Mark 16

“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” (v. 2)

In Matthew 28, we talked about the first day of the week, but here we see that these ladies got up very early, “at the rising of the sun.” This is estimated to be about 6 o’clock a. m. according to the old Jewish calendar. I would like us to see that Jesus rose before sun up, or sometime “very early in the morning”. Remember, He was in the grave for three days and three nights, as foretold by the Book of Jonah (Mt. 12: 39,40). Thus, while rising on the first day, that would make Him to have been crucified on a Thursday, and not on what is commonly called “Good Friday.” Figure it out. Thursday night was the first night; Friday night the second; and Saturday night would make it three nights, according to the Scriptures, and then He rose on Sunday morning, which was the first day of their week. A little study of the times in the four Gospels would bear this out, I believe. Of course, the old Jewish calendar did not name the days as we do, these came from pagan worship! Just look at a few of them: Sun-day was from the sun worshippers; Mon-day was shortened from “moon day”, etc. Saturday was for Saturn, and Wed for Woden a mythical god; Thursday was from Thor, another mythical god. Don’t be too shocked, the names of our months had their roots in paganism also! Back to our subject though; the Jewish calendar numbered the days, as day one, day two, etc. so keep all this in mind when you figure it all out. Also. Bear in mind that the Jewish day began at 6:00 p.m. on the evening before, and ended at that time also (6:00 p.m.) the next day. We base our day on the midnight hour, but theirs was quite different. Here’s the gist of the matter: After checking this all out, I believe you will find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on a Wednesday night, and therein lies the reason for Wednesday night prayer meetings. Yes, I believe the mid-week service was based on this fact. The fact is, Jesus did rise from the dead, and is now sitting at the right hand of God, making intercession for us; Wednesday night payer meetings are all but forgotten now, and we quickly brush aside the prayer for the preaching. Too bad--it’s our loss, not the Lord’s!