pick up the narrative here with Mark. Mark 15, verse 25. Again, we're going to see that Mark has Jesus on the cross, on the stake, at 9 a.m., which lines up perfectly with John's account. So Mark 15, verse 25. Mark records, now it was the third hour, and they crucified him. Okay? I'll stop there. So Mark, using the Jewish time reckoning, is referencing three hours from 6 a.m. using the Jewish time reckoning. I told you they split it up into two 12-hour periods when they're referencing hours. Mark, using the Jewish time reckoning, when he refers to the third hour, that would be 9 a.m. on that Wednesday. And Mark has him on the cross. They crucified him at the third hour, so that would be 9 a.m., perfectly consistent with John's account. So you can see how that education is needed when you're looking at the referencing of these hours here. So he's on the cross at the third hour, 9 a.m., there. And again, it all lines up. If you just allow your eyes to go back to the end of chapter 14 of Mark, there in verse 72, you have the account of the rooster, the infamous rooster. We said, of course, roosters crow at sunrise, of course. There in Mark 14 verse 72. And then even Mark 15 verse 1, immediately in the morning, immediately in the morning, Mark has Jesus being delivered to pilot there. So all perfect harmony if you know the difference in time reckonings here.

So again, Mark 15 verse 25, it was the third hour and they crucified him. So that's right at 9 a.m., they have him on the cross or on the stake. And Mark continues here. Look at verses 33 through 34. Mark 15 verses 33 through 34.

Now when 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 saying, "'Eli, Eli, Laba, Sabachthani,' which is translated, "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" And then moving down to verse 37, and Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last there. So let's stop there. So Mark now references the sixth hour to the ninth hour, which means six hours from 6 a.m. That means there were darkness over the land from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. That crucifixion week that Wednesday.

And shortly after the ninth hour, which would have been 3 p.m., Jesus breathes his last breath there. So here we are on Wednesday at 3 p.m., the ninth hour. We have Jesus's death recorded there from the sixth hour to the ninth hour. Darkness. Sometimes shortly after the ninth hour, which would have been 3 p.m., he breathes his last breath. Well, we won't go through the recordings, but we know at that moment, earthquake occurs. The veil is torn into graves open.

You can imagine all that occurring at Christ's death. And so here we are a little bit after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the ninth hour that Mark records.

And now John, the gospel writer John, will pick up the narrative at this moment for us. So let's turn over to John 19, verse 31. John 19, verse 31, as we are getting close here to the empty tomb.

John 19, verse 31. John continues the narrative here. So Jesus has died. They're on the stake on the cross. John 19, verse 31. John picks up the narrative here. 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. Of course, we'll stop there. Of course, it was a high day. So at sundown, the first day of Unleavened Bread would have begun. So they needed to get Jesus's body in the tomb before sundown occurred, the beginning of the holy day.

So we are here again sometime just after 3 p.m. that Wednesday. Christ has died. And now he is there in verse 42. John 19, verse 42. John 19, verse 42. So there they laid Jesus in the tomb, because it was the Jews' preparation day, for the tomb was nearby. Let's stop there. So he's in the tomb just before sundown. In the tomb, we could say late Wednesday afternoon, just before sundown. Wednesday just before sundown. He's in the tomb.

So if you have a calculator or if you have your fingers, we can now begin to count without any difficulty three days and three nights. So here we are, Wednesday just before sundown. Thursday just before sundown. Friday just before sundown. Saturday just before sundown. Jesus Christ was resurrected.

Saturday just before sundown. Jesus Christ was resurrected on the Sabbath. On the Sabbath. You know, one of the, as a side note, one of the chief reasons why mainstream Christianity, specifically the Catholic Church and the Protestants, followed. One of the reasons they say that the observance from Saturday to Sunday occurred is because Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, they say, in error. Because we see He was not resurrected on Sunday. And so they say in error, because Jesus Christ was resurrected on a Sunday, that stamped our new day of worship to be on Sunday. Not at all. If there was any day stamped as the day of worship to our God the Father and Jesus Christ, it's the Sabbath.

Of course Jesus Christ was resurrected on the Sabbath.

Oh, there is so many just held in the grip of deception. They're sincere. Many of them are sincere, but they're sincerely wrong. So this is our everything we do. We try to do in spirit and truth. And that's why this is profitable. With that, we can conclude our narrative here. Look at and just read one more verse, John 20, verse 1. John 20, verse 1. Now, it was 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. Let's stop there. Of course it had. There was no one there. Jesus was raised just before sundown on the Sabbath, Saturday. And that makes sense. They're arriving while it was still dark there in the early morning hours. So that takes us, brethren, bringing us all the way from the upper room to now the empty tomb. And thank you for hanging in there with me for that. Quite a narrative to follow, a remarkable narrative. And we won't go through it, but as we begin to lower the wheels and descend on this sermon, the gospel writers go on to tell us that after sundown, the ladies went and got spices. They scurried down the Jerusalem streets and grabbed spices to return to the tomb.

I would like to have heard the banter at that point. What are we going to do if the stone is still there? I wonder what some of the specific dialogue was. Were they gripped with hope?

Or were they gripped with hopelessness?

Something, I think, there was an incredible hope that was driving them to the moment in which they would discover the empty tomb. But instead of being confronted with a stone, the stone had been rolled back. The appearance of an angel was there. An angel radiant, a symbol of victory they now discovered there. The angel was just sitting on top of the rolled away stone. What a picture! And I'll conclude the sermon today with a little bit of conjecture. If you'll allow me to fill in a little bit of the narrative. I think it's true to the narrative. But I can just imagine the picture there with the angel seeing the ladies come with their spices.

Perhaps he said something to them like, well, ladies, you will not be needing those spices.

You will not be needing those. Because while they can drive nails into the Son of God's hands and feet, while they can mock him and laugh at him and ruticle him, there is no power on earth that can keep your Savior down. He is your Savior, and he has made the incredible journey from the upper room to the empty tomb.