Three
Days and Three Nights
The easiest way
to misinterpret the Bible is to take
modern-day, English-language definitions and apply them to these documents
written thousands of years ago in foreign languages. Myriad fanciful and plausible interpretations or even entire
doctrines have been formed and believed by thousands in this manner (see
appendix 1, “Plausible Interpretations” for examples). Yet if it is truth and
correct interpretations we wish to arrive at, we need to understand the
culture, language, and especially the idioms
of the original writers.
The erroneous
doctrine arrived at by ignoring this background that we will examine in this
article is that of a Wednesday (or Thursday) crucifixion. Here is the logic people give for a Wednesday crucifixion:
“One cannot get three days and three
nights (Matthew
This
is the result of trying to use literal
Western thinking and applying it to the text, implying that there should be
a full 72 hours between the crucifixion and the resurrection. We will see that
that is not the intent of the passage.
We will also see
how this entire doctrine is based on a
single figurative text, and ignores dozens and dozens of others.
Futhermore, we will not presume that this figure of speech (or any others) had
the meanings in Jesus’ day that we would assign to them today. We must elicit the meaning of
Christ’s prophecy in the context of the times in which it was given, if we are
to correctly understand it.
In our modern
tongue, we do not speak in terms of “days and nights”. If someone is going to
go on a two week trip, he would either announce that he is going to be gone for
two weeks, for fourteen days, or in British countries, a fortnight. In this day and age it would be unusual for him to say
he would be gone for “fourteen days and fourteen nights”. If we were to use the specific language today
and say a man was to be sentenced to serve three days and three nights in
prison, he would have to remain there 72 hours.
However, the
Scriptures are not so rigid when they speak of three days and three
nights.However, this was a common Hebrew
expression, and we will see this idiom,
or figure of speech used over and over in Scripture.
One thing you
will notice is the fact that this Hebrew
idiom always had the same number of
days and nights. For example:
The flood lasted
for forty days and forty nights —
Genesis 7:4, 12
Moses fasted forty days and forty nights — Exodus
24:18
Job's so-called
friends sat with him seven days and seven
nights — Job 2:13
Jonah was in the
fish three days and three nights — Jonah
Jesus fasted for
forty days and forty nights — Matthew
4:2
No
Hebrew-speaking person in Christ’s day would have spoken of “seven days and SIX
nights,” or “three days and TWO nights”, even
if this was the period of time he was describing. The colloquialism always spoke of an equal number of days and nights.
Inclusive
Reckoning
Most
significantly, if a Jew wished to speak
of a period of three days which covered only two nights, he would have to speak of three days and three nights. This is
demonstrated in the following examples of periods of less than 72 hours
expressed as “three days and three nights”.
Genesis 42:17 tells us that Joseph put
his brothers “into ward three days”. Yet the very next verse says that Joseph
pulled them out and spoke to them “the third day”. Here Moses reckons the time
inclusively.
In Genesis 17:12, God declared that boys were
to be circumcised when they were “eight days old”. However, Leviticus 12:3
states that it was to be done “in the eighth day”. Even as careful as Luke was
to weed out Hebrew idioms in his Gospel, in Luke
In I Samuel 30:12 there is an account of an abandoned Egyptian
servant who “had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.” The idiomatic usage of this
expression is clearly shown in the following verse, where the Egyptian servant
complains that his master left him behind “three
days ago” (verse 13). If the “three days and three nights” were meant to be
taken literally, the servant would have said that he had been left behind four days before.
In 1 Kings 12:5,
Rehoboam said to Jeroboam and his followers: “Depart yet for three days, then come again to me.” We see in in the verses
following that they came to him again the third day, which clearly is what the
king and all present understood that he had meant. In 2 Chronicles 10:5, the
same incident is recorded, but Rehoboam is made to say after three days
instead of yet for three days. Nevertheless, I Kings 12:12 and 2
Chronicles 10: 12 record that Jeroboam came on the third day.
The only reason
the people were able to meet with the king “after three days” yet at the same time “on the third day” is because “after three days” is an idiom that
points to “the third day.” The king did not mean to be gone for a full 72 hours. The
same day that the king told them to leave was the first day. The second day
they stayed away, and then they returned the third day, as the king had
intended.
Most
modern-language versions of the Bible have replaced “after three days” in this
passage with “in three days.” In English, “in three days” is more easily
understood as terminating on “the third day.”
Another example
of Inclusive Reckoning is found in 2 Kings 18:9-10:
“And it came to
pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of
“And at the end of three years they took it: even
the sixth year of Hezekiah, that
is the ninth year of Hoshea king
of
Notice that from the 7th
year of Hoshea to the 9th year of Hoshea was “at the end of three
years”. The 4th year of Hezekiah to his 6th year
was, of course, also “at the end of three years”. This is a prime example of
Inclusive Reckoning.
In Esther
Luke wrote his Gospel primarily for Gentiles.
In Luke 11:29-32, you will notice in his account of Christ’s declaration that
Luke completely leaves out any reference to “three days and three nights.” Luke left out the Hebrew idiom because he
knew the Gentiles would not understand it. Instead, in Luke
Rabbinic sources
confirm the usage of inclusive reckoning, as explicit examples for inclusive
day reckoning can be found in Rabbinic literature. In
the Jewish Talmud (Shabbath 9, 3; cf.) and the Babylonian
Talmud (Pesahim 4a), we read about Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, who lived
around 100 AD (making him a near contemporary of Jesus), making the following
statement: “A day and a night are an Onan [a portion of time] and the portion of an onan is as the whole of it.”
The Jewish
Encyclopedia points out that this practice of inclusive day reckoning is still in use among Jewish people today:
“In Jewish communal life part of a day is at times reckoned as one day; e.g.,
the day of the funeral, even when the latter takes place late in the afternoon,
is counted as the first of the seven days of mourning; a short time in the
morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes
place on the eighth day, even though on the first day only a few minutes
remained after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day” (vol.
IV, p.475).
These facts all
clearly demonstrate that in Hebrew terminology, “three days and three nights”
do not imply a full period of three actual days and three actual nights, but
speaks of any period that covers any part of the first and third days. The
important thing to note is that an equal number of days and nights were always
spoken of, even if the actual nights were one less than the days referred to. Since
we do not use this figure of speech today, we cannot form our understanding of
the prophecy based on our modern English usage. To do so would be to change the
meaning and misinterpret it.
We
will see that this is exactly the same manner of counting used for the
resurrection. It is inclusive in nature, with whatever portion of the first and
last days being counted as full days.
The Enemy
Agrees
“After three
days” is also found in Mark 8:31. But how can “after three days” mean the same time
period as “the third day”? “After three
days” in modern English means after 72 hours—that is, at least the fourth day.
Even the priests
who conspired against Christ demonstrate that they understood Christ’s
prediction that he would rise “after three days” in the common inclusive
reckoning. On the day after his crucifixion (Nisan 15), that is, after only one night, they went to
Pilate and said:
Sir, we remember, while he was still
alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise.” Therefore
command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his
disciples come by night and steal Him away. Matthew 27:63-64
Today, we would
understand the expression “after three
days” to mean any time on the fourth day; however, the Jews knew this referred to the third day. They were not
concerned to keep the tomb secured through three full nights, but only until the third day, after just two
nights. The Pharisees asked Pilot to secure the tomb only until “the third
day.” Their request to Pilate demonstrates that they took Christ’s words to
indicate that the fulfillment of the prophecy could be expected after only two
nights. If “after three days” was to be understood literally, the securing of
the tomb would have ended too soon. The Pharisees considered “after three days”
as ending on “the third day.”
It is clear that
the expressions “three days and three nights” and “after three days” do not in
any way mean three time periods of 24 hours each (72 full hours) as we would understand
them. When the Scriptures talk of three days and three nights, what is meant is
part of the first day or night, part of the third day or night, and, of course,
all the intervening time.
If we are going
to be dogmatic about the expression indicating 72 literal hours, we must be
consistent, and begin the 72 hour period with a day portion, and not a night
portion. The way that the Wednesday-Saturday theory is counted demands that
the phrase be inverted from the way it actually is; the count (according to
this theory) starts with night (Wednesday
night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, Saturday).
The phrase is not “three nights and
three days”, but rather “three days and three nights.” The Wednesday to
Saturday/72 hour theory demands that we ignore the sequence of counting as
given in God's Word, which begins with the day portion first. These are they
types of erroneous conclusions we will arrive at if we insist on counting the
time between Jesus' death and His resurrection with a stopwatch.
Note
that the passage does not say he
would be dead 3 days and 3 nights.
It does not say he would be in a rock hewn sepulchur 3 days and 3
nights. It does not say if he wasn't in the grave 3 days and 3
nights, he is not our Savior. All of these are faulty, human
interpretations of Matthew 12:40.
Jonah,
Jesus, and the Sign
“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.” Matthew 12:40
Jonah went from
the wood of the ship into the depth of the sea; Christ went from the wood of
the cross into the depths of darkness. Jonah had
reeds wrapped around his head; Christ had a crown of thorns on his. Jonah
gave himself to death to save those who had no concept of the living God;
Christ gave himself to death for a wicked world who was his enemy. Jonah rose
from the whale's belly and from the depth of the sea, to give the message of
salvation to a wicked city; Christ rose from the dead, to give salvation to
all.
Jonah was thrown
into the sea; Jesus was “delivered into the hands of sinful men” (Luke 24:7),
“delivered unto the Gentiles” (Luke
Thus, it is the comparison between the experience of Jonah and that of Christ
that is being referred to in the phrase, “the heart of the earth”. For a period
of time, Jonah was in a condition that illustrated the condition which Christ would for a
time be in. The experience in question is the time when Jonah was inside the
great fish. The living fish had actively taken Jonah into its own power, and
Jonah was completely under its control until he was cast forth upon the dry
land.
It is
significant to note that Jonah was not at the bottom of the sea, nor laid in some submarine cavern, nor in dead earth anywhere.
He was in a living monster which bore him whithersoever it would. Rather than
simply assume that being entombed in Joseph’s grave, we must look for a
corresponding experience by Christ to
understand the term, “in the heart of the earth”. As the sea monster was not a
lifeless grave but rather a living power, Christ must also be under the
dominion of a living power while in “the heart of the earth”. Since a living
fish is not a fit symbol of the grave, the comparison is faulty.
While the time
he would be in the grave would of course be included, that is not the condition
to which he was specifically referring to. He was not in the heart of the earth because he was in the grave, but
he was in the grave, incidentally, because he was in the heart of the earth —
he was under the control of a power which put
him in the grave, a power
corresponding to the living fish that had swallowed Jonah.
Since his birth,
Jesus had lived in intimate contact with his Father (see John
The Heart of the Earth
We will now
examine the meaning of the phrase, “in the heart of the earth.” A casual
reading of the verse has lead many to believe Christ was referring to the
grave. We will see that this is an erroneous and careless interpretation.
In the Bible,
language can be literal or figurative. The literal interpretation of the word
“heart” means the organ which circulates the blood in the body. Obviously, the
sense in which “heart of the earth” is used is not a literal but a figurative
one, since the earth does not contain a heart, in the literal sense.
One of the figurative
usages of “heart” would be “the seat of the affections, where you feel” (this
is a figurative usage, since we do
not actually love or feel emotion in our hearts). Again, this cannot be the
usage indicated.
A second
figurative usage would be “the part nearest the center”, as the heart of an apple or the heart of the country. However, this is not the usage in this passage, for
Christ was not buried four thousand miles
deep—he was not buried in the center of the earth. Is there anything about the
grave that would make such a figure appropriate? There is nothing whatsoever. If Jesus wanted it to mean grave, he
could easily have used the term “grave”, or “tomb” or “sepulture”, right?
The “heart of the earth” means something totally different.
The word “earth”
is most frequently used symbolically in the Scriptures to represent the inhabitants of the earth:
“And the whole
earth was of one language and of one
speech.” Genesis 11:1
“O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.” Jeremiah 22:29
God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5
“And Jesus,
knowing their thoughts [in his day] said, Wherefore
think ye evil in your hearts?” Matthew 9:4
When
David swore that God would help him to take the head of the giant Goliath, he
said, “that all the earth [all
mankind] may know that there is a God
in
These passages are
obviously not addressed to planet on which we live, but are used to denote the
inhabitants of the earth. The heart of the earth—mankind—was evil.
“For God is my
King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” Psalm 74:12 (see also
Ezekiel 38:12)
“This is
Jews were to
travel from every part of the earth to
Satan is
referred to as “the god of this world”, indicating that he is the head of the
prevailing multitudes who constitute are part of his “family” (see John
When Christ in
Verses which
specify “the third day” include those things which Jesus must suffer — not
simply his death. The whole process of humiliation was included in this “belly
of the fish” experience (Matthew
As Jonah was in
the stomach of the fish, under the control of a living monster which carried
him whithersoever it would, so Christ was under the dominion of living men and
devils. As Jonah prayed and cried out to God from the
fish's belly, so does our Savior pray and cry out to God from on the cross
(Matt 27:46). Christ could only offer his prayers and praise to the
Father before his voice was stilled by death; yet he was, as Jonah, “in the
heart of the earth” at the time.
“Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the
fish's belly, and said, I
cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou
heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed
me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.” Jonah 2:1-3
The
price paid on
Furthermore, the
statement that Jonah was in the belly of the fish “three days and three nights”
was not a declaration that he had been
there for 72 hours, but simply a way of expressing the fact that he was in
the fish so long that, apart from God's sustaining power, he was dead and
beyond the possibility of human resuscitation. The term “three days and three
nights” is intended as an approximation, not a precise period of seventy-two
hours.
The Sign
of the Prophet Jonas
Wednesday
Crucifixion adherents believe that the “sign of the prophet Jonah” was the
precise amount of time Jesus was in the tomb—72 hours. However, this position
ignores one crucial fact: no one witnessed the precise time of Jesus'
resurrection. How could the precise time of Jesus' resurrection be a
sign to that generation of Jews if no one was there to record that time? The
Jews of that generation would abide by Deuteronomy 19:15 which says, “A matter must be established by the testimony of two
or three witnesses.” Without those
witnesses, the precise time of Jesus' resurrection could not be a sign to that
generation of Jews.
Although Luke quotes
Jesus as referring to the “sign of Jonas,” or sign of Jonah, and as saying “for
as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,” He never mentions the “three days and
three nights.” This omission is excellent evidence that the precise amount of time Jonah was in the fish is not essential to
the sign of Jonah. The precise time Jonah was in the fish could not
possibly have been a sign to the Ninevites, since neither Jonah nor the
Ninevites would have had any possible way to determine or know the exact amount
of time Jonah was in the fish.
Although no one
witnessed the moment of Jesus' resurrection, there were witnesses to something
else. After His resurrection, Jesus explained what these people were witnesses
to: “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things” (Luke 24:45-48). Numerous scriptures confirm that the apostles were
witnesses that Jesus died and was resurrected. This is what is important, not some precise moment of time.
Rather than a
specific time that no one even witnessed, the sign of the prophet Jonah was the truth of Jesus' resurrection from the
dead that has resulted in the repentance and salvation of millions of
people.
The
Interchangeability of Terms
There are 21
passages of Scripture that quote 3-day expressions in reference to Christ’s
resurrection. Out of these 13 verses, only
once did Jesus say “after 3 days and three nights”, quoting Jonah
|
Until the third day |
Mt 27:64 give orders for the grave to be
made secure until the third day |
|
In three days |
Mt 26:61 rebuild it in three days Mt 27:40 rebuild it in three days Mk Mk Jn 2:19-21 in three days I will
raise it up |
|
On the third day |
Mt Mt Mt Lk Acts 1 Cor 15:4 raised on the third day |
|
The third day |
Lk Lk 24:7 the third day rise
again Lk 24:21 it is the third day since
these things happened Lk 24:46 rise
again from the dead the third day |
|
Three days later |
Mk Mk |
|
After three days |
Mt 27:63 After three days I am to rise again Mk |
|
Three days and three nights |
Mt 12:40 for just as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the
Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
Since the phrases “until the third day”, “in three days”,
“within three days”, “on the third day”, “the third day”, “three days later”,
“after three days” and “three days and three nights” are all obviously speaking of the same event, it is inarguable that the
terms are interchangeable, and all refer to a period of less than 72 hours, including
the term “three days and three nights”.
Furthermore, parellel passages in the Synoptic Gospels record the
same incident using different terms, again proving that “after three
days” and “on the third day” are interchangeable and
mean the same thing:
|
Mark |
Matthew |
Luke |
|
after three days |
on the third day |
on the third day |
|
after three days |
on the third day |
|
|
after three days |
on the third day Mt |
on the third day |
Again, we see in reference to Jesus fasting
“forty days and forty nights” (Matthew 4:2), that Mark
Jesus was resurrected on the third day after his death and
burial, not after three literal days. If He rose after 72 hours, then all the verses would read on the fourth day.
High Sabbaths
We know that Christ died on
“the day before the Sabbath” (Mark
However, in addition to the
seventh-day Sabbath, there are 7 additional holy days during the feast days
that were kept holy in a manner similar to the seventh-day Sabbath. Certain
feast days were to be “sabbaths” or “days of rest”, namely, the first and seventh days of Unleavened
Bread, Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the first day of
the Feast of Tabernacles, and the
Last Great Day. There was also a Sabbath year.
According to the Wednesday
Crucifixion theory, the “Sabbath” spoken of in this passage was not the weekly
seventh-day Sabbath, but rather the first day of Unleavened Bread, on which in
Leviticus 23: 7 we are told “ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no
servile work therein.”
However, nowhere in the Bible are these annual Jewish feast days ever called
“high sabbaths”, “high days”, or even “sabbaths”. The closest we come to
this is the day of atonement being designated by the
compound expression, “shabbath shabbathon” (Leviticus
Significantly, outside of the
books of Moses, these feast days are
never called “sabbaths” (with the exception of the year-long land Sabbath
which was not a festival, 2 Chronicles 36:21). Instead, they are referred to as
either annual feasts, appointed feasts,
appointed times, assemblies, solemn assembly, festal assemblies, festival,
fixed festivals, keeping years (see appendix 2 to see that the Feast Days
are never referred to as “sabbaths” outside the books of Moses). When the Jews used the word Sabbath, it
always referred to the weekly Sabbath.
John makes a statement that
has been highly misinterpreted. He tells us “that Sabbath was a high day”.
Careful examination of this phrase will show that he was not referring to an annual feast day, but rather to the seventh-day
Sabbath.
Notice that John says “that
Sabbath was a high day”, not “that day
was a high Sabbath”. There is a huge difference
in the meaning of those two sentences. It would be redundant and make no sense
whatsoever if he had meant to indicate “the first day of unleavened bread was a
high day”. That is as silly as john saying, “the
seventh day of the week was a sabbath”. Every first day of unleavened bread was
always a high day. If this is what John meant, all he would have to say is “the
legs were broken because it was the first day of the feast”. Every Jew would
know that this was a high day.
It is obvious that the day
was a Sabbath already, but that it was a special Sabbath (or as John said,
“that Sabbath was high”), since one of the feast holy days fell on it,
essentially making it a “double” Sabbath. Notice that the word “day” in this
sentence (“for that Sabbath was a high day”) is not in the original
Greek. It was a weekly Sabbath made high
by the fact that it was in conjunction with an annual feast day.
Which Sabbath?
The Bible does not leave us
in doubt as to which day is referred to. The following verses prove that Christ
died on the day before the seventh-day Sabbath, and not the day before the first day of Unleavened Bread:
This man went unto Pilate,
and begged the body of Jesus. 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.
And that day was the
preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women
also, which came with him from
And they returned, and
prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath
day according to the commandment. Luke 23:52-56
Since the women rested that
Sabbath day (Saturday) according to the fourth commandment of God, he seventh-day Sabbath was the day after the crucifixion.
Therefore, the crucifixion had to have occurred on a Friday.
Nor Did
His Flesh See Corruption
Christ could not possibly have been in the grave for 72 hours. One of the evidences
given in prophecy by David and pointed to by Peter was Psalm 16:10:
For David speaketh concerning him, “I
foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I
should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” Acts 2:25
Applying the words of this prophecy to
Christ, Peter continues:
He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [the grave], neither
his flesh did see corruption [decay].
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are
witnesses. Acts 2:30-31
Rather than argue about how long it would
take a body, placed in a tomb in
In Leviticus 7:16-18 and 19:5-7, we find
stipulations concerning the sacrifice made in fulfillment of a vow or as a peace
offering. The Israelites were instructed by God to eat of the sacrifice on the
day it was offered (the first
day). If any of the meat remained, they were permitted to eat of it on the day
following the sacrifice (the second
day). On the third day, they must burn in fire whatever was left. It was
called “an abomination” to eat of a sacrifice on the third day, as it was
considered to be decaying. It declares in both passages that on the
third day, “it shall not be accepted.”
Note the time frame of the sacrifice: (Day
1) “the same day that he offereth his sacrifice; (Day 2) “the
morrow”; (Day 3) “the third day.” The sacrifice
prophetic of Jesus our sacrifice, as “the Lamb of God.” The remainder of
the sacrifice was “burned with fire” before the end of third day, so that
nothing remained — just as nothing of the flesh of Jesus remained in the tomb
before the end of the third day. It was burned with the “fire of the Lord” (as
it were) on the third day, as God’s Shekinah Glory raised him from the dead.
Which Day Is the Third Day
Christ himself clearly
delineates the succession of days leading up to “the third day” in the
following passages:
The same day there came
certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for
Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold,
I cast out devils, and I do cures to day
and to morrow, and the third
day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow,
and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of
Jesus makes it crystal-clear:
the
third day clearly means the day after tomorrow, not “after 72 hours”.
The various references in the
24th chapter of Luke also confirms that
Sunday was the third day after the Friday crucifixion. In verse 46, Jesus says
he would rise the third day.
On Sunday morning (the first
day of the week, v. 1), the two angels at the tomb said he would rise the third day (v. 7). On the same day (v. 13) — namely,
Sunday — on the road to Emmaus, two disciples state the following: “the chief
priests and … rulers delivered [Jesus] to be condemed to death and crucified
him… and today is the third day since these things were done.” (vv. 21-22), It is plain that Christ was crucified on Friday,
and resurrected on Sunday, the third day (v. 46).
Since the first day of the
week actually begins with Saturday night, some point to Matthew 28:1 to show
that the women first came to the tomb late on the sabbath
(Saturday) near sunset:
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the
week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” Matthew
28:1
The word translated “in the
end of” in the King James version is the Greek word
“opse”, which simply means “after”. This is quickly clarified by looking at
Mark's account:
“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint
him.
“And very early in the
morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising
of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall
roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” Mark 16:1-3
Clearly the women came to the
tomb at sunrise, finding the tomb empty. The women would not have walked this
distance on a Sabbath afternoon, towards a graveyard when it would soon be
dark. The words “as it began to dawn” clearly refer to the Sunday sunrise, and
not the approaching evening part of Saturday night.
Jesus was crucified on Friday
and died at
Plenty of Time
In John 19:39-42 we find that “there came
also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound
weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it
in linen clothes with the spices; as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”
It was the custom to prepare the corpse
for burial (after cleansing) with various types of aromatic spices. In the case
of Yeshua's burial, 100 pounds of spices were used — not an unusual amount for
an important person.
We read in Mark 15:47-16:4 that “Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of James beheld where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, had bought
sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the
morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising
of the sun.
Wednesday Crucifixion advocates make the
argument that the women “had bought” the spices “before” the Sabbath, so they
must have obviously bought them on Friday, which was a regular week day between
the Wednesday holy day and the seventh-day Sabbath (while the King James
Version says “had bought”, most versions simply read, “bought.”)
Those who believe that Jesus died on a
Wednesday claim that these three women bought their spices and prepared them on
Friday “when the [Unleavened Bread] sabbath was past.” They then rested (so
they say) on the weekly Sabbath from Friday sundown to late Saturday afternoon,
walking to the tomb before the sun set. In their soceity, this would have been
a violation of the Sabbath.
However, assuming this were
true, why would the women wait until
Sabbath afternoon? The women would have had all day Friday (according to this theory) to buy the spices,
prepare them, and take them to the tomb. They had plenty of time to do this — from sunset Thursday to sunset Friday.
A simple reading of the text — without
any preconceived ideas — has the women preparing spices on the afternoon before
the weekly Sabbath began (one would assume they had to buy them first, which
lends credence to the wording of the KJV -- “had bought sweet spices”).
Was there time to do this? Jesus died at “the 9th hour”. In
Alternatively, they could have procured
and prepared the spices on Saturday night, after the Sabbath. These
explanations are not, of course, completely conclusive. Nevertheless, they are
stronger arguments than an explanation that requires the insertion of an entire
day between the words, “And they returned” and “and prepared spices and
ointments” (Luke
Too
Late for Spices?
Yet another fact indicates that Christ
could not have been crucified on Wednesday and that Friday was not a holy day
is found in the story of Lazarus.