Was Jesus Really Dead 3 Days and 3 Nights?

Before Jesus died, the scribes and Pharisees asked Him to give a sign. They refused to believe all of the powerful miracles He did. They demanded that He predict an event in advance to prove that He was the Christ.

Jesus told them,

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, likewise the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. (Matthew 12:39-40)

This was the only sign that Jesus gave to prove He was the Christ.

But how long was Jesus buried “in the heart of the earth.”

How many days are there between Friday evening and Sunday morning? How many nights?

One day and two nights.

If you count parts of days, you might be able to count a few minutes of daylight on Friday evening, and a few seconds of daylight on Sunday morning (if Christ rose at sunrise). But there are certainly only two nights.

Exactly 72 Hours

Look at all the time periods used to describe Christ’s burial and resurrection:

“three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40)
“the third day” (Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33; 24:7, 46; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4)
“in three days” (Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29; John 2:19)
“after three days” (Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31)
“within three days” (Mark 14:58)

72 hours is the only time period that fits all of these scriptures.

Did Christ Die on Friday?

The Bible says that Jesus died on the day before the Sabbath. But notice, that Sabbath was not a normal Sabbath, but a “high day”:

Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away…. but when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. (John 19:31, 33)

There are seven “high days” every year. You can find them listed in Leviticus 23. These high days are called “sabbaths,” because normal work is not allowed on these days (Leviticus 23:32).

Jesus died on the Passover. Is the day after the Passover a “high day” Sabbath?

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Eternal’s Passover. On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Eternal. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy assembly. You shall do no regular work. (Leviticus 23:5-7)

The day after Christ died was a “high day” Sabbath, not a weekly Sabbath on Saturday.

Jesus didn’t die on Friday, as most people assume. He died the day before the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was a “high day” Sabbath.

The Timeline of Christ’s Death and Resurrection

Jesus was dead for three days and three nights, just as He said. You can prove it from the Bible.

Jesus died on Wednesday afternoon and was buried just before sunset. He rose again 72 hours later, on Saturday evening, just before sunset. When the women came to the tomb early Sunday morning, Jesus was not there. He had already risen.

Here is the exact sequence, according to the scriptures:

Wednesday Afternoon

Jesus died about the ninth hour (about 3pm) (Matthew 27:45-54; Mark 15:33-39; Luke 23:44-47; John 19:25-37)
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus in the evening before sunset (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-55; John 19:38-42)

Wednesday Night – Night 1

The “high day” Sabbath (the first day of Unleavened Bread) began at sunset (John 19:31)

Thursday – Day 1

The daylight portion of the first day of Unleavened Bread
The Pharisees set a guard (Matthew 27:62-66)

Thursday Night – Night 2

Friday – Day 2

The women bought spices after the “high day” Sabbath: “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.” (Mark 16:1)
The women prepared the spices before the weekly Sabbath: “They returned [Wednesday evening], and prepared spices and ointments [on Friday]. On the Sabbath [Saturday] they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
The women could not prepare the spices until after they had bought them. Clearly there were two different “Sabbaths” that week.

Friday Night – Night 3

The weekly Sabbath began

Saturday – Day 3

The women rested on the Sabbath (Luke 23:56)
Jesus was resurrected just before sunset, “after three days,” “the third day,” “in three days,” “within three days,” and “three days and three nights” after He was buried. This fulfilled the only sign He gave to prove He was the Christ.

Sunday Morning

Mary Magdalene and other women head to the tomb “while it was still dark” (John 20:1)
This was “after the Sabbaths” (Matthew 28:1). Most Bibles mistranslate this as “Sabbath,” but in Greek the word is plural. The Bible shows there were two Sabbaths that week.
There was an earthquake, and angel opened the empty tomb. The guards go to the city, tell the chief priests what happened, and accept a bribe to say that Christ’s followers stole His body (Matthew 28:2-4, 11-14)
The women arrive at the empty tomb “when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1). The stone had already been rolled away and Jesus was not there (Mark 16:3-4; Luke 24:2-3; John 20:1). Two angels tell the women, “He is not here, because He rose, just like He said” (Matthew 28:5-6; Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:4-8).

The early Church continued to keep the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread after Jesus was resurrected (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). When they read the scriptures, they understood this sequence of events.

But over time, most who called themselves Christians stopped keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They changed the Passover from a memorial of Christ’s death into a celebration of Christ’s resurrection (Easter), and they forgot that Christ died on Wednesday. That is how the myth of a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection began about a hundred years after Christ’s ministry.

The debate between keeping Passover on the fourteenth and keeping Easter on a Sunday is called the Quartodeciman Controversy by historians. This controversy finally ended in 325 AD when the Council of Nicaea fixed the date of the celebration of Easter. The myth of a Sunday resurrection was forever fixed as a doctrine of orthodox Christianity. But the Bible shows that Christ rose on Saturday, three days and three nights after He was buried.

Does it Matter?

“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)

If you really want to know what Christianity is all about, read the Bible. You might be surprised by the truth.

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