DID JESUS REALLY DIE ON GOOD FRIDAY?
If Jesus actually died on 'Good Friday,' then he would have only been in the grave for 2 nights. But didn’t he say he would be in the grave for 3 nights?
‘For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’ Matt 12:40.
What changed?
To have a proper understanding of what happened, we must explore ancient Jewish customs, expressions, and feasts. Understanding these should give you a clearer understanding of how Jesus ate Passover, died, and was in the grave three full days and nights before his resurrection.
Fact 1
Jews started a new day in the evening, not morning! Meanwhile, we (our Gregorian calendar) begin and end in the middle of the night and consider daylight the middle of the day. Jewish days however began at sunset (with the first half of a day being the dark night and the second half of the day being the daylight). That’s why Genesis 1:5 says, "And the evening and the morning were the first day."
Fact 2
Jewish people observed Passover in their homes on Wednesday evening (according to our Gregorian calendar) whereas priests sacrificed the Passover Lamb in the Temple on Thursday afternoon (as the Jewish day ended with the close of daylight on Thursday).
Fact 3
The week Jesus died had 2 Sabbaths including a special 'high sabbath’. According to Leviticus 23:7, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matt 26:17–19) was a special high Sabbath. While the second Sabbath was a normal Saturday Sabbath. Thus, Friday and Saturday on the week Jesus was crucified were Sabbaths. The first started the evening right after Jesus was hastily buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimethea (Thursday evening by the Gregorian calendar).
Fact 4
By dawn on Sunday after the 2nd sabbath, women discovered the empty tomb. The Sabbath was Saturday night/Sunday morning. Implying that the special Friday Sabbath and normal Saturday Sabbath had transpired during the 3 nights between Jesus' death on Thursday afternoon and resurrection on Sunday morning.
Therefore, summing up all our findings:
Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples on Wednesday evening before the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (also called Passover Week), and was killed the next afternoon (Thursday) when the main Passover lamb was slaughtered in the Temple.
As in the following calculation:
Thursday afternoon + Friday morning
Friday evening + Saturday morning
Saturday evening + Sunday morning
By our Calendar therefore, death on Thursday afternoon and resurrection by dawn Sunday makes three full days, confirming Jesus' words: “…So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” (Matt 12:40).
Understanding these facts should give you a clearer understanding of how Jesus ate Passover on Wednesday evening, died Thursday afternoon, and was in the grave Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights before his resurrection on Sunday.
Unfortunately, this is not enough to save your soul. Getting the timeline right is only valuable when you see what it reveals about the significance of Jesus' work for you as the final Passover lamb, and the first of many resurrections to come (1 Cor. 15:20).
N. B. The Sadducees who controlled the Temple in Jesus' day celebrated the Festival of the Firstfruits on Sunday after the normal weekly Saturday Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So, Jesus died on the day of Passover, spent two sabbaths in the belly of the earth, and rose on the day of the Firstfruits.
Bibliography
-Https://www.reenactingtheway.com/blog/when-did-jesus-die-and-rise-in-the-gospels-top-10-facts
- Josephus, Jewish Wars, Book VI. Chapter 9 Section 3
- Philo, Special Laws 2.
