Mark 14
Chuck Smith on Mark 14
Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Verses 1-72
Now, we have followed and traced Jesus in Mark's gospel through Sunday, His triumphant entry. Monday, when He came back to the temple and cleansed it. And Tuesday, when He came back again and fielded these questions, and where the disciples showed Him the building and He said, "Not one stone is going to be left standing up on the other," back to the Mount of Olives Tuesday evening with His disciples, as He sits down there and makes these prophesies and predictions of the end times. Now, "after two days," that would be two days after Tuesday, or Thursday, "was going to be the Feast of the Passover." But the day, as we've told you, begins Act 6:00 the evening before. So, two days after Tuesday in the afternoon, the second day would begin in the evening of Wednesday, that's when the day would begin. And so the Passover was probably held with His disciples on Thursday night; and it was quite likely that Christ was crucified then on Thursday rather than Friday. It is hard to get three days and three nights in the grave with a Friday crucifixion. But crucified on Thursday, buried before the sun went down because they didn't want Him hanging on the cross on the Sabbath Day, and that, being the feast days there's double Sabbath. They quite possibly crucified Him on Thursday instead of the traditional Friday. And that gives you the three days and the three nights. That's only a matter of speculation. Take it or leave it; it doesn't make any difference. But, a lot of people get real hung up on the day. And they get so hung up on the day, and all of these articles and all of these theses on the day, and that's not the important thing. The important thing is that Christ died for us. You know, that's the important thing. And whether it was a Thursday or Friday makes absolutely no difference to your salvation at all. That's why I don't get hassled by those things. So,
After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people ( Mark 14:1-2 ).
