The Mathematics of Good Friday- A rejoinder
By Amos Dada

This article that appeared in your Vol 4 issue 2 of Nigeriancanadiannews  makes an interesting reading. Usually when I read articles like that I enjoy the information and education and allow it to correct my path in the Christian way. And I sincerely think that should be the motive of our writings, teachings and preachings’ -to educate us in a way that those who have just embraced the faith of Jesus Christ will be properly informed and those who are already on the journey of life in Christ Jesus will be strengthened in their faith. I would not have bothered to reply to this article but for two reasons. Firstly, the author wants to prove he has ‘a new revelation’ which the body of Christ does not have, he went further in that article to say that “The Holy Spirit has revealed it to the Brotherhood of the cross and Star that HE was crucified on Thursday and not Friday” . The second reason is that the time has come for the body of Christ to focus on the real purpose of the Kingdom of God- which is focusing on preaching the gospel particularly to the dying world rather than stirring up unnecessary controversies.

No New Revelation. Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was  three days  and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall  the Son of man be three days and nights in the heart of the earth’. This is not a new revelation to any sect or man by the Holy Spirit. These are facts of the bible! Besides these have been argued for ages in countless books and especially by bible expositors. One of the respected bible commentators about this is Finis J Dake in his famous Dake’s annotated reference bible Copyright 1961. This is the way he puts it “Christ was dead for 3 full days and for 3 full nights. He was put in the grave Wednesday just before sunset and was resurrected at the end of Saturday at sunset. Good Friday should be changed to Good Wednesday. No statement says that he was buried Friday at sunset. This would make him in the grave only one day and one night, proving his own words untrue. The Sabbath of John 19:31 was not the   regular weekly one. But the special Sabbath of the feast” Jn 19:31 specifically speaks of the’ high day’ KJV. NIV calls it ‘special Sabbath’ AMP version translates it – For that Sabbath was a very solemn and important one’. Moreover this special Sabbath is referred to in Leviticus 23:6-11.

The argument for Thursday and Wednesday is on and may never be resolved.
What is critical is not the date but the event. Calendar is very dicey if not a complex issue. The date of the first Good Friday may never be known, but many scholars believe that the event took place on April 7th, A.D. 30. If they are right the calendar is wrong, by three years.

So where did the tradition of Good Friday start? Well, for the first three centuries Christians did not celebrate the death of Christ on Friday. In fact, they did not even celebrate the resurrection on Sunday. They celebrated the day of the resurrection based on the Jewish Passover, thus resurrection day would fall on different days, depending on the day of the Passover. It wasn’t until the Emperor Constantine fixed the day of Easter on Sunday after the first full moon of spring, which corresponded to the Jewish Passover. After setting Easter on Sunday, the church leaders made an honest mistake by assuming the death of Christ was on Friday. They came to that conclusion based on the fact that Jesus died before the Sabbath (Saturday was the regular "Sabbath" for the Jews which means "Rest" or no work). Mark 15:42 confirms that Jesus died the day prior to the Sabbath: It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). Skeptics take out their hand and start counting the days and nights, and it does not add up correctly. So they throw out the Bible and say it is inaccurate. However, the Bible does not say that Jesus died on Friday, only that he arose on Sunday. Jesus rose early on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9).
The Anglo-Saxon name for Good Friday was Long Friday, due to the long fast imposed upon this day. The name may be derived from 'God's Friday' in the same way that good-bye is derived from 'God be with ye'.  As part of complexity of calendar matters ,as with Easter Sunday, Good Friday does not fall on the same date each year. This is because Good Friday is a moveable feast and it is based on a lunar calendar similar to the Hebrew Calendar. Most other American holidays, like the Fourth of July, are based on the regular calendar known as the Gregorian calendar, which is a solar calendar.

Good Friday is one of the most important events in Christianity. It symbolizes the death and later resurrection of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God, and whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity. Good Friday is a day of mourning in church. During special Good Friday services Christians meditate on Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, and what this means for their faith.
The second reason for my response is that there are weightier matters that should engage the church now. It is the fact that forces of darkness are gathered and they have been gathering for years to prevent Good Friday as a national holiday in Canada and America. I discussed details of this in my book ‘Making the church relevant to the society”. They oppose it because it is a Christian holiday. Those who push for it to be retained advocate it should be called just a ‘national holiday’ without bearing to the origin and significance for which we cherish it as Christians. The same people who advocated that Christmas holiday should be called Holiday season are behind it. The same people who advocated that Christmas trees be removed from the public places are behind it. The same people advocating that prayer should not be said in schools, provincial legislative gathering and House of Commons are behind it. The same people who advocated that the Ten Commandments be thrown out are behind it. The time has come for Christians to focus on preserving our heritage rather than this witch-hunting of ourselves and holier than thou attitude, and making ourselves object of ridicule and giving ‘the enemies’ of our faith weapons to destroy us. Let us focus on evangelism (Mark 16). Let us use Good Friday as public holiday to reach to our neighbours with the love of Christ. Let us go back to the tradition of Lent (40 days) when we fast and pray for our nation to come out of economic woes called recession, increasing crime and corruption that is ravaging our leadership and cascading to unprecedented unemployment, poverty and misery of the citizenry. Let us take hold of the power of Christ to be what God has designed us to be on earth, his reflection, extension, ambassadors and his expression.  I just returned from Libya, and one of my beautiful daughters asked me, Daddy are Catholic Christians? I said my answer would have been different if you asked me that question before I went to Libya. In Libya for 45 days I was looking desperately for a church to attend. On my last day in Tripoli I paid heavily to go to ‘any church’ as I insisted I had to attend a church. I was amazed when the only church the taxi  took me to was a catholic church! Friend I rejoiced to attend the Mass in that church!

In conclusion, it is not necessary to know the exact day Jesus died in order to be saved; you just need to believe that He died for your sins. Knowing the day of His death is important, but not essential. Jesus said “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:40). I sincerely believe that is what happened and to God be the glory. He died and arose on the third day. Let us engage in mathematical calculations that lead believers and unbelievers to heaven.