Most Christians believe that Jesus died on Friday at 3 pm and resurrected before sunrise Sunday (~ 6:00 AM Standard Time), which is elapsed time of 40 hours, less than 2 days; but Bible repeatedly says "3 days & 3 nights"
[Mat 12:40 KJV] "40 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."
Is "3 days & 3 nights" merely an idiom, a shorthand expression, that we mis-interpret, as it wasn't meant to be literal?
If Jesus died Friday at 3 PM, that might count for a part of a day for day #1, Friday night is night #1, Saturday day is day #2, Saturday night is night #2, Sunday morning is some part of day #3, but we are still missing a third night in this cockeyed accounting. From Friday afternoon to Sunday sunrise, there is no reasonable interpretation to get 3 days & 3 nights.
In the Old Testament, Esther calls a fast for 3 days and three nights in Esther 4:16, so as to prepare for Esther going before the King. In Esther 5:1, Esther goes before the King on the 3rd day (ie. not after the 3rd day is over). Therefore to count properly, we must have at least a part of the day or night to count it.
This same counting is also used for the 8 days after birth for the male baby circumcision (Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3; Philippians 3:5); even if just a minute of a day remains, it counts as a full day.
This is similar to parking garage fees of today: $4 per hour, or any part thereof. If you overstay by 1 minute, you pay for a full additional hour.
Even here, Friday 3 PM to Sunday sunrise cannot be stretched by any means, into 3 days and 3 nights.
Erroneous Explanation #1
Some people try to propose that the new day starts at sundown, and so then you have a part day on Friday, full 24 hrs for Saturday, and then assumes that Sunday starts at sundown Saturday, so that is allegedly "3 days". However, this is not "3 days and 3 nights", so it also requires the explaining away of this biblical text as an idiom.
However, this mediocre explanation also creates numerous conflicts in the Bible, as I will show below.
Others try to be creative with the definition of "heart of the esrth", by conveniently re-defining it to mean
"incarceration, judgement, crucifixion, death, burial) where he remained until his resurrection on Sunday morning".
Jesus was arrested some time between Tuesday sundown (ie. after The Last Supper), and before Wednesday sunrise. In this case, they have Tues. evening as night #1, Wed. day as day #1, Wed. night as night #2, Thur. day as day #2, Thurs. night as night #3, Fri. day as day #3, Friday night as night #4, Sat. day as day #4, Sat. night as night #5. This clearly conflicts with Mat 12:40.
What is the truth?
I suggest Jesus was crucified on Preparation Day, dying at 3 pm (ie. the 9th hour, by ancient Biblical reckoning), with Passover beginning at sundown on that same Preparstion Day.
Based solely on the Bible, I suggest Jesus died on Nisan 14, Preparation Day, which is likely equivalent to Wednesday April 14, 32 AD, according to today's Gregorian calendar system.
The sequence of events, according to the Bible is:
- Jesus asks the disciples to make preparations for Passover, as a group in the Upper Room, in Jerusalem.
- Disciples prepare the Upper Room.
- On Tuesday evening, Jesus & disciples gather in the Upper Room for the Last Supper, communion, exposure of a traitor, footwashing.
- Judas leaves early so as to betray Jesus
- Jesus and 3 disciples retire to the garden to pray and watch.
- Judas returns late Tuesday night with soldiers, so as to betray Jesus, then arrest him.
- Jesus taken to the Chief Priest's residence, Peter follows.
- Jesus is questioned, accussed, mocked, & assaulted. Peter denies Jesus 3 times, then the cock crows as the sunrise approaches Wednesday morning.
- Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilot, then Harod, then back to Pilot, then sentenced to death by crucifixion early Wednesday morning, which is Preparation Day, before Passover begins at sundown.
- Jesus is beaten, flogged, and mocked. Jesus' crucifixion starts around 9 AM Wednesday.
- Jesus dies at about 3 PM Wednesday, Preparation Day, prior to Passover at sundown.
- Jesus' followers seek permission to receive Jesus' dead body.
- Passover begins at sundown Wednesday.
- During Wednesday night, Jesus' body is eventually taken down off the cross, then transported to the tomb.
- Jesus is in His tomb, the heart of the Earth, on or just before Thursday sunrise, as Passover is coming to an end, and the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread is about to begin.
- Roman guards arrive and seal the tomb door Thursday morning, during the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.
- Jesus' body rests in His tomb for 3 full days (ie. 3 days & 3 nights).
- Jesus is resurrected on or before sunrise on Sunday morning.
Jesus died at 3 PM (ie. Biblical 9th hour), at exactly the correct time, with all of the Passover lambs.
Josephus tells us that 256,500 animal were typically sacrificed at the Jerusalem Temple between the 9th and 11th hour on Preparation Day (Bellum Jud., Book VI, Chapter 9, Verse 3), https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/war-6.html ) so Jesus died right on-time as a Sacrificial Lamb of God.
Luke 23:53-54 tells us that Jesus was placed in His tomb just before sunrise of the High Sabbath Unleavened Bread, which is sunrise Thursday morning, at first light.
[Luk 23:53-54 KJV] 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
Here are the same verses with Strong's Numbers turned on:
[Luk 23:53-54 KJV] 53 And[G2532] he took[G2507][G0] it[G846] down,[G2507] and wrapped[G1794] it[G846] in linen,[G4616] and[G2532] laid[G5087] it[G846] in[G1722] a sepulchre[G3418] that was hewn in stone,[G2991] wherein[G3757] never[G3756] man[G3764] before[G3762] was[G2258] laid.[G2749] 54 And[G2532] that day[G2250] was[G2258] the preparation,[G3904] and[G2532] the sabbath[G4521] drew on.[G2020]
As you can see, "drew on" in KJV is the English translation for Strong's G2020.
Note in the Bible's Greek source text, Luke used the word "epiphosko", Strong's G2020, meaning "to dawn, begin, shine forth; used of the reckoned commencement of the day, to be near commencing, to dawn on. G2020 is only used twice in the Bible: Mat 28:1, Lk. 23:54;
Both of these verses also help prove that God's day begins at sunrise, not at sunset as practiced by Jews & Muslims today (a corruption by reliance on the Babylonian customs).
If God's day truly began at sunset, then it could not still be Preparation Day as it dawned towards the sabbath (ie. the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread), as declared in Luke 23:54.
Similarly, if God's day truly began at sunset, it could not still be Sabbath as it dawned towards the first day of the week, as described in Mat. 28:1.
In the alternative, both Mat. 28:1 and Luke 23:53-54 are exactly true and fully correct if God's day begins at sunrise.
I believe the Bible is God-breathed, written by men as inspired by God. God promised to protect His word from corruption, or passing away. Therefore, the Bible is one of our few sources of truth; most everything else is frail human opinions, often biased, coloured, or deceived.
For 13 additional proofs that God's day begins at sunrise, see: https://et-manitoulin.blogspot.com/2019/05/gods-day-when-does-it-start.html?m=1
Mat. 28:1 tells us that the women came to wrap the body of Jesus early on Sunday morning, just before sunrise, but Jesus' body was already gone, as He had risen.
From Thursday sunrise to Sunday sunrise is exactly 3 days & 3 nights in the heart of the earth, exactly as Jesus said He would.
Please explain the above to every Christian you can find, so that they know the truth.
*** Updated 2025-04-04 ***
Index: God's Day: When does it Start?