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Looking at the time sequence we find (1) when evening had come [of the Preparation Day]
(Nisan 14); (2) on the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation (the Sabbath -- Nisan 15);
and (3) now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn (Nisan 16). Here we see
the SAME time sequence of three days.

Moving to Luke's account we read: "And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council
member...This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus...That day was the Preparation
Day, and the Sabbath drew near...And they rested on the Sabbath according to the command-
ment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they...came to the
tomb...they found the stone rolled away from the tomb" (23:50, 52, 54, 56; 24:1-2).

Once again, we find exactly the same sequence of events (1) that day was the the Prepara-
tion Day (Nisan 14); (2) they rested on the Sabbath (Nisan 15) and (3) the first day of the week
(Nisan 16).

Finally, if all goes according to plan, John's gospel should reveal exactly the same se-
quence of events. Notice! "Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should
not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)...On the first day of
the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early...and saw that the stone had been taken away
from the tomb" (verses 19:31; 20:1).

No surprise here -- we find the EXACT same time sequence: (1) it was the Preparation
Day (Nisan 14); (2) 0n the Sabbath (Nisan 15) and (3) on the first day of the week (Nisan 16).

The days of the crucufixion, entombment and resurrection are given in CLEAR sequence
and with considerable CLARITY in the four gospels as Preparation Day, Sabbath and the first day
of the week.

Mark, who wrote for a Gentile audience generally unfamiliar with Jewish terminology, ex-
plains with utmost clarity that Christ was crucified on "the Day of Preparation, that is, the day be-
fore the Sabbath" (Mark 15:42). The term "preparation" (paraskeue) and "Sabbath-eve"
(pro-sabbaton) are two technical terms used unmistakably to designate the day before the weekly
Sabbath -- Nisan 14.

Mark, then, is most PRECISE in explaining that the death of Christ took place on what the
Jews call the Preparation Day -- Nisan 14. The next day is designated by Mark as "sabbath" (Mark
16:1) which in turn is followed by the "first day of the week" (Mark 16:2). Mark's chronological
sequence leaves absolutely no room for a two-day interval between the crucifixion and the
resurrection.

In a similar vein, Luke makes it very clear that the day of Christ's death was followed, not
by a day or two, but by a weekly Sabbath. He writes: "It was the day of Preparation, and the sab-
bath was beginning" (Luke 23:54). By linking the beginning of the Sabbath to the end of the Day of
Preparation, and the beginning of the "first day of the week" (Luke 24:1) to the termination of the
Sabbath (Luke 23:56), Luke leaves ABSOLUTE Y NO ROOM for two full days to intervene be-
tween the crucifixion and the resurrection.
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