What day did Jesus die?
Today, we are examining the question: How long was Jesus in the tomb? Millions, if not billions, of Christians around the world believe that Jesus was crucified and placed into the tomb on a Friday afternoon—which we call Good Friday—and rose from the grave at daybreak on Sunday, which we call Resurrection Sunday. This period represents about a day and a half. If this event is meant to be interpreted as literally three days and three nights, then if Jesus died on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, how was he in the grave for three days and three nights? I thought this subject was particularly appropriate with Easter approaching. A lot of Christians are puzzled by this; in fact, this question was even posted on our YouTube channel. Check this one out: “Great video, can you tell us what day Jesus was crucified?”
But how would a Christian normally answer this question? Well, here are the different answers I have heard people give. Some would say, “Well, it is an old idiom; it is not really meant to be a literal three days and three nights.” But if that is true, that is the worst sign that Jesus could have given to prove he is the Messiah. Remember the context here: just two verses earlier, the Bible says, “Then some of the scribes and pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.'” They asked Jesus for a sign to see if he was the promised Messiah they had been waiting for for a very long time. This is really important stuff. What does Jesus say in the next verse? The Bible says, “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.'”
This is big. Jesus said that the proof he is the Messiah would be the fact that he would be in the tomb for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the great fish for three days and three nights. There is no misunderstanding here. So, those who say that the “three days and three nights” is just an idiom—in other words, not meant to be literal—are basically saying that Jesus could not pull off the sign he promised to give the scribes and the pharisees to prove he is the Messiah. Consequently, they imply Jesus failed. Jesus claimed that he would perform a miracle as a sign but could not deliver it. That is worse than not promising any sign at all. So, this cannot be the right answer.
Others say, “Well, in Jewish custom, any part of the day would count as a full day.” So, Friday counts as a day, even though it is not a full day; Saturday would obviously be a full day; and Sunday would count as a full day, even though it is only a very small portion of the day—that could have been only a few minutes, because the Bible says the women found the tomb empty extremely early, while it was still dark. Basically, instead of it being three actual days and three actual nights, it is the first day, the second day, and the third day; therefore, they argue it is not literal 24-hour days. They interpret what Jesus said as if he had said “on the third day” rather than “three days and three nights.” Now, I am aware that some Bible scriptures say “on the third day,” and I will address those later, but we still cannot ignore what Jesus said in Matthew 12:40: “three days and three nights.” Even if I did accept this way of counting the days, we still have a problem, because at best, this would be three days and two nights. What happened to the third night? That would still make Jesus’ statement incorrect.
Here is another one; I like this one: some have suggested the “heart of the earth” is not the tomb, but the clutches of the world. So, Thursday night, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, that is when the punishment started. Jesus was captive to the devil in the same way that Jonah was captive to the great fish. Thus, his suffering started Thursday, giving us the three days and three nights we are looking for. I do not know about you, but I have to say none of these explanations are satisfactory to me. There has to be a much better answer. You guys may have heard of other possible explanations in the past, but that is all I can find so far that people have come up with. Furthermore, all other explanations I have heard in the past do not solve all the other problems that are mentioned in the Bible regarding his crucifixion.
But what problems, I hear you say? Well, I am glad you asked. Here are the problems. The first problem is the obvious one I mentioned earlier: it is where Jesus said, “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.” This has to be understood as three full 24-hour days. There is no other explanation for this. Clearly, it is not three days and three nights between Friday and Sunday.
Here is another problem: Luke 23:56 says that they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. So, the women prepared the spices before the Sabbath and then rested. But Mark 16:1 says, “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint him.” So, this verse is saying that they bought the spices after the Sabbath. How did they prepare the spices before buying them? Can you see the problem? How can they buy them after the Sabbath and prepare them before the Sabbath? It does not make sense.
The other issue we need to bear in mind is that Jesus died on Passover day. We know this for many reasons. The Bible tells us that he is the Passover Lamb, so it is very significant theologically that he would die on Passover. But we also know that Jesus died on Passover because he said so himself in Matthew 26:2: “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” If that is the case, then here is another problem to add to our list: if the Passover day turned out to be on Good Friday, as we say it is, then check out John 12:1: “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead.” Why is that a problem? Because six days earlier would be a Sabbath, and Jesus would have been traveling a long distance during a Sabbath, which is out of the question for a devout Jew.
So, in order to get to the bottom of what is going on, let us gather some facts. Fact number one is that Jesus died on Passover day. Fact number two: there are more Sabbaths in a year than just the ones that happen on Saturdays. We call them “high days.” Let me show you from Leviticus 23:4-8: “These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the 14th day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. For seven days the seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.”
So, on the 14th day of the first Hebrew month, which is called Nisan, is the Passover. They obviously prepare for this event beforehand. On the 15th is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This first day is a Sabbath where they do no work, and it is also a Sabbath on the 21st day—that is the last day of the seven-day celebration—where they also do no work. So, what does it all mean? It means there were two Sabbaths during the week Jesus was arrested and crucified: the Sabbath after the Passover day and a regular Saturday Sabbath. Of course, there was another Sabbath or “high day” seven days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but that is not important for us now. What is important, though, is that you realize that the Passover itself is not a Sabbath day. That means you can do work on Passover day. Why is that important? Because that is the day Jesus did the work of redemption, which of course is also the day the Israelites were saved and redeemed from Egyptian slavery. But any work on the Sabbath, the day after the Passover, would be unlawful.
This seven-day celebration came after the Passover day, with the first and last days being Sabbath days or “high days.” And why do we call these “high days”? Because that is what they are called in the Bible. Check out John 19:31: “Therefore, because it was the preparation day—this is what they do before the Sabbath or Passover—that the bodies should 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.” So, Jesus was on the cross on Passover day, and they did not want him kept there because the next day is a Sabbath that they call a “high day.” That is because it is the first day of Unleavened Bread. Got it?
In case you are interested, there are seven high days in total in the Bible that come with certain Jewish festivals. You can find them all in Leviticus 23. Some of these festivals come with one Sabbath or “high day,” and others come with two high days, giving us a total of seven more Sabbaths per year. Here they are:
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Verses 4 to 8 tell us that the 14th day of Nisan (the first Jewish month) is the Passover; it is not a high day. The 15th day of Nisan is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; this is a high day. The 21st day of Nisan is the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; this is also a high day.
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Verses 9 to 14 tell us about the Feast of First Fruits; it is always on the day after a normal Sabbath. Basically, the Feast of First Fruits happens when people bring in the first harvest of the year; this happens in the spring after the first Sabbath—that is a Sunday, of course—during the Passover week or the Unleavened Bread week. It is not a high day.
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Verses 15 to 22 tell us about the Feast of Weeks, which happens seven Sabbaths after the Feast of First Fruits plus one. These are the regular Sabbaths that we call Saturday, so it is 50 days from the Feast of First Fruits. This is a high day.
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Verses 23 to 25 tell us about the Feast of Trumpets; this happens on the first day of Tishri, that is the Jewish seventh month; this is a high day.
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Verses 26 to 32 tell us about the Day of Atonement, which happens on the tenth day of Tishri; that is also the seventh month, and it is a high day.
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Verses 33 to 44 tell us about the Feast of Tabernacles; this happens on the 15th day of Tishri, which is a high day, and the 22nd day of Tishri, which is also a high day. This is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.
So, there are a few celebrations on the seventh month; this is their special month of their new civil year. These celebrations give us a total of seven extra Sabbaths that the Jewish nation honored on top of their normal Sabbaths. Of course, the Jews had other celebrations they took part in that were not mentioned in the Bible, like Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights; Jesus also took part in these, even though they were not prescribed in the Bible. The Jews also took part in other celebrations that were mentioned in the Bible but the Jews were not asked to celebrate or remember, like Purim, which was mentioned in the book of Esther. None of these celebrations come with high days, but the ones mentioned in Leviticus 23 were important and were always celebrated and contained high days.
So, why was this all significant? It is significant because people who read the Gospel seem to completely ignore these facts when trying to work out when Jesus died and rose again, causing all sorts of misinterpretations. The last helpful fact to help us solve this puzzle is that in the Jewish clock, a new day starts at a different time than it does for us. For them, it starts at sunset. In our culture, a new day starts at 12 a.m., or at midnight. So, for us, if today is Monday, Tuesday begins from 12 a.m. That is not the same in the Jewish culture. In the Jewish culture, a new day starts at sunset. So, when it is Monday evening at sunset our time, it is already Tuesday for them. And just so you know, the time of sunset will vary depending on the season and the length of daylight.
Let me give you a practical example with the Passover. As you know, the Passover happens on the 14th day of Nisan, which is their first month of the year. So, the 14th day of Nisan starts from the sunset of the 13th day of Nisan. So for them, it is now the 14th of Nisan. In our Western clock or Roman clock, it is still the 13th until midnight, and then it changes to the 14th. This is important to understand. So, I hope that is clear. This way of counting the start of days goes all the way back to the creation days in Genesis 1, when it talks about “evening and morning” to go from one day to another. It was not “morning and evening,” because the first day starts with darkness and then God makes light. So, from dark to light was the first day. It is even mentioned in Leviticus 23 for the festivals; it says the Passover starts at twilight. The Day of Atonement starts from the evening to evening—some translations literally say “sundown.”
So, let us put things together and see what we get. Here are all the months in the Jewish calendar. Nisan is the first month, according to Exodus 12:2. Here are the days of that month: on the 10th day, the Jews had to get a lamb and look after it for four days. The 13th is the day they prepare for the Passover, or it is the last day for them for the Passover preparation. This is where the disciples asked Jesus to start preparing for the Passover. In Mark 14:12, it says: “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?'” And also in Luke 22:7-8, it says: “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover must be killed, and he sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat.'” And also in John 13:1, it says: “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come that he should depart from this world to the Father…” Jesus then sat with them that evening and ate the Passover meal. Seeing that this would have happened after sunset, we are now on Passover day, the 14th day of Nisan. On the 14th day, they have now slaughtered the lamb. Remember, the Passover goes from sunset to the following day’s sunset.
After Jesus celebrates the Passover, he leaves with his disciples, where he gets betrayed and, later that day, gets crucified. And how do we know it is still the Passover day? Because of these verses that tell us that Jesus came before the authorities. Bear in mind that the day of preparation is what they did on Passover day, preparing for the high Sabbath the next day. John 19:31 says: “Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day.” Also, John 19:42 says: “So there they lay Jesus, because of the Jews’ preparation day, for the tomb was nearby.” And also, Mark 15:42 says: “Now when evening came, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath…” and of course, many other verses. This is why they had to hurry to put Jesus in the grave; they did not want to leave him there hanging for the whole of the high Sabbath. So, they took him down and put him in the grave.
Now we get to the 15th. This is that special Sabbath we call a “high day.” It is right at the start of that day. Remember that is the sunset of the 14th, which would be the Passover day, except it is now at sunset, so it is no longer the Passover, but instead, it is the high day. That is Jesus’ beginning of the 24-hour period in the tomb. Now we get to the 16th day; that is Jesus’ start to the second 24-hour period in the tomb. This is a normal day, not a Sabbath day, where the women prepared the spices. This is where we get to when the women prepare the spices before the Sabbath, but buy the spices after the Sabbath. How is that possible? Well, it is possible because the next day is a Sabbath too, and here we have another 24-hour period in the tomb. So, Jesus is now in the tomb for three 24-hour days.
And finally, we get to Sunday; that is the 18th of Nisan, the day Jesus was resurrected. How do we know that is a Sunday? Well, that is easy: it says that in the Bible. John 20:1: “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” So, it is the first day of the week; that is Sunday for the Jewish clock. Matthew 28:1, in the Young’s Literal Translation, is even clearer: “And on the eve of the Sabbaths, at the dawn toward the first of the Sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.” It is saying that the woman just got there after the Sabbath was over. They are obviously keen to give Jesus the spices, as he has been there now for three days and three nights. This also tells us that there was more than one Sabbath—the literal translation is saying “Sabbaths,” not “Sabbath” as all the other translations say. It also tells us that Jesus could have been resurrected any time after Saturday sunset, after the 17th. That is because Saturday sunset is the beginning of Sunday for the Jewish clock.
So, let us work this out backwards. Jesus was resurrected on Sunday; that means that Jesus was in the tomb for Saturday, which is a Sabbath. He is still in the tomb on Friday, which is a normal day—that is the day the women got the spices ready. He is still in the tomb for Thursday, which is a high Sabbath, which is why they were in such a hurry to get him off the cross. Therefore, he must have been crucified on Wednesday, which is the Passover day, in the afternoon at 3 p.m. Remember, the Passover would have started the day before, on Tuesday, the 13th, at sunset (our clock), not that it matters in this case. That means Jesus did die on Passover day and completed his mission as the Passover Lamb and fulfilled multiple prophecies because of it.
Now, in case you are interested, here is a table that would show you the differences between the Western or Roman dates and the Jewish dates. This column shows the Jewish dates; they are exactly the same as the timeline I gave you earlier. And this column tells you the Western or the Roman dates or clocks and when the new days start. I guess the only bit that is important here is when Jesus was put in the grave. He would have been put in the grave on our clock on Wednesday sunset, which is the Jewish Thursday, and that is the Jewish high day. And more importantly, it is the official Feast of Unleavened Bread on the 15th day of Nisan. Remember, he was crucified and killed at 3 p.m. So, soon after he died, they buried him that evening just as the high day started. He would have stayed in the grave for three 24-hour periods, which brings us to Saturday evening; that is from Wednesday sunset till Saturday sunset. On Saturday sunset, which is now Sunday on the Jewish clock, Jesus would have been resurrected.
I hope that makes sense. At this point, if you remembered some of the feasts I mentioned earlier or the Jewish festivals, you would have realized that I mentioned the Feast of First Fruits. It says in Leviticus 23:9-14 that the Feast of First Fruits is always on the day after a normal Sabbath. Basically, the Feast of First Fruits happens when people bring their first harvest of the year. This happens in the spring after the first Sabbath—that is a Sunday, of course—during the week of Unleavened Bread. So, if that is the Sunday of the week of the Passover, then what happened on that day? Jesus rose from the grave. So, the resurrection is the fulfillment of the celebration.
How do I know this? Well, apart from being obvious and staring me in the face, I know it to be true because that is what it says in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, in the same way the First Fruits festival represents our thankfulness for the first fruit that will be followed by an abundance of fruit—in the same way as the first fruits represent something that comes out of the ground spontaneously and miraculously after a long, dead winter period and after the seed is planted and buried—that is how Jesus’ resurrection represents the first fruits of a miraculous event that will be followed by many resurrections to come.
How do I know this? Well, apart from being obvious and staring me in the face, it is because the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:21-23: “So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest—some translations actually literally say ‘first fruits’—then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.” Isn’t that amazing? Jesus fulfills yet another festival that is intended for him. Now get this: every Sunday, when you take a day off for the Lord’s Day, remember that you are celebrating the first fruits of our own resurrection every single week. So, Sunday is us celebrating our eternal life that we have in Christ Jesus, who is our first fruit of the resurrection. Wow. Sunday is an awesome day to remember, and we are doing it every week.
Jesus dies on Passover day. The sinless Jesus was buried on the first day of Unleavened Bread, and since “leaven” stands for sin and “unleavened” stands for sinless, it was no wonder that Jesus referred to the unleavened bread, the sinless bread, when he said, “Take and eat; this is my body broken for you.” His body was broken for us during the Passover, and 50 days later, we have the Pentecost event, fulfilling yet another feast called the Feast of Weeks. Jesus fulfills one feast after another during his lifetime, during his death, and even during and after his resurrection. We have a great God.
Now, I have noticed that some Christians are confused by some of the verses that say “the Feast of Unleavened Bread” when it is talking about the Passover. For example, in Matthew 26:17, it says: “Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?'” It says here “the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread.” Why say “the feast of Unleavened Bread” when it is obviously talking about the Passover day? The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is technically the day after the Passover, which is the high Sabbath. Leviticus 23:6 is very clear about this; it tells us that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th day, which is the day after the Passover, not the Passover day itself. So, the Passover day is the 14th, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th, which is a high Sabbath. So why say “the Feast of Unleavened Bread” here?
Here is another verse: Mark 14:12 says: “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb,” and again in Luke 22:7, it says the same thing. So why call it the day of Unleavened Bread? That is because in Exodus 12, it says the whole event is also known as the “unleavened event.” Let us read verses 15 and 18: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. And the first month, on the 14th day—that is your Passover day—of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening.” So, the whole event is also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread and used interchangeably because no leavened bread can be eaten on the Passover day either. In fact, some Bible translations put this heading before the verses to avoid confusion. These headings say things like “Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples.” The heading says “The Passover,” even though the verse itself is saying “the first day of Unleavened Bread” or “the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” It is still the day before the Passover. So, I hope that is clear.
Now, there are other confusing verses in the Bible that talk about Jesus being resurrected “on the third day.” So, the obvious question to ask here is: how can Jesus be in the tomb for three days and three nights and yet be resurrected on the third day? Wouldn’t that technically be the fourth day? These are all the verses I can find; I try to be as thorough as I can to show you all the verses. These are mentioned in a lot of places. It says it again and again: “the third day,” “the third day,” “the third day.” So, how do we reconcile this with what Jesus said? I do not think this is a real problem. The way I see it is like this: have a look at this timeline of all the days. If I split the timeline into days, the top would represent the start of each day based on the Roman or Western clock. The bottom represents the start of each day according to the Jewish clock. So, on Wednesday sunset, whilst it is still Wednesday for us, it is Thursday for the Jews. On Thursday sunset, it is Thursday for us, but it is Friday for the Jews, and so on. So, so far, so good.
Jesus dies at about 3 p.m. and gets buried sometime later. By the time they take him down, transport him to the tomb, and do whatever they have to do, which I assume would have taken a little time, it would have been about Wednesday sunset, which makes it Thursday on the Jewish clock. I realize that could technically overlap with the Sabbath day, but I do not think people were standing around there with a digital alarm clock watching them. They just wanted to put Jesus in the grave, and it just happens to be around sunset. It is not like somebody was going to go around saying, “Hey, wait a minute, based on the Greenwich Mean Time, it is now exactly the next day and therefore it is the Sabbath; stop what you are doing, step back, and put the body down and follow the exit sign.” I do not think so. I am guessing the nature of timing things by sunset and sunrise is that you cannot be that precise. They were just judging the time by the position of the sun; they are not working with an accuracy of an atomic clock here, right?
So, from Wednesday sunset, which is the Jewish Thursday, the first day would be the Jewish Friday, and the second day would be the Jewish Saturday, and the third day would be the Jewish Sunday. Sunday would be the third day when Jesus was resurrected. So, I see no problem with Jesus resurrecting on the third day. Now, if that did not help, maybe this will. I am going to use the feast or celebration itself; this is what it looks like according to Leviticus 23:4-8. As you know, day 14 is the Passover. The 15th day is the Unleavened Bread, which is a high day. So, it goes from the 14th till the 21st day of the first Jewish month. As you have already seen, Exodus 12 also confirms what Leviticus is saying and describes the entire Passover event. It says: “In the first month on the 14th day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening.” So, the 14th day is the Passover day itself. This is the day Jesus had to die.
But notice in the same chapter of Exodus, in verses 15 and 16, it talks about the next day, which is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and refers to it as the “first day,” which is not a surprise. It says: “On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” As you can see, the “first day” here is the next day of the whole feast. The reason this is interesting is because when it is talking about the festival, it skips the Passover day itself. It is now the first day from the 15th, not the 14th. I know, strictly speaking, it is talking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a day later, but the timeline itself is important here. Why is that important? It is important because we know what this whole feast is all about. It is about Jesus being the Passover Lamb who died on Passover day, and the unleavened bread represents his burial, which starts from the next day on day 15. That means day one does not start on the day he dies, as we are told by those who say that Friday counts as the first day; it starts from the next day, the day of his burial, and it lasts a whole 24 hours before the following day. That is why, when the Gospel talks about “first day,” “second day,” or “third day,” it cannot be inclusive of the day he died or include part of the day starting from the day he died. According to the feast, the clock for day one should start from the next day, so day one would be the next day, not the current day. If we agree with this, then this would undo this whole idea that part of a day would count as a full day anyway.
Anyway, let us assume I am wrong about all my calculations and ignore everything I said. Now, think about it: what if the Bible had said that Jesus would rise on the first day, not the third day, but the first day? Now, according to those who say “part of a day counts as a full day,” it means that Jesus could die at 3 p.m. and rise at 3:01 p.m., and that would count as a full day because it is part of a day, right? That would not really impress anyone and would not make much of a miracle, would it? This also means that whatever Jesus gives for the timing of his resurrection, you could easily subtract a whole 24 hours and still be right. It does not make sense; it just does not seem reasonable.
And finally, we are left with one more question: why do we celebrate Easter on Good Friday? Well, that is because of verses like these: “Now when evening had come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went into Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.” They assumed because it was the day before the Sabbath, it had to be the Friday. They seem to have missed the fact that anytime there is a Passover, the next day is a Sabbath, no matter what day of the week it is. The confusion seems to have happened between the regular Sabbath that happens every Saturday and a “high Sabbath” that happens the day after the Passover. But of course, they did not have the same problem with Sunday because the Sunday date is as clear as it can be; it was not negotiable. The Bible clearly says it is on the first day of the week, and it is also the Feast of First Fruits. That is how we ended up with a discrepancy between the Resurrection Sunday and the three days and three nights in the grave with Good Friday.
I hope that was helpful. Until next time, happy Easter to you all. And remember, we do not just celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection once a year; we must regularly remember the price it took to save wretched, sinful people like us from a just and merciful God. God bless you all.