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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Apr. 19, 2025
Update	: Apr. 19, 2025
Parts	: 01

Synopsis:




As some of my more Bible-knowledgeable readers will know, it is commonly believed that it was in the year 30 AD, at about three o'clock in the afternoon on the Feast of Passover -- or Nisan 14 according to the Jewish calendar -- and only a few hours before the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin on Nisan 15, that Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross for the sins of world.

Following the Lord's death, the Scriptures record that His tortured body was then taken down from the Cross, and given to Joseph of Arimathaea -- who was one of the Lord's secret Disciples -- who then proceeded to hastily prepare the body for entombment, being as sundown was approaching, when the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. This first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was actually a special High Holy Day called a High Sabbath, so there wasn't enough time for Jesus' body to be anointed in the proper manner, as was the Jewish custom.

For those of my readers who may possibly not be fully aware of it, there are seven annual High Sabbaths -- also known as High Holy Days, or "miqra" in Hebrew -- which correspond to the seven annual festivals which were mandated by God during the Old Testament era. These seven annual festivals are the following:

1. The Feast of Passover
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3. The Feast of Firstfruits
4. The Day of Pentecost
5. The Feast of Trumpets
6. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur
7. The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot

As I said, within these seven annual festivals, there are also seven High Sabbaths. The first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are both High Sabbaths, and this whole seven-day period is generally referred to as Passover Week, or the Passover Feast. Likewise, the Day of Pentecost is a High Sabbath. Furthermore, the first and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles are also High Sabbaths. The Feast of Trumpets is a High Sabbath, as is the Day of Atonement, for a total of seven High Sabbaths divided among these seven annual festivals. Consider this list if you are a little bit confused:

Feast of Unleavened Bread	2 High Sabbaths
Day of Pentecost	1 High Sabbath
Feast of Trumpets	1 High Sabbath
Day of Atonement	1 High Sabbath
Feast of Tabernacles	2 High Sabbaths

At any rate, because of the approach of the High Sabbath that same evening, while the women returned home to prepare the required sweet spices, they were not able to actually anoint Jesus' body with the spices until after the High Sabbath, or High Holy Day, had passed. Consider the following groups of verses:

"When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed."


"And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him."


"And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment."


"The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (FOR THAT SABBATH DAY WAS AN HIGH DAY,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away . . . And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid."


Regarding the aforementioned events, in his 1832 "Commentary on the Bible", theologian Adam Clarke notes the following. It is partly based on his personal conjecture, but it does make some sense:

----- Begin Quote -----

"As the law of Moses had ordered that no criminal should continue hanging on a tree or gibbet till the setting of the sun, Joseph, fearing that the body of our Lord might be taken down, and thrown into the common grave with the two robbers, came and earnestly entreated Pilate to deliver it to him, that he might bury it in his own new tomb."

----- End Quote -----

It is concerning the three days and three nights which Jesus spent in the recently-hewn sepulchre where a lot of confusion arises. As many of my readers will know, based on long-held Roman Catholic tradition, many modern Catholics, as well as many other Christians, celebrate the three-day period from the time that Jesus was buried, until the time that He rose from the dead, from the evening of so-called "Good Friday" to early "Easter Sunday" morning.

However, conducting a bit of simple math will quickly reveal that the aforementioned period is most certainly NOT a total of three days and three nights as Jesus stated. It is in fact only two nights -- meaning Friday night and Saturday night -- and only Friday evening, all day Saturday, as well as very early Sunday morning prior to sunrise in the grave. Thus, as you can see, it is not even three full days either. So what can we conclude from this? The inescapable conclusion then is that the long-held three-day Easter tradition is quite simply dead wrong. Despite this rather obvious fact, millions of Christians continue to blindly observe it every single year without even questioning it.

Tragically, if you invest some time in conducting your own personal research, you will quickly discover that a debate has raged for literally centuries regarding not only in what precise year Jesus was crucified, but on what exact weekday He died as well. There are so many different opinions out there, that a person can quickly become overwhelmed from reading it all. Personally, I looked into some of it, but eventually, I just had to stop, because the arguments are so many and diversified, and it becomes quite confusing.

While the Roman Catholic version of events may be acceptable to some Christians, it is most certainly not acceptable to me, and I hope that you feel the same way about this issue as I do. For me personally, what it comes down to is this, my friends: Either we accept exactly what the Bible says, or else we don't. So the big question is the following. Exactly what do the Scriptures teach us regarding this issue? Let's look to the following verses to find out. In them, Jesus clearly informs His listeners how much time He would spend in the grave. It is really plain to see:

"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."


"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed . . . From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."


"So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."


"And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry."


"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again."


"Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."


"And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him."


"And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."


"And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day."


"And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."


"The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected."


"Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again."


"He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."


"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."


As can be plainly seen by the previous set of verses, Jesus clearly taught that similar to the Prophet Jonah, following His Crucifixion, He would lay dead in the sepulchre -- that is to say, "in the heart of the earth" -- for a period of three days and three nights. By the way, that word "heart" is derived from a Koine Greek word which means "middle" or "center". So Jesus had to actually be IN THE TOMB for three whole days and three nights in order to fulfill His very own prophecy, and not just part of the time, as some misguided people like to say. Let me also remind you that when Jesus uses the word "days", He is referring to the twelve hours of daylight of each day, as in the following verse:

"Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world."


But let's assume for the sake of argument, that as the Roman Catholics erroneously claim, Jesus was buried right before sunset on Friday evening -- which is when a Jewish day began just as we see in the Book of Genesis with "the evening and the morning were the first day -- and that the Lord rose some time before sunrise on Sunday morning, exactly as the following Scriptures describe the event:

"And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. AND VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him . . . 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."


"NOW UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."


Please notice that we are clearly told that the two Marys, along with "certain others with them", arrived at Jesus' tomb "very early in the morning . . . at the rising of the sun." Yet to their great surprise, Jesus was already risen from the dead. Let's assume that sunrise was around 6:00 AM that day. Mark also tells us that Jesus "was risen early the first day of the week." Well, how early is "early"? It is at this point that we must remember that each Jewish day actually begins the previous evening at sundown. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus must have risen from the dead somewhere between about 6:00 PM the previous evening, and 6:00 AM that same morning, and it would still be the first half of the first day of the week. But is it possible for us to obtain an even narrower time frame for the Lord's Resurrection? Perhaps. Turning to the twenty-eight chapter of the Gospel of Matthew where these very same events are discussed, we find the following set of verses:

"IN THE END OF THE SABBATH, AS IT BEGAN TO DAWN TOWARD THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you."


Here again we see the two Marys making their way to Jesus' resting place, just as sunrise is about to occur. However, Matthew adds a new factor to these amazing events: the earthquake. If we take his statements at face value, Matthew appears to be saying that the earthquake occurred as the two women were on their way to the sepulchre. Then, once the two Marys arrived there, they encountered the Angel. While it is possible that Matthew may simply be backtracking here so he can explain to us how it is that the women came upon the Angel, personally, I don't get that impression. It seems like one continuous event to me. In other words, the women are on their way to the burial site, the earthquake occurs, and then they encounter the Angel. They may have missed Jesus' actual resurrection by mere minutes!

So, if what I have stated is accurate -- I admit that it is personal conjecture -- then it would appear that Jesus rose from the dead while it was still dark, but not long before the Sun arose that Sunday morning. Let me mention here that I am convinced that Jesus phrased it as "three days and three nights" for a very specific reason. I believe that the Lord wanted to make certain that His followers understood that He would be buried for a period of seventy-two hours. In other words, three twelve-hour daylight periods, and three full twelve-hour nighttime periods as well. Thus, if we assume a resurrection time of early Sunday morning sometime before sunrise, and move backwards seventy-two hours, we come to early Thursday morning. However, as we saw earlier, a Jewish day really begins at sunset the previous evening, or in this case, Wednesday evening according to our Western calendar. So Wednesday at sunset begins Thursday, Thursday at sunset begins Friday, and Friday at sunset begins Saturday. So if we create a simple breakdown, it looks like the following:

Night 1:

Wednesday 6:00 PM to Thursday 6:00 AM.

Night 2:

Thursday 6:00 PM to Friday 6:00 AM.

Night 3:

Friday 6:00 PM to Saturday 6:00 AM.

Day 1:

All day Thursday.

Day 2:

All day Friday.

Day 3:

All day Saturday.

So by Saturday evening at sunset, the Lord had been in the grave three full days and three full nights. According to His own words, He could thus rise from the dead any time after that. As all Christians know, that is precisely what He did. Sometimes during the night before the sunrise on Sunday, He rose from the dead. We don't know the exact hour of His resurrection, because the Bible doesn't say. But to fulfill the prophecy, it could have occurred at any time after sunset on Saturday evening up until sunrise on early Sunday morning. It fits perfectly, and fulfills Jesus' own Jonah prophecy. There is no need to try to force this. It just works.

So why is it that so many Catholics and other Christians are confused about this? Quite simply, it is because they don't realize that the Sabbath which is mentioned in the previous verses is a High Sabbath. Many of them assume that it is a regular weekly, seventh-day Sabbath -- or Saturday -- which it is not. That is why they likewise automatically conclude that Jesus was crucified on Friday, or Good Friday, as a lot of Christians refer to it. That is why they cannot figure out how to get three full days and three full nights from Crucifixion to Resurrection. The simple fact is that the High Sabbaths -- or High Holy Days -- did not always occur on the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, or Saturday. They could fall on other days of the week as well, which seems to be what happened in this case.

To clarify, the night which was approaching following Jesus' Crucifixion and Burial -- that is to say, Nisan 15 -- as the Passover, or Nisan 14, was ending -- was in fact a "miqra", or a High Sabbath, as we discussed earlier in this article. Nissan 15 was not a regular weekend, seventh-day Sabbath. It was the first High Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began the following day after the Passover. Remember again that both the first and the last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were High Sabbaths. To add more difficulty to the issue, it seems that there were actually two Sabbaths between Jesus' Death and Resurrection -- one a High Sabbath and the other a regular Sabbath -- because we are told that He rose from the dead early the first day of the week, or Sunday. This clearly reveals that a weekly Sabbath must have passed as well.

The main key marker to consider here is the date Nisan 14. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no matter what year it was, since the time of the Old Testament, Passover always occurred, and still occurs, on Nisan 14. It did not matter what year it was, or on what day of the week Nisan 14 fell. That evening the Israelites partook of the Passover meal. We also know that Jesus was destined to die on that specific day -- Nisan 14 -- in order to fulfill prophecy. These are two unchanging facts.

It would be so very easy if we would just work backwards and establish on what specific weekday Nisan 14 occurred in the year 30 AD. That is, assuming that you personally accept that this is the year in which Jesus was crucified. But even that is difficult to do, and has resulted in debates due to issues related to the ancient and modern Hebrew calendars. However, despite the controversy, many scholars remain convinced that the Passover -- and thus Christ's Crucifixion -- occurred on a Wednesday in 30 AD. There are in fact some online Hebrew Calendar converters which do calculate that Nisan 14 occurred on a Wednesday in 30 AD, such as these ones, for example:

https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=3&gm=4&gy=30&g2h=1
https://www.midrash.org/calendar/

I also have an app on my iPhone called "Date Converter." It also says that in 30 AD, Nisan 14 fell on a Wednesday. Thus, the Crucifixion occurring on a Wednesday, Nisan 14, in 30 AD, would indeed allow Jesus to fulfill the prophecy regarding being in the sepulchre for a total period of three days and three nights, just as the Prophet Jonah was in the belly of the whale for the same period of time, as we see here.

Keeping in mind that on the Jewish religious calendar, days run from evening to evening, or sunset to sunset, it is easy to see how we obtain a Passover, Nisan 14, 30 AD Crucifixion, followed by Jesus' Resurrection from the dead three days and three nights later. Let me share that previous information with you again, but this time with the Hebrew dates included:

Night 1:

Nisan 14 Wednesday 6:00 PM to Thursday 6:00 AM.

Night 2:

Nisan 15 Thursday 6:00 PM to Friday 6:00 AM.

Night 3:

Nisan 16 Friday 6:00 PM to Saturday 6:00 AM.

Day 1:

Nisan 15 All day Thursday.

Day 2:

Nisan 16 All day Friday.

Day 3:

Nisan 17 All day Saturday.

If you are a little confused, please remember that Nisan 14 actually began the previous evening -- Tuesday -- just as the sun went down, concluding Nisan 13. That is when Jesus shared the Passover meal with His Disciples. As I mentioned earlier, even though the night passed, it was still Nisan 14 when Jesus was crucified. Also, Wednesday daytime should not be included in our count, because Jesus was not in the grave yet. So we have three full days and three full nights from Nisan 14 to Nisan 17.

So as I explained earlier, anytime after sunset on Saturday Nisan 17, Jesus could rise from the dead, because He had fulfilled the prophecy. As we saw earlier, that is exactly what He did when He resurrected very early the following morning before the Sun arose. Now, I realize that this will be somewhat confusing for some of my readers, because we Westerners are programmed to think differently regarding when days begin and end. But please try to wrap your head around it. Thanks!

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the BBB Bible web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

A Temple Veil, an Earthquake and a Centurion
A Verse a Day to Keep the Doubts Away
Adaptation, EVILution and the Six Days of Genesis
Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?
Celebrating National Holidays
Famous Forties: One of God's Special Numbers?
Fifty Days Which Changed the World
The Day I Am Waiting For
The Day of the Lord: What It Really Means
The Six Days of Creation Debate

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