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(Luke 4:16, New King James Version). If you check the Greek for this verse you will find the
word "Sabbath" is in the PLURAL once again -- indicating a DOUBLE SABBATH, i.e. weekly
Sabbath and a festival high day. Here's the literal translation from the Greek: "And he came into
Nazareth, where he was having been reared, and he went in according to the custom to him IN
THE DAY OF THE SABBATHS into the synagogue, and he stood up to read" (The Kingdom In-
terlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures).

Some people have tried to say that this was Pentecost (Feast of "Weeks") but the time
frame is all wrong. Not only that, but in other parts of the New Testament the word "Pentecost" is
used for this day -- see Acts 2:1, 20:16 and I Corinthians 16:8. Since this incident is right after the
40 days in the desert (this is where the idea of the 40 days of Lent comes from) this particular
weekly Sabbath is the first high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, Nisan 15. The very
passage Christ read from Isaiah 49 indicates it was the Passover season.

Within a matter of days Christ went down to Capernaum where, once again as His custom
was, He entered the local synagogue and began to teach: "And they went their way into Caper-
naum. No sooner was it the Sabbath than he entered into the synagogue and began to teach" (ibid.).
Again, the original Greek shows the word "Sabbath" to be in the PLURAL, indicating another dou-
ble Sabbath. Note the literal translation from the Greek: "And they are entering into Capernaum.
And at once to the SABBATHS having entered into the synagogue he was teaching" (ibid.). This
evidently took place on the last high day of the Passover season -- Nisan 22 -- another double Sab-
bath, showing again that the Jews of Christ's day were keeping the weekly Sabbaths according to
the lunar calendar or reckoning.

The next mention of a Sabbath in the book of Luke comes at Luke 6:1. Here the word "Sab-
bath" is in the SINGULAR, indicating a regular weekly Sabbath.

The Year of Christ's Death

When you study the verses in the four gospels that deal with Christ's crucifixion, it be-
comes very clear that the time frame covers only one day and two parts of a day. Notice: "Now
when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sab-
bath, Joseph of Arimathea...asked for the body of Jesus...Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint
Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the
sun had risen" (Mark 15:42; 16:1-2. New King James Version).

We have here (1) the Preparation Day -- the day in which Christ was put to death (Nisan
14); (2) the weekly Sabbath (Nisan 15) and (3) the first day of the week (Nisan 16). That appears
to be straightforward.

Now look at Matthew 27:57, 62 and 28:1: "Now when evening [of the Preparation Day]
had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea...Pilate commanded the body to be given to
him...On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
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."
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