Ministry of Grace Church

Preparation Day – Mark 42:42-47

And evening having already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable member of the Council, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate marveled that He had already died. Having called the centurion, he asked him if He was already dead. And ascertaining it from the centurion, he gave the dead body to him. And having bought a linen cloth, and having taken Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of a rock, and he rolled a stone against the opening of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid.

Truth to Learn
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Jesus was crucified and buried on the Preparation Day (the day before the Sabbath).

Behind the Words
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The word “evening” is opsios. The Jews actually had two evenings. The first began at 3:00 PM and the second one began at 6:00 PM. This was most likely the former (3:00 PM) which was the time that the Passover sacrifice was to be killed. By law, dead bodies were not allowed to remain on the cross after 6:00 PM.

The words “Preparation day” are translated from paraskeuē, meaning “preparation.” The day before a Sabbath was called Preparation Day;. It was on this day that the Sabbath meal was prepared. The Sabbath began at 6:00 and no work was allowed on the Sabbath, so the meal had to be completely prepared before 6:00 PM.

“member of the Council” is translated from the Greek word bouleutēs, which can refer to a “councilman,” “a senator,” or “a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.”

Meaning Explained
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Over the next few days we are going to look very carefully at a number of verses regarding the Crucifixion of Jesus. I am sure that many of you will see things that you have never seen before and you will very likely react negatively to them. You will not believe at first because of what has been ingrained in us since we first became Christians.

We all know that Jesus was crucified on Friday and that he arose from the dead on Sunday, right? Well, not only is that not what the Scriptures teach, it is not what really happened. The key to understanding this paradox is the fact that there was more than one kind of Sabbath for the Jews. Every week there was a Sabbath which was the seventh day of their week. They considered this so because God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. But in addition to these weekly Sabbaths, there were a number of special holy days that were considered Sabbaths as well. This Sabbath was referred to as a “high day.” One of these was the Passover Sabbath. This Sabbath could fall on any day of the week (we’ll get more into this in tomorrow’s verse.) Preparation day referred to in these verses was the Preparation day before the Passover Sabbath (considered a high day).

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. (John 19:31)
Jesus, just like the Paschal Lamb, was sacrificed on the day before the Passover.

Application
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The Christians in Berea had a special place in the Apostle Paul’s heart. He said, “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

I encourage you to do as the Bereans did. Search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so. Don’t believe it because I said so. Believe it because you have searched it out.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2020 Will Krause. All rights reserved