Three Days and Three Nights
Was Jesus Crucified on Friday?
John Hoole – May 9, 2010
(Click on charts, graphs, and photos for larger version)
When was Jesus Crucified? Was it on Friday, as has been observed by most of Christianity through the centuries? Or did it occur on Thursday, or even Wednesday? Some of the strongest and most controversial opinions have been focused on what Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 12:40.
Matthew 12:40 NKJV
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Interestingly enough, the chief issue has nothing at all to do with the often challenged fact that a man was in the belly of a large sea creature that long. But, rather, how does one account for the phrase, “three days and three nights?” And, additionally, how does one related that to the time Jesus spend in the tomb?
Over the past several weeks, I have read literally dozens of articles and books on this controversy. The most heated words come from those who believe Jesus died on Wednesday. I have one article that says, Good Friday is a Myth. Another says, Good Friday is a Hoax. Those are pretty strong words. There are even some TV speakers, whom I respect, that agree with Wednesday as the correct day. But I don’t always agree with those I hold in high esteem.
Before going further, let’s read the entire portion of Matthew 12 which affects this topic, so we know the context and setting.
Matthew 12:38-40 NKJV
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Let’s also read Luke’s account of this.
Luke 11:29-30 NKJV
29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
The passage in Matthew is the only one that gives the detail concerning “three days and three nights.” But the fact that Luke doesn’t mention that detail doesn’t diminish what Matthew wrote.
This statement of Jesus is significant in more ways than one. In the first place, Jesus is positively affirming that the Old Testament story of Jonah actually did take place as the Scriptures record it. But more than that, the event constituted a sign of Christ’s own death, burial and resurrection. Jesus spoke about Jonah a couple of other times, each with reference as being a sign to the Jews. In Matthew 16:4, Jesus tells the religious leaders He would produce no other sign for them.
Many have questioned the accuracy of Jesus’ statement that “just as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” So, how does one come up with Friday to Sunday as including three days and nights?
I personally believe that it is a vocal minority who make an issue out of this statement by Jesus. Those who insist the crucifixion took place on Wednesday, almost to a person, take the position that Jesus was saying He would be in the grave either exactly 72 hours or a minimum of 72 hours. And, in their opinion, His statement about Jonah corroborates that opinion.
So, the question is, “Does this interpretation harmonize with the full Bible record on the subject?” Does the Wednesday view fit other inspired accounts of the time element involved? Or could any of the other views agree with the scriptural account? And is there information given in the Word of God which will make it clear exactly how “three days and three nights” are to be understood?
Today I want to take you through most of the Scriptures surrounding the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I think it might help us understand this most important event.
TO BEGIN WITH, AT WHAT TIME DOES THE BIBLE SAY JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS?
Matthew 27:45-46, 50 NKJV
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Allow me to insert a comment before looking at Mark’s record of Christ’s comments and death. Flavius Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, makes this statement among his writings: “So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast, which is called Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh,…” Jesus died at the normal time for killing the Passover lamb.
Mark 15:34, 37 NKJV
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
The Scriptures tell us that the Messiah died sometime around the 9th hour of the day. That is the 9th hour after the sunrise – which is about 3 O’clock in the afternoon. Also bear in mind that Jesus would have been buried before sundown. They were in a hurry to bury Jesus because the Sabbath would begin at sundown.
Let me show you a chart that shows what we are talking about. Our American day runs from Midnight to Midnight. But the Jewish Day – in both biblical times and now, runs from sunset to sunset (Approximately from 6pm to 6pm.) In our study today, the first day was the Passover, called a Day of Preparation for the Sabbath. The following day was the 1st Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Luke 23:54 NKJV
54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.
The day on which Jesus was crucified was a day of preparation for the coming Sabbath.
The verses preceding this one, in Luke 23, tell how Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus so he could bury the body of Jesus in his own tomb before sunset.
The Jews take their instruction about daily time from the account of creation in the Book of Genesis.
Genesis 1:5 NKJV
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
So one day is made up of evening and morning. For most of us today, our days start in the morning and end in the evening. But not true for the Jewish people. Moses writes in the book of Leviticus concerning observation of a Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:32 NKJV
32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, … from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath."
Anchor Point #1
Thus far we have established one fact. Let me call it Anchor point #1.
Jesus died at 3 in the afternoon and was buried on the preparation day prior to sunset.
The question now before us is this: Exactly what Sabbath Day is in view here?
Luke 23:52-24:1 NKJV
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.
54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.
55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Notice what day verses 52 to 54 are speaking of. This was not only the Day of Passover – the 14th day of Nissan, but it is called a “day of Preparation.” There is always a day of preparation preceding the 7th-day Sabbath (Shabbath).
Those who teach that the crucifixion took place on Wednesday believe this is not a day of preparation prior to the 7th-day Sabbath, but preparation for a “special Sabbath,” not occurring on the 7th day.
Indeed, the Jews did have other annual Sabbaths. Some that are celebrated today have no origin in the Old Testament, such as Hanukah, Shuvah, and Shekelim. These have been added by the Jews down through their history to commemorate an historical event.
But the Jews do have other special Sabbaths commanded by God. These are Sabbaths separate from the weekly 7th-day Sabbaths. Primary examples of these are some of the 7 annual holy days: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles.
Let me make a few observation from Scripture concerning these annual holy days. The first 4 of these holy days are never said, in the Bible, to include a Sabbath that is not the 7th-day. They are referred to in the Old Testament as “days of holy convocation” or “sacred assemblies.” But, according to Leviticus 23:3, the 7th-day Sabbath is also called a “holy convocation.” Five of the annual holy days (not including Passover & First Fruits) are to be observed without any work. And in that regard they are similar to 7th – day Sabbaths.
But, even though Jews regard the first and last days of the Feasts of Unleavened Bread as a Sabbath, they are not called as such in either the Old or New Testaments. This observation of mine doesn’t provide absolute proof that the Sabbath mentioned in Matthew and Luke is a 7th-day Sabbath. But it certainly gives one pause before demanding it be a special Sabbath not on the 7th day.
Those who propose the crucifixion be on Wednesday or Thursday require a special Sabbath, one which did not occur on the 7th-day of the week. In the Passage about the crucifixion, the special Sabbath, if there was one, would have been the first day of the 7-day long Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The reason I mention that this holy day was never referred to in the Bible as being a Sabbath, is because we read in Luke 23:56, that this Sabbath was to be observed according to the commandment of God. But, in the commandments of God on the observation of this Feast, it is never referred to as a Sabbath in the Bible.
Those who believe Wednesday was the day of the crucifixion, make the statement, “Those who proposed Friday as the day, did so because the Scriptures say the next day was a Sabbath, but they did not take into consideration there were other special Sabbaths which could be at play here.” But, in my investigation, I found none holding the traditional view that make that part of their analysis. Those who believe the crucifixion occurred on Friday believed that in this year, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred on a 7th-day Sabbath.
Another observation is found in the passage we read in Luke 23. It mentions the Sabbath twice – Verses 54 & 56. My question to you – “Doesn’t it make sense that they are referring to the same day?” Let’s read the account again, and also read the apostle Mark’s account of the same.
Luke 23:54-24:1 NKJV
54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.
55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Doesn’t it make sense that the two references to the Sabbath are referring to the same day? If you accept that proposition, then the Sabbath being referred to here must be the 7th-day Sabbath, because the very next day is the “first day of the week.”
The account by Mark is nearly identical.
Mark 15:42-16:2 NKJV
42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
16:1 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Again, it seems logical that both references to the Sabbath are 7th-day Sabbaths, which is followed by “the first day of the week.”
Anchor Point #2
The day after the crucifixion was a 7th-day Sabbath.
And it is here that those who disagree will object strongly. How can you put three days and three night into this scenario.
Now here is the logic some will give for a Wednesday crucifixion. One cannot get three days and three night from “Good Friday” to Easter Sunday.” Friday and Saturday nights are two night, and Saturday is one complete day. That means we only have one day and two nights – what about the other two days and one night? Friday can’t possible be the day Jesus died.
This is the result of trying to use literal western thinking and applying it to the biblical text. Such thinking, at least by those who believe Wednesday is the day of crucifixion, state very emphatically that there should be a full 72 hours between crucifixion and resurrection. But I don’t think that is the intent of the Passages. Let’s look closely at what the Gospels say about the matter.
Matthew 16:21 NKJV
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
Matthew 17:23 NIV
23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.
Matthew 20:19 NKJV
19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.
Mark 9:31 NKJV
31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."
Mark 10:34 NKJV
34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."
Luke 9:22 NKJV
22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
Luke 18:33 NKJV
33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."
Luke 24:6-7 NKJV
6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'
Luke 24:21-23 NKJV
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
23 When they did not find His body,
Luke 24:46 NKJV (Christ Speaking)
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,”
I hope you are beginning to see a strong pattern here. Now let’s look outside the Gospels.
Acts 10:38-40 NKJV (Peter speaking to Cornelius and his family)
38 …God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.
40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
The most frequent reference to Jesus’ resurrection reveals that He arose from the grave on the third day. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus Himself prophesying that He would rise from the grave on this day.
Anchor Point #3
Jesus was resurrected ON the third day after His death and burial.
Some might say, “If that is true, we have a conflict or contradiction in the biblical record.” But is that really true? Let’s consider other Scriptures dealing with the Resurrection.
Matthew 12:40 NKJV
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 27:62-63 NKJV
62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate,
63 saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'
Mark 8:31 NKJV
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
John 2:19-21 NKJV
19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Those who do not accept Friday as the day of crucifixion, appeal to these verses, which, some of them believe, indicates that Christ had to be in the grave a full 72 hours. How can this be reconciled with traditional chronology? If you believe, as I do, that the Bible does not contradict itself, then these verses MUST harmonize with all the previous Scriptures we read.
This might sound terribly confusing. It need not be, if we let the Bible explain itself. Especially so, we must let Christ provide definitions for the words which He spoke. It would be an enormous mistake if we seized any one of these expressions, and used it to force our strict compliance, without taking into account the other 15 verses on the subject.
Is it possible for all these texts to be explained so that they will not contradict each other? If they cannot be harmonized, then Jesus Himself was guilty of compounding the confusions, because He used all of the expressions at different times in speaking about his death and resurrection.
While through the eyes of the 21st century reader these statements may appear at first glance to contradict one another, in reality they harmonize perfectly if one understands the methods ancients used to reckon time. The only way to harmonize all these statements of Jesus and others is to understand them in the light of the Jewish inclusive reckoning of time. This was the method used throughout the Bible in computing time durations, and we must apply the same method for our understanding today. It is unreasonable to insist that a 20th-century English idiom of speech be used to interpret Greek or Hebrew, which has led to some extreme views.
Before we turn to the Bible for confirmation of this “inclusive” principle, let me read an authoritative statement of the Jewish Encyclopedia on the matter.
“A short time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though, of the first day only a few minutes after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day.”
A small part of a day was reckoned as the entire twenty-four hour period. It is the Hebrew form of speech and language. Scores of contradictions would appear in both Old and New Testaments if this principle is ignored. We must compare Scripture with Scripture and use the idioms of the language in which the Bible was written. As we will see, “inclusive reckoning” was taken for granted by all writers of Scriptures. So let us now look at the Scriptures.
2 Chronicles 10:4-5 (NKJV) reflects a time shortly after the death of King Solomon – Rehoboam was king.
4 "Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 So he said to them, "Come back to me after three days." And the people departed.
When the Israelites asked King Rehoboam to lighten their burdens, he asked for time to contemplate their request. So he instructed Jeroboam and the people of Israel to return “after three days.” Let’s see when they returned.
2 Chronicles 10:12 NKJV
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day."
This passage shows that “the third day” is the same as “after three days.” For us, with this being Sunday, if we said “come back after three days, according to our way of reckoning, we would return on Wednesday. But the Jew would return on Tuesday, because Sunday is day number one.
Like the individual Gospels that record many of the same events in the life of Christ, this is also true in much of the writings in the Chronicles and Kings in the Old Testament. This request of King Rehoboam is also found in 1 Kings 12. But in the first part, a slightly different phase is used.
1 Kings 12:4-5 NKJV
4 "Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.
This passage reads, “Depart for three days,” while the account in 2 Chronicles is, “Return after three days.”
1 Kings 12:12 (NKJV) is very similar to the Chronicles account.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day."
In any case, “coming back after three day” is the same as “on the third day.” The people knew that when the king said come back “after three days,” he meant for them to return ON the third day. That was a common understanding in the biblical record.
We find a similar occurrence in the life of queen Esther. When Queen Esther was about to risk her life by going before the king uninvited, she instructed her fellow Jews to follow her example by not eating for three days.
Esther 4:16-17 NKJV
16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"
17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.
Notice the added phrase to the “three days.” She requests the people to fast “for three days, night or day.” She asks them to do exactly what she and her maids were going to do, fast three days, night & day. This she was going to do before approaching the king uninvited.
So, when did she go before the king.
Esther 5:1 NIV
5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall.
“Three day, night or day” is synonymous with “on the third day.”
Let’s move to a similar example in the New Testament. Although Christ was harassed by the Pharisees and Scribe on many occasions, there were some Pharisees who supported Jesus. In Luke 13, we find Jesus and his disciples, plus other followers walking into Jerusalem. Some of the friendly Pharisees see him and give him a warning.
Luke 13:31-33 NKJV
31 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."
32 And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'
33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
Notice that the “third day” means the day after tomorrow.
Now keep this comparison in mind – the “third day” means the same as the “day after tomorrow.” Most of you will remember the biblical story in Luke 24, which tells of the two men on the road to Emmaus. Jesus actually comes alongside them, but they do not recognize Him. He wanted to know what had happened to cause their downcast faces (Luke 24:17). They began to tell them what had happened to their leader, Jesus.
Luke 24:20-23 NIV
20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning
23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.
As we learned a moment ago, the “third day” is the same as the “day after tomorrow.” That is precisely what Sunday is to Friday.
Let’s look at one more example, though there are many others. Take a look at two gospels recording the same event.
Mark 8:31 NKJV
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Jesus is said to say that after three days, He will rise again. Now let us read Matthew’s account of this same statement by Jesus.
Matthew 16:21 NKJV
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
It should be obvious that the phrase, “after three days,” has the same meaning as “the third day.”
There are other examples, but I think these help us in the understanding of this topic. One clearly can see that the Bible uses expressions like “three days,” “the third day,” “on the third day,” “after three days,” “day after tomorrow,” and “three days and three nights,” to signify the same period of time.
This means that any part of a day is considered to include the entire 24-hour day. Let’s consider a couple other writings. The TALMUD is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, and history. There are two primary records comprising most of the Talmud. They are the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud doesn’t mean that Babylonians wrote it. Rather, it was written by Jewish rabbis while in exile in Babylon.
The Babylonian Talmud states: “The portion of a day is as the whole of it.” The Jerusalem Talmud has recorded: “We have a teaching; a day and a night are an Onah and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.” An Onah simply means, “a period of time.”
Anchor Point #4
Jesus was resurrected on the “day after tomorrow,” not after 72 literal hours.
The picture should be fairly clear. Jesus Himself used these various expressions to mean the same thing. There is no reason for taking the phrase, “three days and three nights” to means exactly 72 hours. If we look at the account of the death and resurrection of Christ in light of the cultural setting of the first century, and not according to the present-day understanding of skeptics, we find no errors in all of the expressions that Jesus and the Gospel writers used.