Did Jesus Really Die On Friday, Rise On Sunday, And Remain In The Grave Less Than Two Days?

There is much error in what we are being taught concerning Easter, which is Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Many have made an honest effort to construct a framework for Easter that satisfies all questions, but it has been difficult. The same Pharisee influence that orchestrated Christ’s death on the cross continues in our churches, putting obstacles in the path to our understanding of what happened at Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The only way I have found to reconcile all accounts of events is to use God’s Feasts as the key. Through this key, the narrative flows beautifully.

Common church observance of Easter is to observe Christ’s death on “Good Friday” evening, and Christ’s resurrection on Sunday morning at daybreak. However, it is important to understand that Jesus was in the grave 3 full days. This is established in prophecy, in Christ’s own words, and in other scripture. Why 3 days? According to the Talmud, Jewish burial practices tried to ensure that the dead were truly dead. A person was not considered as indeed dead until after 3 days. God wanted us to know that a miracle had indeed occurred.

Verses that attest that Jesus was in the grave 3 days

When Jesus was 12 years old, he and his parents went on their yearly trip to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. When it was finished, Mary and Joseph began their journey home but did not see him. After 3 days they found him in the temple, sitting with the teachers.  Luke 2:41-50.  This is prophetic.

But he (Jesus) 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 Jonah; For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  Matthew 12:39,40

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.  Jonah 1:17

From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  Matthew 16:21

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and by the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  Mark 8:31

Saying (Jesus), “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day”.  Luke 9:22

Jesus answered, and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”… he spoke of the temple of his body.  John 2:19, 21b

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”.  Matthew 28:62-63

Jesus talked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus the day of his resurrection, and he asked them “What manner of communications are these that ye have one with another, as ye walk, and are sad?” One disciple replied “…But we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel; and, besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done.”  Luke 24:17,21.  A better translation is the Syrian N.T.: “…and lo, three days have passed since all these things have occurred”.

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.  1 Corinthians 15:4

Chronology of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

For whatever things were written in earlier times were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.  Romans 15:4

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Leviticus 23:1-2. (The Hebrew word for convocation is ‘miqra’, which means ‘assembly/convocation and rehearsal’. The Hebrew word for feasts is ‘moed’, which means ‘a fixed time or season, appointed time’.)

The feasts of the Lord are a remembrance of significant things in the past, and a rehearsal of things that will happen in the future. The Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread are a template of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. I give here a basic outline of these feasts. Note that days on the Sanhedrin Jewish calendar begin at approximately sundown of the previous day, while days on the original Hebrew calendar begin at day break.

Abib 10 (Saturday)- Preparation for Passover, involving selecting a suitable lamb for Passover sacrifice. (Exodus 12:3)

Abib 13 (Tuesday)- This is the first day of two days of preparation for Passover.

Abib 14 (Wednesday)- This is the second day of preparation. Slaughter of lamb at 3pm, in preparation for Passover seder to be observed after dark.

Abib 15 (Thursday)- First day of Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a High Sabbath and day of rest. Passover meal is observed after dusk, which began the day. And they shall eat the meat in that night (now Thursday), roasted with fire, they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Exodus 12:8

Abib 16 (Friday)- In Leviticus 23, Israelites were told that when they crossed into the promised land and reaped a harvest, priests were to present a sheaf of first fruits to wave before the Lord, which was unleavened barley bread.

Abib 17 (Saturday)- the weekly Sabbath, a day of rest.

Abib 18 (Sunday)- The 1^st day of the week. Counting 50 days from this date is the Feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost in Greek. On Pentecost, Israelite priests were to present 2 loaves of leavened wheat bread to wave before the Lord, as first fruits of the wheat harvest.

Chronology of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection

Note the correlation of the above feasts to the following timeline of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. I invite you to examine supporting scripture.

Abib 10 (Saturday)- Jesus enters Jerusalem, with the crowd laying palms before him and praising his worthiness. They were examining him and acknowledging him as the Messiah.  Matthew 21:10,11

Abib 13 (Tuesday)- Jesus instructs his disciples to prepare for Passover: Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, “Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?” And He said, “Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples”.  Matthew 26:17,18, Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:1-13. That evening’s activities blended into the next day, which started about 6pm.

Abib 14 (Wednesday)- The Passover meal (which included the Last Supper, or Lord’s Supper) was eaten that late evening. John spoke of Jesus dying before the Passover meal, on its day of its preparation. Matthew, Mark and Luke spoke of Jesus and the disciples celebrating Passover before his death. [Normally, unleavened bread is required to be eaten at a Passover meal, because it starts the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All traces of leaven has to be removed from the household before the meal. But according to Strong’s Concordance, the definition of the Hebrew word used for bread in this instance is not unleavened but leavened. Just as leaven spreads through bread to make it rise, the impurity of sin spreads through God’s kingdom to corrupt. When Jesus used leavened bread, he was reinforcing the command to go into all the world to spread the Kingdom. The message of his Word should now infiltrate all the world to bring the lost to him.]

Now when the evening was come (which began the day), he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, “Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me”.  Matthew 26:20,21.

Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said unto him, “You have said it.”  Matthew 26:25

When Jesus dismisses Judas to do what he was to do, John explains in his gospel that the rest of the disciples thought nothing of it since he kept the money bag and it was reasonable to think he might be sent to prepare for the true Passover. When they had sung a hymnal, they went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There Jesus went to pray 3 times, finding his disciples asleep each time at his return. It is there that Judas came and betrayed him with a kiss.   Matthew 26:30-56.

Jesus is bound and led to Annas and then Caiaphas the high priest. It is there that Peter denied Christ 3 times.  Matthew 26:57-75

Early Wednesday morning, Jesus is led bound to Pontius Pilate. Meanwhile, Judas tried to return to the chief priests and elders the 30 pieces of silver they paid him for his betrayal, and then killed himself.  In Matthew’s wording in Matthew 27: 2-10, Judas hanged or otherwise choked or strangled himself to death. It is said that under Jewish law temple sacrifices could not be performed if there was a dead body inside the walls of Jerusalem. To remedy this problem, Judas’ body was cast over the city wall and his “bowels gushed out”. Luke describes Judas in Acts 1:18-19 “…and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out“.

The crowd wanted Jesus crucified. Pilate saw no fault in him, and sent him to Herod. Herod treated Jesus with contempt, mocking him. Jesus was sent back to Pilate. Mark 23:1-12.  John 18:28 says the Jews did not go into the judgement hall, because they did not want to be defiled before eating Passover (observance was to be that evening).

Pilate saw no fault in Jesus and wanted to release him. It was customary to release one prisoner at the feast, and the crowd wanted Barabbas released, not Jesus. Pilate granted their request to have Jesus crucified. He was scourged and delivered to be crucified.  Mark 23:13-26.

The soldiers of the governor stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. They put a crown of twisted thorns on Jesus’ head and mocked him. They spit on him and struck him on the head. Then they led him away to be crucified.  Matthew 27:27-31. Genesis 3 reveals the ground was cursed with thorns as a result of man’s sin, and Jesus symbolically took that curse on himself by wearing the crown of thorns.

The soldiers found a man named Simon to bear his cross to Golgotha. Matthew 27:32-33

At Golgotha soldiers gave Jesus sour wine mingled with gall to drink. Jesus tasted, but did not drink.  Matthew 27:34. Note gall is defined as the contents of the gallbladder; bile (proverbial for its bitterness).

They crucified Jesus at 9am, and parted his garments among them by casting lots.  Matthew 27:35-36

They put over his head the accusation written against him, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews”.  Matthew 27:37

Two robbers were crucified on either side of Jesus. Matthew 27:38, Luke 23:33

There was darkness for three hours, from noon to 3pm.  Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33

About 3pm, Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Someone put sour wine on a sponge and offered it to Jesus. Jesus cried out again, and yielded up his spirit.  Matthew 27:46-50

The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.  Matthew 27:51.

The Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross into the coming high sabbath day. They besought Pilate that the legs should be broken for a quicker death, and the bodies taken away. The legs of the other two were broken, but seeing that he was already dead they did not break his legs. One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear instead, and immediately flowed from his side blood and water. John says this fulfilled scripture saying a bone of him shall not be broken, and they shall look on him who they pierced. Psalm 34:20, Zechariah 12:10. Note the Passover lamb was to be roasted and eaten without breaking a bone. Also note as Adam’s wife was created from a rib taken from his side, Christ’s blood for our salvation was taken from Jesus’s side.

According to Ron Wyatt, who has claimed to have discovered the ark of the covenant, the ark was hidden directly below by the temple priests. When the rocks split, a crack formed at the base of the cross, and Jesus’ blood dripped onto the ark of the covenant just as priests had sprinkled blood onto it in sacrifice.

When evening had come, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, and with Nicodemus took and wrapped it in clean linen, and laid it in his new tomb. He rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and left. He wanted to be done by dark, because according to Jewish custom a body not buried by dark was cursed. Isaiah 21:5,6; Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:52-54.

Abib 15 (Thursday)- (high holy day sabbath) The apostles and family rested.

Matthew 27:62-66 says the chief priests and Pharisees met with Pilate on that day, and arranged to have the tomb sealed and guards posted.

Abib 16 (Friday)- The women made their purchases of spices, and prepared them. Mark 16:1 The Marys could not have purchased the spices after the sabbath and have those spices prepared before the sabbath unless there were two sabbaths.

Abib 17 (Saturday)- (weekly sabbath) The apostles and family rested.

If Jesus was resurrected just before sundown Saturday, that would have fulfilled the prophecy to be in the grave 3 days. If he was resurrected any time before dawn the next morning, he would be in the grave slightly over 3 days. Accepted Jewish accounting of days has been sundown to sundown for many years, because in Genesis the creation account of each day ended with “…and the evening and the morning was the _ day.” They thought each day’s time started in the evening. However, original Hebrew time was kept from sunup to sunup as revealed by many scriptures. The above quote was actually a statement that creation happened and then the evening and early morning was the _day. Both cases affirm that he is Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5

Abib 18 (Sunday)- Mary Magdalene and the other Mary brought the prepared spices to the tomb very early Saturday morning, before it was fully light and about to be Sunday. They discovered the tomb empty. Mark 16:2,  John 20:1

There was an earthquake, and an angel spoke to them saying he is not here, he is risen. The angel did not say Jesus rose before light of morning, just that he was not there. A resurrection any time from just before the previous day’s dusk until dawn would be a sabbath day resurrection. When Mary was leaving the tomb to tell the disciples, she saw Jesus. She was the first one to see Jesus. He directed her to not touch him, as he had not yet ascended to the Father. A better translation is to not hold onto him. Don’t hold onto his earthly form.

First New Testament manuscripts had no spaces or punctuation between capitalized Greek letters. Mark 16:9 appears in some translations translated according to traditional beliefs: “Now when He rose on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons“. However, in harmony with the rest of scripture, it should appear “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“.

Mary told the disciples what she saw, and they didn’t believe her.

Two disciples walking toward Emmaus met and talked with Jesus, not recognizing him. He ate with them, and disappeared. They told Jesus it had been 3 days since the crucifixion. (the Greek word for since here means ‘away from’ or ‘after’. Therefore, a better translation of Luke 24:21,22 would be “…and lo, three days have passed since all these things have occurred”.)

Later that evening, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples in a shut room. There he told Thomas to touch him.

50 days from this day the disciples met in an upper room, observing the feast of Pentecost and praying together. While there, the Holy Spirit came upon them. Acts 2:1-3

The original Hebrew calendar was so constructed that dates fell on the same day each year.

Passover and other feast dates presently fall on different days each year. This makes it difficult or impossible to keep feasts properly. It is important to find a way to do so.

The present Jewish calendar was imposed when the Pharisees of Hasmonean origin changed it at the fall of the second temple to follow the moon as pagan religions were accustomed. The Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem proclaimed each new month based on eyewitness testimony of a new moon sighting. The year ends up 11 days short of a solar year, so seven times every 11 years the twelfth month of Adar is repeated. There is considerable creeping of seasons and feast days.

Pharisees took care to change wording of scripture in the Talmud so that references to a ‘new month’ would appear as a ‘new moon’. They eliminated the books of Jubilees, Enoch, and Esdras from their library, so people would forget how to formulate the calendar properly.

Only recently, after diligent research, has a Hebrew calendar been constructed such that seasons do not creep and feast dates remain on the same day of the week each year. The calendar is often referred to as the Zadok calendar, because it is derived from information passed down from the original temple priests of the line of Zadok. The temple priests were forced to flee the temple to the caves of Qumran about 165BC, and scrolls were discovered there in 1948. This was the year Israel was recognized as a nation.  Works found there-the Talmud, Enoch, Jubilees, Esdras-were very well known to priests at the time of King David and Jesus Christ. It is only by the use of these works that a suitable calendar has been constructed. I should have a post describing this calendar on this website soon, but the calendar may be accessed on the internet at zadokway.com.

Summary

Though days and dates no longer match up year to year, feast dates and their significance never change. With added information given by New Testament authors, the chronology of the week Jesus died falls easily into place. This section of the Bible is less confusing.

Christ had his last supper as part of the traditional Passover meal Tuesday evening, on the day of preparation for traditional Passover observance Wednesday evening. The Tuesday evening observance was a type for the traditional Wednesday evening observance, to relate to it. He was crucified on Wednesday, and was buried before sundown of that day. As Jews in that period began their day at sundown and Jews in an earlier period began their day at dawn, he arose on Saturday sometime between just before sundown and dawn of the next day. Christ was in the grave 3 full days, rising on Saturday. The church, not God, changed God’s day of rest from the sabbath to Sunday, using the justification Jesus rose on Sunday changing everything to a new covenant. This is in error.

We should be ever striving to overcome pagan influences that cloud our understanding as of the circumstances of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. When we discover truth, God is pleased to see us make changes showing acceptance of the truth. That truth puts our relationship with God on a more firm foundation.

 

*It is said that we stand on the shoulders of giants. I’d like to acknowledge Roy Reinhold, Hebrew scholar and creator of the website Prophecy Truths, at http://ad2004.com/prophecytruths/indexB.html. I first became interested in wrestling the truth from difficult to understand scripture when reading Roy, about 15 years ago. I am also indebted to Timothy Jay Schwab and his team at The God Culture for leading me to see that the key to understanding the timeline of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is to examine God’s feast that predicted it. Lastly, I am thankful for the tremendous research done on the Hebrew calendar by Jerry Morris and other researchers at Zadokway.com/2018/08/Zadok-calendar-in-the-dead-sea-scrolls-jerry-morris.