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gathered together to Pilate...Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb."

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.

If we examine John's gospel we will, once again, see EXACTLY the same time sequence.
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 Mag-
dalene came to the tomb early...and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb" (verses
19:31; 20:1).

There is no surprise here -- we find the EXACT same sequence of events: (1) it was the
Preparation Day (Nisan 14); (2) On the Sabbath (Nisan 15) and (3) on the first day of the week
(Nisan 16).

The days of the crucifixion, entombment and resurrection are given in CLEAR sequence
and with considerable CLARITY in all four gospels as Preparation Day, Sabbath and the first day
of the week. There is, as we have already stated, ABSOLUTELY NO ROOM for two full days to
intervene between the crucifixion and the resurrection without violating the scriptures by adding or
reading into these verses something that is simply not there.

Two Sabbaths?

Some among the Churches of God wish to make room for intervening days by claiming
there were TWO SABBATHS between the Wednesday crucifixion and Saturday afternoon resur-
rection. According to their theory the first Sabbath of this period was the first high or holy day of
Passover -- which fell on the Thursday; and the second was a weekly Sabbath which fell on the
regular Saturday of the week. To support this theory the adherents point to the fact that the Sabbath
in Matthew 28:1 is in the PLURAL form and literally reads "at the end of the Sabbaths." This text
is viewed by many as "a vital text" that supposedly "proves that there were TWO Sabbaths that
week with a day in between." The first Sabbath (Thursday by their reckoning) allegedly was "the
annual high-day Sabbath of the Days of Unleavened Bread" while the second was "the weekly
Sabbath, Saturday."

Herbert Armstrong addresses this question in his booklet The Resurrection Was Not on
Sunday --

Turn to Matthew 28:1. In the common versions it says, "In the end of the Sabbath," or
more correctly, "after the Sabbath." Notice that both of these renderings use the singular
-- Sabbath. But in the original Greek the word is in the plural. Fenton renders it correctly
by saying, "After the SABBATHS," although the remaining part of the verse he has not
translated quite correctly. In a footnote to this text, he says, "The Greek original is in the
plural, 'Sabbaths'" (p. 13).

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