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Was Jesus in the tomb 3 days and nights?

by Stephen Davey

Janet asked: How can the Bible say that Jesus was in the tomb three days and three nights? Friday to Sunday does not allow enough time.

Janet, I'll unpack this for you a little bit. I believe that Jesus was crucified on Thursday and not Friday.

Mark 15:42-43 tell us that Jesus body was taken down from the cross in the evening because the Sabbath was approaching. Because the normal Sabbath is on Saturday, most people believe that Jesus must have been crucified on Friday.

However, the weekly Sabbath on Saturday is not the only Sabbath. According to Leviticus 23, there was a “high Sabbath” observed during the week of the Passover. The Jews were to rest on that day, just as they would rest on a normal Saturday Sabbath.

Jesus died during Passover week, so there were two Sabbaths that week. As it happened, they were back-to-back. The "high Sabbath" of Passover was Friday, and the weekly Sabbath was Saturday. So, the request to remove Jesus from the cross was because of the approaching high Sabbath on Friday. Jesus was crucified on Thursday and his body was taken from the cross that evening because of the approaching high Sabbath.

There are actually some clues in the text to verify this.

The first clue comes from the original Greek text—a language that pastors, theologians, and seminary graduates should be familiar with. In Matthew 28:1, the first people come to visit the tomb. The Greek text says that they came after the Sabbaths—plural. It's plural indicating that more than one Sabbath passed before they cane to visit the tomb. Because of the confusion over this, and not wanting people to think a whole week had passed, English Bible translators make it singular—Sabbath. But in the Greek, it's plural.

The second, and most clear clue is in John 19:31. Jesus was being taken from the cross and John records this:

"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.”

John was clear that the Jesus was taken from the cross because of the high Sabbath, not the regular weekly Sabbath.

I don't think we need to change our tradition of celebrating Good Friday as the church has done for centuries. But we can have confidence in God's Word, knowing that Jesus really was in the tomb three days and three nights as the Bible says he was.

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Comments

Mike says:
I believe that the way the Jewish people counted time, Because Jesus died and was taken down from the cross on Friday before sundown that counted as day 1. Saturday was day 2 and He arose on the third day, Sunday. WISDOM: Thanks Mike. Many people agree with you, but we believe Stephen’s explanation is correct.
Mark says:
I always wondered about the timeline of three days and really appreciate the explanation. I'm going to start calling today "Good Thursday!" Thank you.
Dwight Osborne says:
In Hebrew practice as established by Jehovah in Genesis 1, the new day begins at approximately 6 pm; hence, the "day" begins in the evening and is followed by mornuing. By Mosaic law, the Passover lamb is chosen on Nisan 10 and slaughtered 4 days later on Nisan 14 after having been on display for 3 days. The gospels and documented history show that Jesus made His entyry into Jerusalem on Sunday, Nisan 10, 32 AD (April 6). Being slaughtered 4 days later on Nisan 14 (April 10) means He was crucified on Thursday. In Hebrew thought and practice, 3 days and 3 nights doesn't require 72 hours. If He had been placed in the tomb even at 5:59 pm, He would still be reckoned in the ground the daypart of Thursday. Hence, the days He was in the ground were/are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, wityh the nights being Friday, Saturday and Sunday. According then to God's calendar, Sunday was the 3rd night followed by His resurrection on Sunday morning. And in Hebrew thought in accordance with "dawn", the earliest He could have arisen is 6:01 pm and the latest 5:59 am. Whenever we study Scripture, we have to do so according to Jewish standards and not western.
Randy says:
Still people don't apply common knowledge yo scripture as they try to follow tradition over God's word! Passover was preparation for High Sabbath Feast of Unleavened Bread! Then preparation day for seventh day Sabbath followed that on the 26th! The 27th was the 2nd Sabbsth of the week followed by the Ressurection on the 18th, the first day of Firstfruits that lasted for 7 weeks plus the 60th day to bring us to Pentecost! All prophesied and put into law in Exodus 12f, Leviticus 23f, Numbers 28f, and reinforced through Deuteronomy as Law!
Jude says:
Why do the rastafarian have sabbath? I came in to ask that but I see no one has asked this, anyone, if you know, plz share. Thx!
Robert says:
Yes, High Sabbaths can happen on any day of the week. What makes the Passover holiday unique is that there are TWO consecutive high Sabbaths. Leviticus 23:5-7 5) “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s Passover. 6) And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7) In the first day you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein”
Herman Broxton says:
Christ had to be in the ground a full day before you can count it as a day. I take the stance that he was buried on Wednesday and rose sometime during the Sabbath. Remember, God doesn't count days the way they are counted today. Go back to the Old Testament. A full day starts at evening and ends at evening, begins at sundown and ends at sundown.
Marilyn says:
I am so thankful I found this Question and Answer. It basically supports what I discovered with my research. I only disagree with the two Sabbaths being back to back. This does not allow a preparation period for the women to make the spices and ointments for Christ. The bible says the women returned and prepared spices and ointments and THEN rested on the sabbath day. After taking Christ off the cross, anointing his body, and laying him in the tomb there were no more non-sabbath hours left for them to travel home and prepare spices and ointments because any minute now the the Holy Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened bread was coming. . Luke 23 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. In Luke 23:56 that Sabbath day is SINGULAR. I think the following timeline harmonizes with everything in the scripture. Buried on our Wednesday between 3 and 6 pm because the their High Sabbath was approaching at 6 pm. That is the point - they could not bury anyone on a Holy Day, Our Wednesday night - Thursday day was their High Sabbath Holy Day. (1st full night and day in the tomb) Our Thursday night - Friday day was their Preparation Day for the normal weekly sabbath and they used it to make burial spices and ointments. (2nd full night and day in the tomb) Our Friday Night - Saturday day was their normal Sabbath. (3rd full night and day in the tomb) Sometime between our Saturday night and our Sunday morning he arose. We don't know the exact time he arose. We just know what time they found him missing from the tomb. Thank you.
Elaine says:
You DO need to get rid of the FALSE good ( evil) Friday man made , catholic tradition! Have you not read where it says that YHWH HATES man made traditions???? It needs to go. Yahusha , they say , was crucified on Wed and from Tues night to Wed night is the 14th. Wed night ( sundown to sundown ) would be the 15th and the first day of ULB. The Passover would have been eaten before and into the night, until the daylight of the 15th. Then from Wed night to Thurs night is 2nd of ULB and so on for seven days completed, evening to evenings. Yahusha would have been in the grave BEFORE the Passover meal on Wed before sundown and risen when Shabbat was ending Sat night sundown. Get RID of ALL man made traditions that people think worship Him. He told us how to love Him. It’s to OBEY! Keep His Torah commands and the mail ones to follow now, that we are able are; Lev 23 Lev 11 Deut 14 Our salvation depends on obedience and those commands were MOT NAILED s some of these wolves in sheeps clothing tells us. You need to read from the Beginning and also LEARN who ISRAEL is. Watch TRUTHUNEDITED for many excellent videos. Of course have Bible in hand.
Desmond Owusu says:
I think Jesus was crucified on Wednesday. Jesus died and was buried on Wednesday evening. From Wednesday evening to Thursday evening day one, from Thursday evening to Friday evening day two and Friday evening to Saturday evening day three and He resurrected on early Sunday at dawn that complete the whole 3days 3nights
nev says:
3 days/3nights in the heart of the earth suffering for sins of people on earth not time in the tomb. O.T often refers to the people on earth as the earth. Rising the third day has to be Friday to 1st day of week our Sunday as the 2 on the road to Emmaus said. There 's much more. Crucifixion date was Fri, 3rd april, 33AD. the date of the evening eclipse of the moon over Jerusalem. Joel ch2 and Acts ch 2.
Tom says:
You made reference to the original Greek text. You do not have the primal Greek text. This is deception also known as lying.
Andy says:
When he says that sabbath was a high sabbath, to me it reads this saturday was a special saturday. It could be they fell on the same day. This coming Sabbath is a high Sabbath.