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Three Days and
Three Nights
In Matthew 12:40,
we read, 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. There is some confusion
within the brotherhood on what day of the week Jesus died on the
cross. We all know that Saturday was the Jewish 7th day
of the week and Jesus rose on the first day of the week. Jesus died
before the Roman soldiers could break His legs on the evening before
the Sabbath day. So how do we get three days and three nights
between the day Jesus died and the first day of the week? The
Purpose of this study is to examine the history of the Passover and
the associated feast and use that help establish the precise day
that our Savior died on the cross.
Perhaps one of the
most key verses of scripture to help pinpoint this day is found in
Mathew 27:62 which reads,
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief
priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate This was the
day after Jesus died and the text clearly says it was after the
day of preparation. This would mean that Jesus died on the day
of preparation. See also Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, and John 19:31.
The day of preparation was the day the Jews prepared the Passover
lamb followed by the eating of the Passover lamb that same evening.
The Relevant scriptures on the Passover in the Old
Testament are found in Exodus 12:1-28; 43-51, Leviticus 23:4-8,
Numbers 9:1-14, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
The time of the Passover lamb sacrifice was twilight
on the 14th day of the first month which was Nisan, Leviticus 23:5,
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at
twilight, is the LORD's Passover. The first day of Nisan
coincides roughly with the first of April. This is the day of
preparation where the Passover lamb is killed, prepared and eaten.
Exodus 12:6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of
this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then the blood was put
on the doorposts and lintel of the houses, Exodus 12:7 Then
they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts
and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They then
prepared and ate the Passover lamb that night, Exodus 12:8, They
shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. They were
to break no bones during the preparation, (Exodus 12:46), which is a
foreshadowing of Jesus who also had no bones broken.
Jesus is our Passover today, 1Corinthians 5:7,
For
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Of
significance is the fact that as our Passover today, Jesus death
coincided with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. Jesus died on
the same day the Passover lamb was killed, (Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54,
and John 19:31 & 42).
The day following the sacrifice and eating of the
Passover lamb, the Jews then observed the feast of unleavened bread
which lasted for 7 days. The first and seventh days of the feast of
unleavened bread were Sabbath days where no ordinary work was to be
performed. In Num 28:16-18 we read On the fourteenth day of
the first month is the LORD's Passover, and on the fifteenth day of
this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On
the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do
any ordinary work. And in Leviticus 23:5-8, In the
first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the
LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the
Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy
convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall
present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the
seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary
work.
The day immediately following the day of preparation
was called a sabbath day, even though it did not fall on the 7th day
of the week. Mark 15:42-43 And when evening had come, since
it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph
of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also
himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to
Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Then in John 19:31 we read, Since it was the day
of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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 was no ordinary Sabbath day. That
Sabbath was the first day of the feast of unleavened
bread.
Jesus Christ was crucified the day before the sabbath
(Mark 15:42). The Jews always honored the first day of the feast of
unleavened bread as a special "high" sabbath, no matter what
day of the week it fell upon (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:7; Numbers
28:16-18). John's gospel says Jesus was crucified on the "the
preparation of the Passover" (John 19:14), and that the
following Sabbath day was "an high day" (John 19:31). These
Scriptures plainly show that the ordinary Sabbath was not meant.
Christ was crucified on the day before the "high day," or
first day of the feast of unleavened bread.
Scripture is clear that Jesus rose from the dead on
the first day of the week, (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:9, Luke 24:1-6)
Scripture is also clear that Jesus spent 3 days and 3 nights in the
tomb. Matthew 12:40, 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.
Most scholars believe Jesus was crucified and buried
on Friday and spent Saturday in the tomb and rose on Sunday. That
is not three days and three nights. Since the Sabbath following the
day of preparation was different than an ordinary Saturday, we can
count backwards from Sunday morning. If Jesus had been crucified on
Thursday, He would have spent Thursday night, Friday night and
Saturday night in the tomb, which is three nights.
Scripture places Jesus death at the ninth hour of
the day in Matthew 27:46-50, Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46. The
Jewish ninth hour is about 3:00 PM on our clocks. If Jesus died at
3:00 PM-ish on Thursday, he would have been in the heart of the
earth The rest of the day on Thursday, all day Friday and
Saturday. A Thursday crucifixion works out to three days and three
nights and does not contradict scripture. Moreover, it works out
perfectly with the day of Preparation for the Passover lamb and the
first day of the feast of unleavened bread which is a Sabbath day.
It is this Bible Students conviction that Jesus
Christ was crucified and died on Thursday, which would be the 4th
day of the Jewish week, spent 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb and
was resurrected on the first day of the week.
I would like to thank James Burton Coffman for His
scholarship and brother Seth Turbeyfill for his research notes,
assistance and his insatiable hunger for the truth on this subject
which inspired me to study it in depth.
February 6, 2025
Sermon prepared by
David Hersey
The church of
Christ at Granby, MO
Located at
516 East Pine St.
P.O. Box 664
Granby, Mo. 64844
(417) 472-7109
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and Sermons, please visit
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