<\/p>\n
One inconsistency that people claim to find in the Gospels is how long Jesus was buried. Because the New Testament claims to record historical events, we should be able to place events in time and space. The crucifixion happened in Jerusalem at Golgotha, but when <\/em>did it happen, and how long was the time between Jesus\u2019 crucifixion, burial, and resurrection?<\/p>\n The Bible is clear that Jesus was raised on the first day of the week, which we call Sunday. That\u2019s why from the very earliest existence of the church, Christians have met for worship on Sunday, the Lord\u2019s day.1 The Bible is also clear that before he died, Jesus<\/span> ate the Passover with his disciples and transformed it into the Lord\u2019s supper. So the events of Jesus<\/span>\u2019 arrest and death had to happen between the Passover and that Sunday.<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s look at all the passages that have anything to say about how much time would pass between Jesus<\/span>\u2019 death and resurrection, since the Bible<\/span> is our authority as well as our best historical record for these events.<\/p>\n For just 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 <\/strong>in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40)<\/p>\n From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day<\/strong> be raised. (Matthew 16:21)<\/p>\n And they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day<\/strong>. (Matthew 17:23)<\/p>\n And [they will] deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day<\/strong>. (Matthew 20:19)<\/p>\n Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, \u201cAfter three days<\/strong> I will rise.\u201d Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day<\/strong>, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, \u201cHe has risen from the dead,\u201d and the last fraud will be worse than the first. (Matthew 27:63\u201364)<\/p>\n And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days<\/strong> rise again. (Mark 8:31)<\/p>\n For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, \u201cThe Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days<\/strong> he will rise.\u201d (Mark 9:31)<\/p>\n And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days<\/strong> he will rise. (Mark 10:34)<\/p>\n The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day<\/strong> be raised. (Luke 9:22)<\/p>\n And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day<\/strong> he will rise. (Luke 18:33)<\/p>\n But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day<\/strong> since these things happened. (Luke 24:21)<\/p>\n And [he] said to them, \u201cThus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day<\/strong> rise from the dead.\u201d (Luke 24:46)<\/p>\n God raised him on the third day<\/strong> and made him to appear. (Acts 10:40)<\/p>\n Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day<\/strong> in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3\u20134)<\/p>\n We see that the majority of the time, Jesus is said to be raised on the third day<\/em>. But Matthew 12:40 says that Jesus would spend \u201cthree days and three nights\u201d in the tomb. Mark 8:31 says \u201cafter three days,\u201d but the context of Matthew 27:63\u201364 makes it clear that Mark means \u201cafter three days\u201d to be synonymous with third day<\/em>.<\/p>\n But \u201cthe third day\u201d after what? The arrest and scourging happened Thursday night (Friday according to Jewish reckoning), and if the clock started with the rejection and handing over to the Gentiles, not <\/em>with the crucifixion and burial, then three nights actually passed with Jesus<\/span> rising on the third day. Most of the statements of what would happen include the earlier events like the rejection, mocking, scourging, and betrayal. These are things that happened on Thursday night (Friday).<\/p>\n All Christians agree that Jesus<\/span> rose on Sunday and that he was in the tomb on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday are not candidates for the crucifixion day because they don\u2019t fit with \u201cthird day\u201d or \u201cthree days and three nights.\u201d Some people argue for a Wednesday crucifixion to strictly adhere to \u201cthree days and three nights,\u201d but that results in Jesus<\/span> being entombed longer than necessary, and Sunday is the fourth or fifth day after Wednesday (depending on whether Wednesday is Day 0 or Day 1), not the third.<\/p>\n So by process of elimination, we arrive at two possible days Jesus<\/span> could have been crucified: Thursday and Friday. The vast majority of Christians, including all the church fathers, say that Jesus<\/span> was crucified on Friday, which is why most churches<\/span> celebrate Good Friday. However, some Christians argue that there is no way for Jesus<\/span> to be in the ground for \u201cthree days and three nights\u201d if he was crucified on Friday, so they say Jesus<\/span> was crucified on Thursday. And skeptics say there is no way to reconcile \u201cthird day\u201d with \u201cafter the third day\u201d and \u201cthree days and three nights.\u201d Are they correct?<\/p>\n One piece of evidence we need to consider is the day of Preparation. That is the common first-century Jewish way of saying \u201cFriday\u201d because they prepared for the Sabbath on that day. A number of verses place the day of Preparation in relation to the events of Jesus<\/span>\u2019 crucifixion and burial.<\/p>\n The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate. (Matthew 27:62)<\/p>\n On the day after the crucifixion, the Jewish leaders appealed to Pilate to secure the tomb. The day after the Preparation would be the Sabbath. So the plain meaning of the passage is that after Jesus was crucified on Friday, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate on Saturday.2 Some people ask, if it was the Sabbath, why wouldn\u2019t Matthew just say \u201cthe Sabbath\u201d? As one theologian notes, it is possible that he used this wording because \u201cthis was not an ordinary sabbath but also the day of the Passover meal, Nisan 15. In this year, therefore, Friday was the day of preparation not only for the sabbath but also for the chief day of the festival, so that the phrase \u2018the Preparation\u2019 does double duty.\u201d3<\/p>\n Ironically, given the nature of the debate, Matthew might have used this phrasing to be clear about the day on which these events took place! As Carson says, \u201cThis may be a way to avoid using the word \u2018Sabbath,\u2019 which can be ambiguous during a feast, since it could refer to the last day of the week or to a feast\u2014Sabbath.\u201d4<\/p>\n Also, saying \u201cafter the Preparation\u201d contrasts the Jewish leaders\u2019 actions with the followers of Jesus, who had gone to great lengths to care for Jesus\u2019 body before the Sabbath so they could properly observe the Sabbath. To this point, Nolland writes, \u201cIs Matthew quietly saying that, unlike Joseph, the chief priests and the Pharisees here had failed to do the preparing they deemed necessary and are here found doing it on the sabbath, in violation of at least its spirit and probably, in their own best lights, also its letter?\u201d5<\/p>\n When evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath .\u00a0.\u00a0. (Mark 15:42)<\/p>\n Mark emphasizes the urgency of caring for Jesus\u2019 body because of the approaching Sabbath. Evening was just before sunset, which would mark the onset of the Sabbath.6 Mark, like Matthew, says that the day of Preparation comes before the Sabbath, providing further evidence of a Friday crucifixion.7 People who believe the crucifixion took place on Thursday say that evening<\/em> refers to after nightfall, and \u201cthe day of Preparation\u201d had commenced (i.e., it was Thursday night, which was the beginning of Friday, the day of Preparation). However, if a day had commenced on which no work was allowed, it would have been too late for the burial, and if work was allowed on that day, it would not be urgent, as they could work into the night or the next day to bury Jesus<\/span>.<\/p>\n It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. (Luke 23:54)<\/p>\n Luke is even clearer that Jesus<\/span>\u2019 burial took place on the day of Preparation when the Sabbath was beginning. Jesus<\/span>\u2019 body was taken down from the cross, wrapped in a linen cloth, and placed in the new tomb. The women observed where he was buried and prepared spices and perfume to anoint the body, but they were unable to carry it out before the Sabbath began. They rested on the Sabbath and returned at the earliest acceptable and practical moment, just after dawn on Sunday.<\/p>\n Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. (John 19:14)<\/p>\n John places Jesus<\/span>\u2019 trial, which was just before his crucifixion, on the day of Preparation of the Passover. People who believe Jesus<\/span> was crucified on Friday would say this is simply a way of saying Friday of Passover week. People who believe Jesus<\/span> was crucified on Thursday would say that \u201cthe day of Preparation of the Passover\u201d means \u201cPassover Eve,\u201d the day people would prepare for the Passover. There is no evidence of \u201cthe day of Preparation\u201d being unambiguously used in that way, however, and the plain meaning is that these events took place on Friday, which was the day of Preparation of Passover week.<\/p>\n This is a perfectly acceptable rendering, since \u201cPassover\u201d can refer to the Passover meal, the day of the Passover meal, or (as in this case) the entire Passover week.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. In this view, John and the Synoptics agree that the last supper was eaten on Thursday evening (i.e.<\/em> the onset of Friday, by Jewish reckoning), and was a Passover meal.8<\/p>\n A Thursday crucifixion position requires that the Last Supper was not<\/em> Passover, and John\u2019s wording is the most favorable to this position. However, the Synoptics portray the Last Supper as Passover, meaning that reading \u201cday of Preparation for the Passover\u201d here introduces a contradiction in the text that is unnecessary.9<\/p>\n Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. (John 19:31)<\/p>\n So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:42)<\/p>\n Again, John brings up the timing of the crucifixion to explain why the legs of the two criminals were broken to speed up their death\u2014so they could be buried before the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath was a high day. They wanted everyone buried before the onset of the Sabbath, when the very important sheaf offering would be offered.10 Jesus<\/span> was already dead, so his bones were not broken, and he was laid in the tomb before the onset of the Sabbath.<\/p>\n Almost immediately after the close of the New Testament canon, we have preserved writings from the earliest Christians talking about when they believed Jesus<\/span> was crucified. They unanimously say that he was crucified on Friday. The church<\/span> fathers are not infallible, and they can be wrong. However, when their testimony unanimously agrees, we should give that some weight, even if we don\u2019t automatically accept it.<\/p>\n Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote around AD 100, less than a decade after the New Testament canon closed with the death of John, the last apostle:<\/p>\n On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried. During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathaea had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord\u2019s day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, \u201cAs Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale\u2019s belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.\u201d The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord\u2019s Day contains the resurrection.11<\/p>\n Justin Martyr wrote in the first half of the second century:<\/p>\n But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.12<\/p>\n Irenaeus, in the late second or early third century, connected Jesus<\/span>\u2019 death on the sixth day with a traditional belief that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on the sixth day of the week:<\/p>\n The Lord, therefore, recapitulating in Himself this day, underwent his sufferings on upon the day preceding the Sabbath, that is, the sixth day of the creation, on which day man was creation; thus granting him a second creation my means of His passion, which is that [creation] out of death.13<\/p>\n Augustine, at the end of the fourth century, uses the events of the passion week to explain why Christians fasted on the fourth and sixth days of the week (Wednesday and Friday):<\/p>\n The reason why the Church prefers to appoint the fourth and sixth days of the week for fasting, is found by considering the gospel narrative. There we find that on the fourth day of the week the Jews took counsel to put the Lord to death. One day having intervened\u2014on the evening of which, at the close, namely the day which we call the fifth day of the week, the Lord ate the Passover with His disciples\u2014He was thereafter betrayed on the night which belonged to the sixth day of the week, the day (as is everywhere known) of His passion.14<\/p>\n If there are two possible readings of Scripture that are grammatically possible, but only one view is represented and clearly taught by the earliest church<\/span> fathers, that is a strong point in favor of that view.<\/p>\n The Friday crucifixion has the benefit of easily fitting most of the biblical evidence, the entirety of early church<\/span> testimony, and the vast majority of Christianity since then. While church<\/span> history is not infallible, when all branches of Christianity have a unanimous witness that goes back to the second century, we shouldn\u2019t lightly discard that evidence.<\/p>\n On the other hand, a Friday crucifixion means that Jesus<\/span> was only in the ground one full day and two full nights. However, if the clock started on Thursday night with Jesus<\/span>\u2019 betrayal and arrest, the \u201cthree days and three nights\u201d make sense, with Jesus<\/span> rising early on the third day.<\/p>\n \t
Table 1. Friday Crucifixion Timeline<\/p>\n The argument for a Thursday crucifixion is that the \u201cday of Preparation,\u201d on which our Savior was crucified and on the morning of which the Jewish leaders would not go into the judgment hall \u201clest they be defiled,\u201d was not the day of Preparation (Friday) for the Jewish Sabbath, which occurred on Saturday, but as it reads, \u201cthe day of preparation for the Passover\u201d; that is, the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, when the paschal lamb was to be killed (which was on Thursday in the year AD 30).<\/p>\n With the 16th of Nisan as the regular weekly Sabbath, we have the double Sabbath required. With a forty-eight-hour Sabbath, covering the 15th and the 16th, Jesus must have died on Thursday, Nisan 14th, and he must have risen from the dead on Sunday, the 17th. How often is such a combination possible? But once in six or seven years. In either the years 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, did the conjunction occur at a time to give this double Sabbath on the 15th and the 16th? Astronomy can answer this question and it says, No! Was its occurrence in A.D. 30 favorable to the combination of the double Sabbath? Astronomy can answer and does say, Yes! Here again Dr. Turner, who holds for A.D. 29 as the crucifixion year, is worsted. No dates in the life of Christ are more certainly known than Nisan 14th to 17th, Thursday to Sunday inclusive, April 6th to 9th, A.D. 30.15<\/p>\n Additionally, a Thursday crucifixion better suits the typology of the Passover events. When Jesus<\/span> arrived in Jerusalem, during the daytime hours of Nisan 10, he presented himself to the people by riding into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey (Matthew 21:7). As Jesus<\/span> entered, the people hailed him as King. This is the day that the church<\/span> calls Palm Sunday. If Jesus<\/span> was crucified on a Thursday, he would have been killed before the Passover, just like the Passover lambs. However, that would mean that the last meal he shared with his disciples was not a Passover meal. As one commentator noted:<\/p>\n This presentation of Himself, which we often call the Triumphal Entry, and which Jesus told the Jews was the \u201cday of your visitation\u201d (Luke 19:44), was in fulfillment of the requirements for the Feast of the Passover. The lambs sacrificed on Nisan 14 were selected on Nisan 10 (Exodus 12:3) and presented for inspection that day. Jesus did just that in presenting Himself when He rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass. The lambs selected for the sacrifice were taken home and inspected over the next four days to ensure they were pure and spotless. Jesus was also questioned and tested (inspected) by the Jewish leaders.16<\/p>\n \t
Table 2. Thursday Crucifixion Timeline<\/p>\n The claim that Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised on the third day is a nonnegotiable Christian claim that goes back to the very earliest statements of Christian faith. The claim that Jesus was crucified on Friday is consistent with statements in all four Gospels and is unambiguously stated by church fathers directly after the close of the New Testament canon, but it is not <\/em>required in the creeds of the church<\/span>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all about the one who was crucified in our place, rose from the dead, and is alive forevermore.<\/p>\n It is unnecessary to divide over an issue that is not a salvation issue, but one should be cautious when advancing a view that, while technically possible grammatically, was held nowhere in the early church<\/span> (a Thursday crucifixion). However, the early church<\/span> fathers may have placed too much emphasis on the \u201cpreparation day\u201d automatically equaling Friday, regardless of any other Sabbaths during a holy week. So Christians are free to hold to either a Thursday or a Friday crucifixion, but the majority of the plain interpretation of Scripture and all the church<\/span> fathers are on the side of the latter. We need to remember that the most important thing is not the day of the week the crucifixion took place. It\u2019s all about the one who was crucified in our place, rose from the dead, and is alive forevermore. For he is risen, he is risen indeed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One inconsistency that people claim to find in the Gospels is how long Jesus was buried. Because the New Testament claims to record historical events, we should be able to place events in time and space. The crucifixion happened in Jerusalem at Golgotha, but when did it happen, and how long was the time between<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1405,8337],"class_list":{"0":"post-25042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jesus","8":"tag-days","9":"tag-nights"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Day of Preparation<\/h2>\n
The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers<\/h2>\n
A Friday Crucifixion<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tDay of the Week
\n\t\t\tDay and Night Counter
\n\t\t\tDetails
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThursday Night
\n\t\t\tNight 1
\n\t\t\tFriday according to the Jewish reckoning. AD 30, Passover fell on Friday, Nisan 14. Jesus eats the Passover with his disciples after sunset. He is arrested and has illegal trials. The \u201cclock\u201d on the three days and nights starts with the arrest, not with the death.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tFriday
\n\t\t\tDay 1 and Night 2 (the start of Saturday by Jewish reckoning)
\n\t\t\tJesus is crucified during the day. Before evening, he is removed from the cross and buried.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSaturday
\n\t\t\tDay 2 and Night 3
\n\t\t\tJesus is in the tomb all day and night. This is a special Sabbath because the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSunday
\n\t\t\tDay 3
\n\t\t\tJesus rises shortly after dawn on Sunday, the third day.
\n\t\t
<\/p>\nA Thursday Crucifixion<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tDay of the Week
\n\t\t\tDay and Night Counter
\n\t\t\tDetails
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWednesday
\n\t\t\tNight 0
\n\t\t\tJesus eats the Last Supper with his disciples, which is not<\/em> the Passover, but a memorial of the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, which was done the day prior (14th of Nissan per Exodus 12:6, cf. 1 Peter 1:19). He is arrested and undergoes illegal trials.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThursday
\n\t\t\tDay 0 and Night 1 (the start of Friday by Jewish reckoning)
\n\t\t\tHe is crucified during the day at the time when the Passover lambs were slain and buried before sunset.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tFriday
\n\t\t\tDay 1 and Night 2
\n\t\t\tA special \u201cSabbath,\u201d which is the Passover. Jesus is in the tomb the whole day and night.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSaturday
\n\t\t\tDay 2 and Night 3
\n\t\t\tThe normal Sabbath. Jesus is buried the whole day and night.
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSunday
\n\t\t\tDay 3
\n\t\t\tJesus rises shortly after dawn on the third day.
\n\t\t
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n