The Truth Behind Good Friday 3-11

Now that we have found out information surrounding the resurrection of Jesus and we have found out how days were counted during this time period, let us see if we can determine when Jesus actually died and was buried as it is told according to the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  As stated earlier, tradition has Jesus’ death and burial occurring on the Friday before his Sunday resurrection.  Let us see what the scriptures have to say.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45).

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas (Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith he

to the disciple, Behold thy mother!  And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home (John 19:25-27).

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?  that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias (Elijah) (Matthew 27:46-47).

The Truth Behind Good Friday 2-11

There has been much discussion and much controversy surrounding what many Christians celebrate as Good Friday.  This has traditionally been the Friday before Easter Sunday that is traditionally used to commemorate the day Jesus was crucified and died at a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull (Matthew 27:33).

According to what was written in the Gospels, the next evening, which was after the Sabbath had ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, went out and purchased some sweet spices that they might anoint the body of Jesus.  It is important to remember that the Sabbath during this time went from Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset.  By keeping this fact in mind, we know that when the scriptures uses the phrase the next evening, which was after the Sabbath, the scriptures are actually referring to Sunday evening, just after sunset.  Now we know that this may become a little confusing, especially trying to keep the days straight in one’s mind using this method of counting, but this was how the days were counted when Jesus rose from the grave.

After examining the first chapter of the first book of Genesis you can see from the very beginning, from the very first day until the sixth day, God determined that each day would begin in the evening, continue through the next morning, and end at the beginning of the next evening.  This is slightly different from how we presently refer to and count a day.  We start at midnight, calling that the morning, and consider that to be the start of the day.  We continue through the evening, considering that to be the end of the day until we get to midnight again, which begins the next day.  You can also see from those passages that God did not name the actually day, just the method by which a day was referred to and counted.

The Truth Behind Good Friday 1-11

This is an eleven part series designed to discover the truth behind one of the most discussed events in the history of religion, the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ.  While we have focused our efforts on what many call and celebrate as Good Friday, our intent is to provide you enough information that it will add to your understanding of the events surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  Please know that this is a slimmed down version of the original text, however we trust that there will be enough information to stimulate your thought processors so that you can think outside of the box of our earthly reality and come to a spiritual understanding of the truth as this story unfolds through the word of God.  By the end of this series, we will have will have explored the resurrection of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus, and many of the points in between, just to discover the truth behind Good Friday.  So grab your Bible and let us begin the journey.

We start with the story of the resurrection of Christ as it is told according to the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Thinking, Who Would Have Thought? – Part Finale

The chances are pretty good that the foundation of your belief system has been adversely affected because it was more than likely built on the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions of others.  And if the foundation of your belief system has been built on the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions of others, then is it possible that all of that knowledge that you have gained over the years from others to have misled you?  And if the foundation of your belief system were based on the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions that you received as a child, then is it possible that all of that knowledge that you have gained over the years to have misguided you?

And if the foundation of your belief system has been built on false premises, then could the conclusions that you draw be false as well.  From the time that you have been able to understand, others have presented thoughts, ideas, and suggestions to you and those thoughts, ideas, and suggestions have been instilled in your mind as absolute truths.  And you have followed these absolute truths your entire life, without question.  And the really sad part is that those who offered you the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, merely passed on what was passed on to them because they were taught the exact same thing in the exact same manner.

But we have found out something since then, since we were first taught, something that was and still is very important.  For us, we found out something since then that has changed our lives.  Believe it or not, we found out the things we had learned were not all that we were taught they were supposed to be.  We found out the knowledge we were given then was not all that we were led to believe it was supposed to be.

Thinking, Who Would Have Thought? – Part E

Do you really think that God can be contained within the same restrictions that have been placed on a thinking process that you have been so conditioned for your entire life?  What about the things of God, do you think they be contained within the same restrictions?  Do you suppose God intended for his word to be limited to these same restrictions?

No, we do not believe that God intended for there to be any limitations placed on our thinking process.  You see, the word of God is multidimensional, forever pregnant, giving birth to more and more revelation each time one seeks to find enlightenment.  For this reason, you cannot be a “convergent thinker” when it comes to understanding the word of God.  You cannot be limited in any way when it comes to God and the things of God.

You have to become a “divergent thinker,” one who can generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions, which will improve your ability to think, build confidence in your ability to reason, and encourage the growth and development of your ability to problem solve.  You have to be able to use “divergent thinking” in order to freely explore in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner the many possible solutions that exist when it comes to the many questions that are generated from studying the word of God.  You have to be able to use “divergent thinking” in order to receive the wisdom that God has told you to get.  You have to be able to use “divergent thinking” in order to receive the understanding that God has told you to get.

Thinking, Who Would Have Thought? – Part D

Here is the interesting part about all of this:  no matter the form of questioning, whether it be in the form of a “standardized multiple-choice format,” or in the form of a “close-ended question,” or in the form of an “open-ended question” with one with a “twist,” or in the form of a “loaded question,” or in the form of a “leading question,” or in the form of a “suggestive question,” we have been so conditioned to give that single answer which does not require any significant level of creativity on our part.  And at the end of the day, the end result is still the same, “convergent thinking.”

From the time we were little wee ones until now, we have been told certain things and we have just accepted them as truth without question.  And from the time we were little wee ones until now, we have been told what to believe and we have believed, without question.  And from the time we were little wee ones until now, we have been told how to believe what we believe and we have believed, without question.  And from the time we were little wee ones until now, you have been told why you should believe what you believe and you have believed.  From the time you were a little wee one until now, you have been conditioned.

You have been conditioned your entire life to give one response, conditioned your entire life to give the correct response, which has not required any significant level of creativity on your part.  You have been conditioned the same way your entire life, to think inside the limits that have been set before you.  You have been conditioned the same way your entire life, to think inside of the restrictions that have been set before you.  You have been conditioned the same way your entire life, so much so that you now put the limits and the restrictions on for yourself.

Thinking, Who Would Have Thought? – Part C

As we previously stated, you have been participating in the “convergent thinking” thought process your entire life.  We also stated that the “convergent thinking” thought process has been a major part of your life for so long that you are more than likely not even aware that you have been a participant in the process.  This thought process also plays a major role in the spiritual aspects of your life, especially when it comes to your religious studying.

There are a multitude of religious educational study materials available for use and all of the ones that we are aware of are designed to incorporate the “convergent thinking” thought process.  These religious educational study materials normally use questions or incomplete statements to get individuals to focus on a single correct answer.

Like the item writers for the standardized multiple-choice format, the questions and incomplete statements written for the religious educational study materials can be subjective in nature, poor in quality, and very ineffective as a teaching tool depending on the writers themselves, their religious training, their religious beliefs, their interpretation of the scriptures, their personal feelings about the scriptures, and their personal agenda, just to name a few.