Appendix “B2” Jesus, the Pascal Lamb Died on Friday

(https://www.facebook.com/notes/jason-smith/lunar-sabbath-ad-31-and-the-true-bible-sabbath/10150579221137124/ )

The Seventh-day Adventist view is that Jesus died on a Friday (called the preparation day) and that this particular Friday was the Passover [the 14th day of the 1st month according to the Jewish calendar]. It was followed by the 7th day Sabbath and also the 1st day of the feast of unleavened bread [15th day of the 1st month and the 1st day of the 7-day festival of unleavened bread. It was considered a holy convocation in which no servile work was to be done- See Lev 23:7]. This duality, it was both a 7th day Sabbath and a holy convocation, made that particular Sabbath day a “high day” (See John 19:31). And then after the Sabbath had ended, when it began to dawn toward the 1st day of the week (Sunday) the women who came to embalm Jesus with spices found the tomb empty because Jesus had risen (See Luke 24:1) [This would be the 2nd day of the 7 day feast of unleavened bread. This was the day after the Sabbath when the priest waved the “sheaf of the firstfruits before the LORD” (See Lev 23:10, 11) and the started the 50 day count till Pentecost.]. Thus we have a Friday, Saturday (Sabbath), Sunday sequence here.

Side Note: If you study this typology you will see something amazing. Jesus died on the Passover day as our Passover Lamb [14th day of the 1st month]. He rested in the tomb over the 7th day Sabbath day thereby removing the leaven of sin [this was also the 15th day of the 1st month the first day of the unleavened bread festival which was an holy convocation no work to be done] (See 1 Cor 5:7,8 where Paul uses the Passover, removal of leaven typology in application to Christ). Then the Savior arose as the firstfruits from the grave [16th day of the 1st month, the day after the Sabbath when firstfruit sheaf offering was waved by the priest] (See 1 Cor 15:29, 23 where Paul uses the firstfruits typology in application to Christ). He ascended to heaven 40 days later (Acts 1:3) and then on Pentecost [which would be 10 days later and also when the wheat harvest occurred according to the type- See Lev 23:15-22] the disciple’s first harvest of souls into the Christian faith happened (See Acts 2:1, 41)

The new moon conjunction in March and April of 31 AD. showed that the new moon occurred on Tuesday  27 mar and wed 25 Apr . When an individual uses the previously mentioned formula and adds 14 days to the new moon given for both of these months neither one equals out to Friday. Therefore the lunar sabbath proponent concludes that the new moon didn't happen on the right day in March or April of 31 AD for there to be a Friday Passover (that would from Thursday sunset to Friday sunset). Thus the conclusion that the following day after Jesus' death (the Sabbath) could not have been Saturday. So, according to the theory, the only way 31 AD can be maintained as a valid year for the crucifixion is if the next day (the 15th of Nissan) was a lunar Sabbath (if lunar Sabbaths existed they would occur on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of every month). This is the reasoning whereby the lunar Sabbath proponent attempts to prove that holding to the weekly 7th day Sabbath (Saturday) and 31 AD as the year of Jesus' death are incompatible.

The lunar Sabbath proponent’s theory builds upon itself point  by point to reach its final conclusion but, as we will show shortly, it starting premise is an unproved assumption! Therefore its final conclusion is untenable.

The problem is that it uses astronomical calculations of the new moon and simply adds 14 days to it to reach the Passover. Well what's the problem with that? There are a few but we are only going to focus on one for right now.  Let's allow the Encyclopedia Britannica to answer for us:

"Direct material for answering the question when and how far astronomical calculations replaced simple observation as the basis of the Jewish calendar is not forthcoming" (Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition Vol 3. pg 890)

According to the good folks at Encyclopedia Britannica there is no conclusive proof as to when astronomical calculations started being used instead of the observation method. Without this crucial piece of data the paradox theory's contention is mute.

“Originally, the New Moon was not fixed by astronomical calculation, but was solemnly proclaimed after witnesses had testified to the reappearance of the crescent of the moon” (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 12, p. 1039) 

So to restate the problem in a different way the lunar Sabbath theory uses a formula of astronomical calculations plus 14 days to equal out to Passover but it cannot prove that this same method was being used by the Jews in Jesus' day (the 1st century).

Hence the SDA Bible Commentary points out the fallacy of using such a method

“Many have thought that the date of the crucifixion can be determined very easily by computing the date of a new moon or a full moon by means of astronomical tables. A discussion of two points [will] show the complexity and uncertainty of such computation.  The application of lunar data to the problem of finding any Passover date in New Testament times involves two variable factors. The choice must be made between the March new moon and the April new moon in any given year, the basis for identifying the month of Nisan. Then the astronomical new moon (conjunction) must be calculated backward from modern lunar tables with a small but sometimes significant margin of error. Finally the interval between that point and the visible crescent must be calculated, according to astronomical or calendrical theory, in order to arrive at the most probable sunset for the beginning of the first day of the month. It must be remembered that our lack of exact knowledge of the actual practices of those times may lead us to choose the wrong month or the wrong day: consequently no result is more than a probability.” (SDABC Vol 5. Pg 254)

Now this problem is not just recognized by Adventists. Turning again to the Encyclopedia Britannica we read:

“The difficulty with regard to the day is, quite similarly, to know what precise relation the first day of the Jewish month bore to the astronomical new moon. In later Christian times the Paschal month was calculated from the astronomical new moon; in earlier Jewish times all months were reckoned to begin at the first sunset when the new moon was visible, which in the most favorable circumstances would be some hours, and in the most unfavorable three days, later than the astronomical new moon.” (Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition Vol 3. pg 890)

In the quote above we see that there is a potential range of three days from the conjunction till the new moon was visible. Herein we see the giant problem with the lunar Sabbath proponent’s theory. It cannot acknowledge two points!

One, it will not admit to "our lack of knowledge [regarding] the actual practices of those times" because such an admission makes it possible that the Jews of Jesus' generation were using the observation method.  If this first point is granted then, by default, it grants the second disallowed point. That is that the new moon crescent is sometimes not visible for a few days after the conjunction.

Why won't the lunar Sabbath theory grant these points? Because to do so shatters the entire premise whereby it attempts to invalidate the true Bible Sabbath (Saturday). The observation method with its potential 3 day range for the start of the month eradicates any problem with a Friday, Saturday, Sunday sequence in 31 AD.  Try it for yourself and see. In order for there to be a Thursday sunset to Friday sunset Passover the visible new moon would have to be observed and declared on the Thursday 14 days prior. When we factor in the possible 3 day range [the yellow text box in the charts below] we see that it is possible for both months to work but April is the probable choice.

The SDA Bible commentary also mentions that 3 days and 4 hours is a "possible interval after the astronomical new moon" (SDA BC Vol 5. pg 252)

Although the date and time of each New Moon can be computed exactly, the visibility of the lunar crescent as a function of the Moon's "age" - the time counted from New Moon - depends upon many factors and cannot be predicted with certainty. In the first two days after New Moon, the young crescent Moon appears very low in the western sky after sunset, and must be viewed through bright twilight. It sets shortly after sunset. The sighting of the lunar crescent within one day of New Moon is usually difficult. (Taken from an article by the Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory “FAQ about the Moon’s Crescents”)

The observation method with its potential 3 day range for the start of the month eradicates any problem with a Friday, Saturday, Sunday sequence in 31 AD.  Try it for yourself and see. In order for there to be a Thursday sunset to Friday sunset Passover the visible new moon would have to be observed and declared on the Thursday 14 days prior. When we factor in the possible 3 day range [the yellow text box in the charts below] we see that it is possible for both months to work but April is the probable choice. ( April 10 tues -astro full moon – Apr 13 Friday observation full moon.)

In conclusion, the lunar Sabbath proponent’s theory attempts to rule out the possibility of a Friday/ Saturday Passover in 31 AD does not work because it relies on astronomical calculations of the new moon and adds 14 days to reach the Passover. It does not acknowledge the other alternative (the observation method) for calculating the Passover. When one considers that the Jews of Jesus’ day may have been starting their month from the sighting of the new moon's crescent (and not the astronomical new moon), this gives us a interval for the starting date of the 1st month that makes AD 31 and a Saturday Sabbath a viable option.  All the conjured-up problems of the lunar sabbath proponent's theory disappear and we see that the Passover Friday, 7th day Sabbath (Saturday), Sunday sequence for the crucifixion and the year 31 AD are perfectly compatible.

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