Good Friday

On the day Jesus was crucified, darkness covered the land for hours—symbolic of the dark deed committed

against Christ. Christians believe the darkness was a miracle, fulfilling a prophecy. Non-believers and the scientific world believe an eclipse is responsible for the darkness. But why can't it be both?

God doesn't perform magic. He uses the science and laws of physics he created to perform miracles. Otherwise, it would be an almost unbelievable coincidence that an eclipse just happened to occur on the day Jesus was crucified, thus fulfilling a prophecy.

God created science and He can manipulate it. And scientist and astronomers can use science to help solve biblical mysteries.

If the crucifixion eclipse was either, a solar or a lunar eclipse, then based on details of the gospel, the Crucifixion of Jesus occurred on  a Friday. "There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand." KJV: John 19:42.

Two different groups estimate the year of the Crucifixion as AD 33,  although, Sir Isaac Newton—a scientist—estimated the date to be  AD 34 based on the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars and the crescent of the moon. Using an astronomical approach based on a lunar eclipse model consistent with Apostle Peter: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come" KJV Acts 2:20, then, Friday, April 3, AD 33 is the date of the Crucifixion.

Give or take a year in either direction, Christ died around the age of 33 on a Friday—a day Christians call Good Friday to commemorate His sacrifice. Good Friday precedes Easter Sunday, the day Christians commemorate His resurrection and God's promise of eternal life. Good Friday is observed during Holy Week and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover.

Passover commemorates the liberation of Jewish slaves in ancient Egypt and their birth as a nation under Moses's leadership. The book of Exodus tells how God helped the Children of Israel escape from slavery by inflicting ten plagues on Egypt, which forced the Pharaoh to release them. The tenth plague was the death of the first-born.

So that the plague would pass over Jewish homes, the Israelites were instructed to mark their doorframes with the blood of a slaughtered lamb. No firstborn in any home with this mark died. Today, the event is celebrated on Passover.

Although it's traditionally a Jewish holiday, Christians remember this day as well as Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter—all dates of significance during Holy Week.  And Easter is celebrated each year in the spring.

An explanation as to why we celebrate Easter on different days each year can be found on a previous blog post. http://lillygayleromance.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-is-easter-again.html

A Secret Revealed

Embrace the Darkness, my paranormal romantic suspense and the sequel to Out of the Darkness is now available exclusively on Amazon until June 21, when the book will officially be released in both print and digital formats to ALL on-line retailers, including Barnes & Noble and my publisher, The Wild Rose Press.
In the meantime, I hope to offer excerpts from the book to entice readers into ordering it. Each of these excerpts (see previous two posts) include lines I borrowed from people I know in real life.

Today's "quote from real people" comes from friend, co-worker, and summertime beach buddy, Jennifer. Jennifer's "catch phrase" is the bold print in the excerpt below.

Set up: The heroine is ex-soldier turned detective Amber Buckley. She and her partner are investigating the Lifeblood of America murders. Two employees of the blood and tissue bank turned research facility were brutally murdered and another employee is missing. During the course of the investigation, Amber meets Gerard Delaroche, assistant CEO of the company--a vampire posing as a mortal with a light sensitivity disorder so he can more easily pass as human.

In this excerpt, Amber has already learned Gerard's dark secret and she's soon going to discover some hidden secrets in her own past when she meets a vampire, Nicolas, who's either protecting her or stalking her. But which is it?

Excerpt:

Her pulse quickened. “That’s how Timmons found
out. Isn’t it?”

“He wasn’t a colonel then,” Nicolas said, “but it
was the beginning of his obsession with vampires.”

Gerard had been kidnapped because of her mother.
She’d started this chain of events when she ignited
Timmons’ compulsion to create the perfect soldier. And
a vampire killed her to stop her from telling anyone
else. So much tragedy because her mother tried to do the right thing.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Lines from Folks I Know

As part of my short promo posts for Embrace the Darkness, I'd like to add another line used by one of my characters taken directly from someone I know in "real" life.

Set up: Amber Buckley and her partner, Reid are investigating the Lifeblood of America murders. Reid thinks he has a lead, but Amber fears there's something darker and more sinister behind the brutal murders.

 Reid was on a roll. She could see the
excitement in his eyes—hear the exhilaration in his
voice. He was vibrating with it. If she didn’t say or do
something to slow him down, he’d leap before seeing
where the evidence led.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not going to espouse
my theories to Captain Stratford or anyone else. I don’t
want this case going to the Feds or to narcotics. This is
our baby and we’re going to rock it.”
The knot in her stomach tightened. This case was
going to end badly. She sensed it as surely as she’d
sensed impending disaster in Iraq.


I hope you enjoyed this brief excerpt from Embrace the Darkness, my paranormal romantic suspense available now on Amazon.  This line was brought to you by GMC imaging co-worker and friend, Selena. Thanks, Selena!