Many people believe that Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday and resurrected two days later, on Sunday.  This belief in a Sunday resurrection is the primary reason for keeping Sunday as a day of worship.  Therefore, the question of what day Jesus was resurrected is of vital importance.

Three days and three nights

What day Jesus was resurrected is closely related to how long He was in the grave.  Jesus was very clear about how long he would be in the heart of the earth (the grave).  When some of the Scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from Jesus–a sign that He was from God–Jesus said that He would not give a sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Mat 12:38  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
Mat 12:39  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.
Mat 12:40  “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.

Jesus was very clear that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights, which is a period of 72 hours. 

However, there are several Scriptures which say that Jesus would be raised on “the third day”, for example:

Mat 16:21  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.

Mar 9:31  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.”

Luk 18:33  They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

1 Cor 15:3  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1 Cor 15:4  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Those who hold to a Friday crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection point to these Scriptures.  In their understanding the first day is Friday, the second Saturday, and the third day Sunday.

But there are other Scriptures which say that Jesus would be raised “within three days” or “in three days”.  Referring to His resurrection, Jesus said that He would build another temple “within three days” or “in three days”.

Mark 14:58  “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'”

Mat 26:61  and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'”

Mat 27:40  and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

John 2:19  Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
John 2:20  Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
John 2:21  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

Other Scriptures say that Jesus would be raised “after three days”, in other words at least 72 hours. 

Mat 27:63  saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’

Mark 8:31  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.

These phrases, “the third day”, “within three days”, “in three days”, and “after three days”, appear to contradict each other, but they don’t.  To understand why there is no contradiction, we need to understand that Jesus died at 3 pm but was placed in His tomb close to 6 pm.

The Scriptures are clear that Jesus died at “the ninth hour”, which is 3 pm.

Mat 27:46  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?”
Mat 27:47  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”
Mat 27:48  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
Mat 27:49  The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
Mat 27:50  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Mar 15:34  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?”
Mar 15:35  Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!”
Mar 15:36  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
Mar 15:37  And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

From Luke’s account we know that Jesus was buried just before sunset.  The Sabbath drew near as Jesus’s body was placed in the tomb.

Luk 23:52  This man [Joseph from Arimathea] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Luk 23:53  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.
Luk 23:54  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

At that time of year (Spring) there are roughly equal hours of daylight and night, (12 hours of each).  This means that Jesus was placed in the tomb about 6 pm, just before sunset. 

Thus Jesus was dead for about 75 hours (just over three days and three nights) but was in the “heart of the earth”, his tomb, for 72 hours (exactly three days and three nights).  Since Jesus was placed in His tomb just before sunset, He was resurrected just before sunset, three nights and three days later.

With this understanding in mind, the apparent contradiction between the phrases, “the third day”, “within three days”, “in three days”, and “after three days” is resolved.  The phrases “the third day”, “within three days”, and “in three days”, refer only to the time Jesus was buried in the tomb, not to the total time that Jesus was dead.  The statement “after three days” refers to the total time that Jesus was dead.

Preparation day

Many people believe that the Scriptures say Jesus was crucified on a Friday.  But the Scriptures don’t say that.  They say that Jesus was crucified on the Preparation Day, which is the day before the Sabbath. 

Mar 15:42  Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

Luk 23:52  This man [Joseph from Arimathea] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Luk 23:53  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.
Luk 23:54  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near

John 19:14  Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

But isn’t the day before the Sabbath Friday?  The day before the 7^th day Sabbath is Friday, but there are seven other Sabbaths or holy convocations or high days which can fall on weekdays.  The gospel of John explains that the Sabbath in question was a high day.

John 19:31  Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, 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.

This high day was the fifteenth day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which occurs the day after Passover.

Lev 23:5  On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover.
Lev 23:6  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7  On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

Jesus was crucified on the Preparation Day of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a holy convocation.  This holy convocation is a Sabbath (a day of rest) because the commandment is to do no customary work.  The Old Testament refers to this day as a holy convocation, and the gospel of John refers to it as both a Sabbath and a high day.  They are the same.  We will just refer to it as a high day.

A Wednesday crucifixion and a Sabbath resurrection

Jesus was placed in the tomb shortly before sunset, just before the beginning of this high day.  Since He was in the grave 72 hours, He was resurrected shortly before sunset three days later.  He was seen early Sunday morning, so He must have been resurrected shortly before sunset on Saturday.  In other words, Jesus was resurrected at the end of the weekly Sabbath.  Counting backwards three days, we can see Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday and that the next day, Thursday, was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a high day.

We will now look at some difficult or confusing Scriptures and see how they can be explained.

The women and their spices

According to Mark 16:1 the women: rested (when the Sabbath was past) and then bought spices.

Mark 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.

According to Luke 23:56 the women: prepared spices and fragrant oils and then rested on the Sabbath.

Luke 23:56  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

These accounts can be reconciled by understanding there were two Sabbaths, the first being the First Day of Unleavened Bread and the second being the weekly Sabbath.

Mark 16:1  Now when the Sabbath [the high day of the first day of the Feast Unleavened Bread] was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

Luke 23:56  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath [the weekly 7^th day Sabbath] according to the commandment.

Mark 16:9

Some translations of Mark 16:9 read that Jesus rose early on Sunday and then appeared to the women.

Mark 16:9  Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. [NKJV]

The problem is with the translation.  Other translations make it clear that it was after Jesus had risen that He then appeared to the women early on Sunday.

Mark 16:9  Now when Jesus was risen [,] early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. [KJV]

Mark 16:9  Now after He had risen [,] early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. [NASB]

The meaning is much clearer if a comma is inserted between “risen” and “early”.

On the Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35 gives the account of two of Jesus’s disciples on their way to Emmaus from Jerusalem who were discussing the events of the crucifixion.  Jesus (having been resurrected) drew near and started talking with them although the two disciples did not recognize Him.  During the conversation one of the disciples spoke.

Luk 24:20  and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
Luk 24:21  “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.

The way this is translated seems to indicate that “today” was the third day, so that three complete days had not passed.  From this translation, it appears Jesus talked to these men before three days had been completed since His death.  Clearly this contradicts how long Jesus said He would be in the grave.  The resolution to this apparent contradiction is understanding that the Greek is using an idiom when speaking of “the third day”.  “The third day” means that three days had been completed.  A better translation is:

Luk 24:21  “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today, the third day has passed since these things happened.

Another instance of this idiom is Mat 27:64 where the Chief Priests and Pharisees made the tomb secure until “the third day”.  This clearly means until the completion of three days.

Mat 27:64  Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

Conclusion

Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday, which that year happened to be the Preparation Day for the high day of the first day of the Feast Unleavened Bread.  He died about 3pm and was placed in the tomb about 6pm just before sunset on Wednesday.  Three days and three nights later, Jesus was resurrected at the end of the weekly Sabbath just before sunset.  The chart below shows a summary of these events with Scriptural references.