Troublesome Topic: DID JESUS DIE ON WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY OR FRIDAY?
Lesson 10 of 14Does Christian tradition follow the Bible in ascribing specific days to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus?
I trust you will be willing to answer that question after you have looked at all the evidence.
The first major piece of this puzzle is Matthew 12:40, where Jesus said He would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
It is impossible to get three days and three nights in the tomb if Jesus died on Friday afternoon and rose on Sunday morning. One can find part of three days but not part of three nights. So we know He had to be in the tomb longer than we have been taught traditionally, but how much longer? When did his time in the tomb start and when did it end?
Here are all the time-related statements in the burial and resurrection narratives of the four Gospels. The first time around, I have divided them into days without giving them our names for the days of the week, only referring to them by the type of day each one was.
DAY OF PREPARATION FOR THE SABBATH (it was also PASSOVER)
Mt 27: 57 as evening approached Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate.
Mt 27:61 The women were sitting opposite the tomb as Jesus’s body was entombed.
Mk 15:42 It was preparation day, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
Mk 15:46 Josheph bought a linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen.
Lk 23:54 It was preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin.
Lk 23 55 The women saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.
Jn 19:31 It was the day of preparation, the next day was a high/special Sabbath.
Jn 19:39-40 Nicodemus brought 75 Lbs. of spices, the two men wrapped Jesus’ body in strips of cloth, with the spices, in accordance with Jewish burial law.
Jn 19:42 The two men chose that tomb because it was close and because it was the day of preparation and Sabbath was coming soon.
HIGH (SPECIAL) SABBATH – The Feast of Unleavened Bread began with a special Sabbath and ended with a special Sabbath, regardless of what day of the week they fell on. This was the first special Sabbath.
Mt 27:62 The next day, the one after preparation day, the religious leaders went to Pilate to ask that the tomb be guarded.
REGULAR DAY BETWEEN TWO SABBATHS
Mk 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, the women bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body.
LK 23:56 The women went home and prepared spices and perfumes.
NORMAL SABBATH
Lk 23:56 But they (the women) rested on the Sabbath.
FIRST DAY OF THE WORK WEEK
Mt 28:11 After the women left the tomb to go tell the disciples that the tomb was empty, some of the guards went into the city to report to the chief priests everything that had happened.
Mk 16:2 Very early on the first day of the week, the women were on their way to the tomb.
Mk 16:5 The women “entered the tomb.”
Lk 24:1 On the 1st day of the week, very early, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
Jn 20:1 On the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb …
When exactly did the Jewish day end and the next begin?
The following comments are from https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/526873/jewish/The-Jewish-Day.htm
“A Jewish day goes from nightfall to nightfall.”
Definition of Nightfall
“While a day starts and ends at nightfall, the exact moment when night — and the next calendar date — begins is not clear.”
“The twilight period, from sunset (“shekiah”) until three stars are visible in the sky (“tzeit hakochavim“), is an “iffy” time period, known as “bein hashmashot.” “
“Shabbat and all the holidays begin at sunset, the earliest possible definition of nightfall, and end when three stars appear in the sky the next evening, the latest definition of nightfall.”
MY THOUGHTS ON THIS ISSUE
The Passover ram was killed on the 14th day of Nissan, at sunset, according to Ex 12:6. All the Biblical passages that specify a day, say the Passover ram should be killed on the 14th day. Therefore, they did so just before the sun was fully down so it would count as part of the 14th day of Nissan. It was eaten after sunset, on the 15th day.
The Passover is a ceremony, not a day, thus it could span part of two days without any problem (see https://www.bibleresearch.org/–/passover-observance/the-new-testament-passover-in-chronological-harmony).
We are told that Nicodemus “brought” spices (Jn 19:39-20) and that Joseph of Arimathea “bought” linen (Mk 15:46). Neither act would have been a violation of that day. They had very little time to do it, so they got what they needed very quickly, probably with the help of servants.
It is obvious that Joseph and Nicodemus had to rush to get Jesus’ body buried before the Special Sabbath began, at which point they should not be touching a dead body. Even touching it on a regular day made them unclean. This was not a regular day, it was Passover. But, since it was also the day of preparation for the Special Sabbath to follow, they were allowed to buy things and do other normal activities during most of that day. In reality it was, and still is, a day of much shopping and activity. They had to get everything they needed before the High Sabbath started.
I believe those two men finished wrapping the body of Jesus and rolled the stone over the opening of the tomb just before, or just at sunset, the moment when all of the sun dropped over the horizon and went out of site for their specific location. That was the moment Sabbath began.
The shops were closed a little before dusk on this day, the time when people should be killing their Passover ram, and there was no daylight left by the time the men were done placing Jesus’ body in the tomb, with the women watching them do it. This means that the women could not possibly have purchased spices before the special Sabbath began.
Therefore, Jesus’ body was not in the tomb enough of the day of preparation to be counted. Its time in the tomb started at the beginning of the Special Sabbath – one night and one day. During that Sabbath the priests went to Pilate to ask for the tomb to be guarded.
The next day after the Special Sabbath was a normal day and the women mentioned by name were able to go to the market and buy spices and prepare them (Mk 16:1 & LK 23:56). They could not, or did not, buy them already prepared like Nicodemus did; they had to cut and grind the spices themselves. But the process of preparing the spices took a long time and they must not have had enough time to got to the tomb and add them to the spices used by Joseph and Nicodemus, because the text specifically says they waited till after the Sabbath (the regular Sabbath) and that the morning of the first day of the week they took the spices with them to the tomb, only to find it empty!
The only mention of the regular Sabbath is that the women rested on the Sabbath and waited to take the spices to the tomb the following day.
We all know that the empty tomb was discovered on Sunday Morning.
Let’s count the days.
Wednesday was the Day of Preparation, as well as Passover. This was the day Jesus died, at about 3 pm. But His body was not buried in time for any of Wednesday to count as being in the tomb.
Thursday was the special Sabbath. The count started with the beginning of this Special Sabbath, night then day. This was the first night and the first day Jesus’ body was in the tomb.
Friday was a day for buying things and preparing for the regular Sabbath that would follow it. This was the second night and the second day that Jesus’ body was in the tomb.
Saturday was the regular Sabbath. This was the third 24-hour period Jesus’ body was in the tomb, starting at sundown, and ending after the end of the day light hours, when three stars could be seen.
Sunday started with night fall (measured by when three stars could be seen). But we already have three full days and three full nights counted. Thus, we must assume that Jesus was not in the tomb any part of the night before the disciples found the tomb to be empty on Sunday morning.
I think the body of Jesus was infused with life once again and removed from the tomb at the transition point between Sabbath and the beginning of the Night portion of Sunday.
I believe that it was during that gap, between sunset at the end of Sabbath and dawn on Sunday, that Jesus descended to the lower regions (Eph 4:9), and made proclamations to those held in prison who had disobeyed God long ago (I Peter 3:19-20) and were being held in waiting until the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The stone covering the entrance to the tomb was not removed so that Jesus could get out, but so that humans could see in! We do not know for sure when the stone was moved. The text makes is sound like it may have been just before dawn on Sunday, accompanied by an earthquake to show that God had done something amazing. The earthquake got everyone’s attention and proved that the power of God had done something. It does not prove Jesus rose at dawn, for the rising of Jesus would mean nothing apart from the demonstration or proof thereof, i.e. the removing of the stone.
It appears that, while the women were there looking at the empty tomb, the guards were still unconscious. If the guards had been awake and doing their duty, the women would not have felt as free to enter the tomb. Mk 16:5 says the women “entered the tomb.” Mt 28:11 tells us that it was shortly after the women left, and while the women were still on their way to tell the disciples, that some of the guards went to tell the High Priest. This means they woke up after the women left and quickly discusses what they should do.
WHEN DID SUNDAY REPLACE SATURDAY AS THE PRIMARY DAY OF WORSHIP?
The early church gathered and worshipped every day of the week (Acts 2:36). Those who were Jews kept showing respect for the Sabbath as well as for Sunday.
According to https://christianeducatorsacademy.com/the-surprising-history-of-sunday-worship-when-did-christians-start-going-to-church-on-sunday/ “One of the earliest references to Sunday worship can be found in the writings of Justin Martyr, an early Christian apologist who lived in the second century. In his writings, Justin describes how Christians would gather together on Sunday to read the Scriptures, listen to a sermon, and partake in the Lord’s Supper.” “Over time, Sunday worship became more organized and structured. By the fifth century, Sunday had become the official day of worship for the Christian Church. This was largely due to the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine, who declared Sunday a day of rest and worship throughout the Roman Empire.”
Thus we see that in the time of Justin Martyr, Sunday was important, but it had not yet become primary. When Constantine declared that everyone born into the Roman Empire was born a Christian, he stripped Christianity of almost all of its meaning. Therefore, a tradition that developed in such a manner holds no or little meaning to me.
The keys to understanding the timing of Jesus’ death and burial involve the following:
1) understanding the idea of having more than one Sabbath during this time, a special Sabbath and a normal Sabbath, 2) the statement that the women went and bought spices, which could not have happened on the day Jesus died, nor on one of the Sabbaths, 3) the women rested on the regular Sabbath.
Notice that two of these keys are based on statements about the women. It seems like God was elevating and honoring the daughters of Eve, who for millennia had carried the shame of having been the first to sin in the garden of Eden. More than once God gave women a special place narrative of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Why is this important?
First we need to take the words of Jesus seriously. If He said He would be in the earth three days and three nights, we need to believe Him. We also need to be careful about how much credence we give to traditions. This is another case in which I have come to realize that Christian traditions should be held lightly because some of them have been shown to be ill-founded.