Biblical Proof Jesus Died on Friday NOT Wednesday - By Chris Rosebrough

Found here. My comments in bold.
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Several years ago we wrote a post regarding what day was Jesus crucified. We were compelled to do a little investigation about the 3 days and 3 nights because the traditional explanation regarding a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection just wasn't satisfying.

Our dissatisfaction centers around two passages:

Mk. 15:42-16:1 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Mk. 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

So in that passage the women bought spices after the Sabbath. Now, compare that to Lk. 23:52-24:1:

Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no-one had yet been laid. 

54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Lk. 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

Here the women prepared the spices before the Sabbath. The obvious question is, how could the women buy spices after the Sabbath (Mark), but prepare them before the Sabbath (Luke)?

This is why some have postulated that there were two Sabbaths that week. Besides the regular Saturday Sabbath, there was also a Sabbath for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This would fit the Wednesday crucifixion scenario perfectly by explaining how the women were able to buy spices after the Sabbath and prepare them before the Sabbath. 

• Wednesday afternoon, the Day of Preparation: Jesus was crucified and buried late in the day.
• Wednesday night sunset, the beginning of Thursday - night one.
• Thursday, the Feast of Unleavened Bread Sabbath. The women rested.
• Thursday day - day one.
• Thursday night sunset, the beginning of Friday - night two.
• Friday, the second Day of Preparation, the women bought and prepared the spices.
• Friday day - day two.
• Friday night sunset, the beginning of Saturday - night three.
• Saturday Sabbath. The women rested.
• Saturday day - day three.
• Saturday night after sunset, Jesus rose.
• Sunday sunrise, the women brought the spices and perfume to anoint Jesus' body and instead found the open tomb.

That's our scenario. 

Below, the author attempts to deal with the Friday crucifixion problem in a novel way. He does so with an arrogance that is troubling.

Further, these are the kinds of doctrinal debates that frustrate us. The author defends a tradition against, who? Is there someone who is corrupting correct doctrine by proposing an alternative understanding? And all this for something so inconsequential?

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A lot of ink has been spilled regarding which day Jesus died. On the one hand, the Gospel narratives make it clear that Jesus died on the day before the Sabbath (Saturday).

“Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” (Luke 23:50–56)

But on the other hand, if it is true that Jesus died on a Friday then it appears as if there is a contradiction in the scriptures. Jesus Himself explained that He would be in the tomb for three days and three nights:

“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 in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

When someone quickly sums up the days and nights that Jesus was in the "heart of the earth", if he died on Friday, the math just doesn't seem to add up:


In order to resolve this problem, it is helpful to know that Jews do not count days according to a 24 hour time period. They count days according to night and day cycles. This way of counting days is revealed in Genesis 1.

“And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” (Genesis 1:5)
“And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.” (Genesis 1:8)
“And there was evening and there was morning, the third day” (Genesis 1:13)
“And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.” (Genesis 1:19)
“And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.” (Genesis 1:23)
“And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31)

Note, scripture reveals that a new day begins at sunset, not midnight. But even knowing this information doesn't totally solve the apparent contradiction. The reason is that when you count up the days and nights that Jesus was in the "heart of the earth" if He died on Friday you come up short by 1 night.

Friday - Jesus dies during the day (+1 Day)
Saturday - Jesus is dead during the night (+1 Night) and during the day (+1 Day)
Sunday - Jesus is dead during the night (+1 Night) and rises shortly after sunrise (+1 Day)
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Total = 3 days and 2 nights. (Well, I wouldn't count the last 3 hours of the day He was crucified as a day. The only reason to do so is not because of any historical or culture basis of Jewish time keeping, but rather because it would be necessary to do this to get a third day into the calculation.)

No matter how you add it up, we're missing a night. Yet, Jesus said:

“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 in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

Some have tried to resolve this seeming contradiction by postulating that Jesus had to die on a Wednesday and that there had to be some type of special "High Sabbath" brought about by that year's Passover. (Not "some sort of special High Sabbath," it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)

This attempt at resolving the seeming contradiction is overly complex (The author complains about complexity [his sole reason], yet will draw into his argument a passage from Amos to justify the addition of another night. That attempt fails, as we will read below. 

His method is by no means simple.

But regardless of the complexity, it was a regular occurrence for there to be more than one Sabbath in a week. This is a matter of record, and requires no "special" days. 

That is the way it is, complex or not.)

and results in an excess of days and nights which requires one to believe that Jesus rose from the grave at twilight on Saturday night (this explanation actually creates more contradictions than it resolves). (No, it does not. See our step-by-step above. It only requires us to consider the last 3 hours of the day Jesus was crucified as not a day.)

However, the solution to the apparent contradiction is actually very simple and it is hiding in plain sight. (The author's "solution" is not simple!)

Remember that scripture reveals that a new day begins with night. That's all you need to remember. Now let's look at a few passages of scripture.

We will begin with Amos' prophecy relating to Jesus crucifixion day:

“And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.” (Amos 8:8–9)

Yep, you read that right. God, all the way back in the Old Testament told us that He was going to cause "on that day" the sun to go down at noon. (We're not sure that Amos was making a Messianic statement. He spends a lot of time in chapter 8 and into chapter 9 talking about Israel's iniquity and the judgment God was going to bring upon them. Verse after verse about judgment against Israel, culminating in a promise: 

Am. 9:11 “In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be..."

This messianic statement comes after the period of judgments, which would mean if the sun being darkened is the same event as described in Luke, then the Jews must have endured or are enduring a time of gut wrenching judgment. However, if that were true, then the subsequent restoring of "David's fallen tent" does not refer to Jesus. But that is clearly a messianic statement.)

What time of day, during Jesus' crucifixion did the sun stop shining? Answer:

“It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and there was darkness over the whole Earth until the ninth hour (3pm), while the sun’s light failed.” (Luke 23:44–45) 

(We're not trying to be contentious, but this is most certainly not the sun setting and then rising again. We think it's a miraculous occurrence similar to Joshua 10:13 when the sun stood still. We don't take these signs and wonders as events that need calculating. That's not their purpose.)

If God caused the "sun to go down at noon" (The author just quoted the verse. It does not say this. The sun did not rise and set, the verse says the sun stopped shining.)

and there was darkness from 12pm until 3pm because the "sun's light failed", did Jesus die at night or during the day?

Answer: Since God "called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Genesis 1:5) the answer is obvious. Jesus died in the sunless darkness caused by God when he made the sun's light to fail at noon on 'that day', God calls darkness like that "night"! (Does He? Reference, please.

Let's quote a larger part of the passage in question. 

Lk. 23:43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

What is the sequence of events here? 

1) Jesus tells the thief that "today" he will be with Him in paradise. But the author wants you to believe that another day intervened. Was the thief being lied to, or is the author mistaken about making the period of darkness into another day?

2) At noon it became dark. We already noted that the sun did not go down. 3 hours later, it was light again. Not 24 hours.

3) The veil in the temple was torn in two. 

4) Jesus called out and then breathed his last. 

Jesus did not die when the earth was dark, he died after that, sometime between 3 and 6 pm.)

With this data in hand we can now accurately make an accounting of the sequence of day and night which took place on Good Friday. Here is what it looks like:



Now when we add up the days and the nights, the math works perfectly:

Friday - Jesus dies during the night created by God (+1 Night) and sun resumes shining after Jesus' death (+1 Day)
Saturday - Jesus is dead during the night (+1 Night) and during the day (+1 Day)
Sunday - Jesus is dead during the night (+1 Night) and rises shortly after sunrise (+1 Day)
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Total = 3 Nights and 3 Days just as Jesus predicted

The solution to the problem really is that simple! (Whew. Not simple at all. Nor does it account for the situation regarding the women buying and preparing spices before and after the Sabbath.)

Now you can have confidence that when you attend church for a Good Friday service and you remember Jesus' bitter suffering and death on the cross for your sins that you're doing so on the same day that He was crucified. (Unfortunately, no.)