Good Friday

Two leading British scientists have done a great deal of research, and they have concluded

that Jesus died on Friday April 3rd, 33 A.D. Collin J. Humphreys and W. G. Waddington of

Oxford University published their findings in the British Science Magazine. Their combined

study of the Gospels and scientific records lead them to this conclusion. All 4 Gospels agree

that Jesus died just a few hours before the start of the Jewish Sabbath, which was at nightfall

on Friday. They also agree that it was at the Passover, which was the annual Jewish feast

held at the full moon.

The lambs were killed between 3 and 5 P.M. on the 14th day of the Jewish month of

Nisan, which corresponds to our March-April. Jesus was on the cross from 9 in the morning

until 3 in the afternoon, and so He died just as the Passover lambs were dying. He was the

Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, and Paul says in I Cor. 5:7, "For Christ,

our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed." The timing of His death was like the timing of His

birth. It was in the fullness of time that God sent forth His Son to be born of a woman. And

now on the cross it is precisely at the fullness of time that Jesus died, for it was at this time

that the sacrificial lambs died. It was all planned for precision timing that Jesus might be

seen as the Passover Lamb.

Jesus is identified with the lamb, for they die without a fight. They meekly go to their

death without attacking or resisting. Jesus laid down His life voluntarily, and He did not, as

the Lion of the tribe of Judah, snarl and rip and tear at His crucifiers to take some of them

down with Him. He had that power to be ferocious, but He submitted like a lamb. He

fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 53:7 which says, "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth." This was the

Lamb God provided that made all other sacrifice unnecessary. That is why the veil in the

temple was rent when Jesus died, for there was no longer any need for sacrifice to enter

God's presence for all people. The wall was down for good, for when this Lamb died, He

died for all.

Not all the blood of beasts

On Jewish alters slain

Could give the guilty conscience peace,

Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the Heavenly Lamb

Takes all our sins away;

A sacrifice of nobler name,

And richer blood than they.

When we go to the book of Revelation and listen in on the songs that will be sung in that

land of total victory, we do not hear songs about the Lion and Conqueror, which Jesus was,

but about the Lamb. In Rev. 5 the Lamb that had been slain was in the midst of all as the

central figure in heaven, and all other beings fall down before the Lamb and sing this new

song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and

with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and

nation." Then millions of angels joined in with loud voices singing: "Worthy is the Lamb,

who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory

and praise." And then, as if this was not an enormous enough choir, every creature alive in

the entire universe joined the song singing: "To Him who sits on the throne and to the

Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever." The poet was right who

wrote,

The whole creation joined in one

To bless the sacred Name.

Of Him who sits upon the throne,

And to adore the Lamb.

And we sing in one of our popular hymns:

Crown Him with many crowns

The Lamb upon the throne.

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns

All music but its own.

The song of the Lamb will be the theme of music forever. And so though it may seem a

trivial detail that Jesus died at the same time as the Passover lambs, it is, in fact, a marvelous

example of God's providential guidance to link His Son's death with theirs, and thus give

Him a title that will be honored forever. Bible trivial can sometimes be Bible significa. Let's

look at some of the other details of that Good Friday experience.

Verse 45 says, "From the 6th hour until the 9th hour darkness came over all the land."

This is from noon to 3 P. M. When the sun goes dark at high noon you know something of