Yeshua died on the day of Preparation (Mk. 15:42, Lk. 23:54, Jn 19:31). In Judaism, the term was used to describe the sixth day
of the week, Friday. As the name implies, this day was generally spent preparing what was necessary to avoid work on the Sabbath. The preparations included cooking, completing work, and spiritual purification. Less frequently, the term Preparation could also refer to another day of the week falling just before a festival.
The time reference in all four Gospels implies that Yeshua's corpse had to be buried before the Sabbath began: the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day (Jn 19:31b). In the year A.D. 30 (as well as the year 33), the Passover day fell on the day of Preparation, meaning it began on Thursday evening and lasted until Friday evening. The moment the sun set on Friday, the Sabbath and the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. In the Mosaic Law, the first and the seventh days of this feast were holy days. Whenever a Sabbath day fell on a Jewish holy day, it became a high Sabbath. If possible, the Jews would not leave a dead body exposed and unburied over a Sabbath day. This was all the more true if the day were a high Sabbath, thus the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten the death process. The Jews therefore....asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him (Jn 19:31-32).
Where the feet touched the wood on the cross was a footrest, the sedile, that was nailed there for a specific reason. A person ultimately died by asphyxiation when crucified because of the way the condemned hung on the cross. The footrest was nailed onto the pole so that the victims could raise themselves, breathe, lower themselves, raise themselves again, breathe, lower themselves, and as long as they had the strength to do this, they survived for some time. In some cases, it took days for someone to die this way. As the victims moved up and down, rubbing against the rugged wood of the cross, their backs became painfully raw. Because Yeshua was flogged beforehand, He felt the pain from the time He was first placed on the cross and throughout the six-hour period during which He slid up and down against that rough wood. One way to accelerate the death process was to break the legs of the victims to prevent them from lifting themselves up to take a breath. They died by suffocation shortly thereafter. For that reason, the legs of the men hanging to the left and right of Yeshua were broken (Jn. 19:32). However, by the time the soldiers came to Yeshua, He had already dismissed His spirit from His body (Jn. 19:33). Therefore, they did not bother to break His legs, thus fulfilling the Passover motif that not one bone of the Passover lamb could be broken (Ex.12:46).
To ensure Yeshua had died, one soldier drove a spear into His side (Jn.19:34), thus fulfilling the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 that the Messiah would be pierced. Blood and water flowed from the wound. Many have discussed the medical significance of this phenomenon. Some medical doctors believe that Yeshua's heart ruptured, and He died of a broken heart. Other doctors dispute this conclusion. However, they miss the point. The significance of the blood and the water is not medical, but theological. Yochanan alone recorded this incident, stating that he was an eyewitness to the event: And he that had seen has borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knows that he said true, that ye also may believe (Jn 19:35). Later, the apostle, reflecting on the outpouring of blood and water, made a theological deduction: This was the sign that God had provided eternal life (1 Jn. 5:6-12). The blood and the water were evidence that Yeshua died and by His death provided eternal life.
Blessings in our Messiah! ברכות במשיח שלנו!
of the week, Friday. As the name implies, this day was generally spent preparing what was necessary to avoid work on the Sabbath. The preparations included cooking, completing work, and spiritual purification. Less frequently, the term Preparation could also refer to another day of the week falling just before a festival.
The time reference in all four Gospels implies that Yeshua's corpse had to be buried before the Sabbath began: the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day (Jn 19:31b). In the year A.D. 30 (as well as the year 33), the Passover day fell on the day of Preparation, meaning it began on Thursday evening and lasted until Friday evening. The moment the sun set on Friday, the Sabbath and the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. In the Mosaic Law, the first and the seventh days of this feast were holy days. Whenever a Sabbath day fell on a Jewish holy day, it became a high Sabbath. If possible, the Jews would not leave a dead body exposed and unburied over a Sabbath day. This was all the more true if the day were a high Sabbath, thus the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to hasten the death process. The Jews therefore....asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him (Jn 19:31-32).
Where the feet touched the wood on the cross was a footrest, the sedile, that was nailed there for a specific reason. A person ultimately died by asphyxiation when crucified because of the way the condemned hung on the cross. The footrest was nailed onto the pole so that the victims could raise themselves, breathe, lower themselves, raise themselves again, breathe, lower themselves, and as long as they had the strength to do this, they survived for some time. In some cases, it took days for someone to die this way. As the victims moved up and down, rubbing against the rugged wood of the cross, their backs became painfully raw. Because Yeshua was flogged beforehand, He felt the pain from the time He was first placed on the cross and throughout the six-hour period during which He slid up and down against that rough wood. One way to accelerate the death process was to break the legs of the victims to prevent them from lifting themselves up to take a breath. They died by suffocation shortly thereafter. For that reason, the legs of the men hanging to the left and right of Yeshua were broken (Jn. 19:32). However, by the time the soldiers came to Yeshua, He had already dismissed His spirit from His body (Jn. 19:33). Therefore, they did not bother to break His legs, thus fulfilling the Passover motif that not one bone of the Passover lamb could be broken (Ex.12:46).
To ensure Yeshua had died, one soldier drove a spear into His side (Jn.19:34), thus fulfilling the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 that the Messiah would be pierced. Blood and water flowed from the wound. Many have discussed the medical significance of this phenomenon. Some medical doctors believe that Yeshua's heart ruptured, and He died of a broken heart. Other doctors dispute this conclusion. However, they miss the point. The significance of the blood and the water is not medical, but theological. Yochanan alone recorded this incident, stating that he was an eyewitness to the event: And he that had seen has borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knows that he said true, that ye also may believe (Jn 19:35). Later, the apostle, reflecting on the outpouring of blood and water, made a theological deduction: This was the sign that God had provided eternal life (1 Jn. 5:6-12). The blood and the water were evidence that Yeshua died and by His death provided eternal life.
Blessings in our Messiah! ברכות במשיח שלנו!
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