What day did Christ Die?

Friday. Anybody that disagrees is a heretic!!!!!



j/k, but I do say Friday

 

I believe it was Friday.

 

Friday, it's not a fluke that the Church has historically agreed on this day since...oh I don't know...the Day of Pentecost.

 

The problem with Friday is that Jesus said he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Mat 12:40). If he were crucified on Friday afternoon you cannot have this, he would have been buried Friday at sunset, and rose before sunrise on Sunday morning. This would be two nights and only one day.

If Jesus was being literal when he said three days and three nights, he would have had to be crucified on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday would begin at sunset, so you would have Thursday night and day, then Friday night and day, then Saturday night and day, then Jesus would have risen at sunset (our Saturday evening) Sunday morning. We do know Mary came to the grave just before sunrise Sunday morning and Jesus was already risen.

If Jesus simply meant a day, Friday could work, as he would have been buried Friday just before sunset, spent all day Saturday in the grave, and then rose after sunset sometime Sunday morning.

This is three days, but it is not three days and three nights.

 

Interesting question, but it's more important to me that.....................


HE IS RISEN!!!!!!

 

Because of Christ prophecy. Matthew 12:39But he 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 Jonas:

40For 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.

41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Jonah 1:
16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

17Now 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.

John 2:
18Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21But he spake of the temple of his body.


In time of Jesus and before the test of a true prophet was if His prophecies were fulfilled. They gave prophecy for short term to prove they were true prophets and long term Jesus gave both. The referneces in Mat and John are short term.
The reference to the 3 days and a3 nights remember when Lazarus was dead and had been in the grave 3 days it was said by now he would stink, or decay would ahve set in he was truly dead. 3 days possibly for the Jew proved they were dead.

So now let's see how they would be fulifilled by looking at timelines:
Start with the RC Friday day:

Friday 6:00 P.M. Christ is just in the grave the beginning of the Saturday Sabbath would be beginning.
Saturday 6:00 P. M. 24 hours has past Christ has been in the grave 1 night and 1 day, this is now Sunday of the Jewish time.
Sunday 6:00 A.M. Christ is seen in the garden 12 more hours have past making it 36 hours 2 nights and 1 day.
This doesn't fulfill His prophecy so He would be proven a false prophet.

Now let's look at Thursday:
Thursday 6:00 P.M. Christ is just in the grave. It is the beginning of the Jewish Friday.
Friday (Sat) 6:00 P. M. 24 hours 1 night and 1 day in the grave.
Saturday (SUN) 6:00 P.M. 48 hours have past 2 nights and 2 days.
Sunday 6:00 A.M. Christ is seen alive 12 more hours have past. 3 nights but still just 2 days.
Still doesn't fulfill His prophecy.

Now Wednesday:
Wednesday 6:00 P.M. Christ is just in the grave and it is actually the beginning of the Jewish Thursday.
Thursday (FRI) 6:00 P.M. 24 hours has past 1 night and 1day.
Friday (SAT) 6:00 P. M. 48 hours have past 2 nights and 2 days have been completed.
Saturday (SUN) 6:00 P.M. 72 hours have past 3 nights and 3 days complete.
This having been a high sabbath celebration time no one would have been out at that time so Christ could easily be alive and possibly in the Garden Praying He could after all come out of the grave without the stone being rolled away as He was able to come through locked doors.
Sunday 6:00 A.M. as the Jews are now able to move about after the sabbath Jesus is seen in the Garden it doesn't say where He was coming from or heading to. Later the tomb is found open and the body gone confirming He had risen. 3 days and 3 nights completed and His prophecy fulfilled to the letter.
So that is why the emphasis on the 3 days and 3 nights. IMHO.

 

When did Jesus die?

Two difficulties have been raised concerning the timing of the death of Jesus. First, since Jesus said he would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, and scripture indicates he arose on Sunday sometime before sun up, it appears He was crucified on Thursday, to yield Thursday day before 6 PM, Friday night starting around 6 PM. on our Thursday, Friday day, from around 6 AM to 6:00 P.M, then Saturday night (6 PM to 6 AM) then Saturday day (6 AM to 6 PM), then Sunday night (6 PM to 6 AM). Jews considered a day to start at evening, as sundown approached and run until the next evening, so their Friday begins on our Thursday evening either at sundown, twilight or late afternoon, at the whim of whoever is making the call in an age before wristwatches. But the difficulty is that most people accept that Jesus was crucified on Friday, not Thursday.

The answer to Matthew 12:40 (three days and three nights) is to accept that Jesus was using a colloquialism, three days and three nights only referring to three days or part days rather than 72 literal hours. In 1 Samuel 30, verse 12, the account of a starving servant is recorded as follows: “…For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.” But in verse thirteen, his problem had started three days ago. This passage therefore suggests, and I accept that “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to days or parts of days and not to a literal 72 hours or a literal three daylight periods and three darkness periods because three days ago would only include two darkness periods. If you compare 2 Chronicles 10:5 (return to me in three days) with 2 Chronicles 10:12 (came to Rehoboam on the third day) you will see that three days and on the third day mean the same thing, indicating that both inclusive counting was used and parts of days were counted as days in the pre-scientific culture. Inclusive counting means that you count today as the first day when saying something happened three or any number of days ago or in the future. Therefore, “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to three days ago, and three days ago is the day before yesterday or literally only two nights ago. The point of Matthew 12:40 was not to create conflict with the many scriptures that say “on the third day” but only to draw a parallel with Jonah by using the terminology of Jonah 1:17.

Similarly, the reference to “after three days” in Mark 8:31 refers to parts of days such that the hours between His death and sundown represents one day and the hours of darkness on Sunday until He arose before sunup represents the third day. Using this interpretation the idea that Jesus was crucified on Friday can be supported. Note that the parallel passages to Mark 8:31 in Matthew (16:21) and Luke (9:22) say “on the third day.”

The idea that “on the third day” refers to the day after tomorrow (Friday to Sunday) is supported by Luke 13:31 to 33. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem (v. 22) and says in verse 32 that He will reach His goal (reach Jerusalem in my opinion) on the third day. Jesus then clarifies His itinerary in verse 33 by stating, “I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.” Therefore, in the idiom of the day, “on the third day” means the day after tomorrow or in our period of interest, from Friday to Sunday.

The second difficulty is with the Last Supper. Jesus and His disciples ate a Passover meal, the Last Supper, the night before the day of His crucification but John says the people testifying against him after sunup were planning on eating the Passover meal.

The answer is that more than one meal can be called the Passover meal. This Passover, Nisan 14, started at sundown on our Thursday. The Last Supper was eaten after sundown in the first hours of Nisan 14, the Jews Friday. Friday is also called preparation day because the Jews had to get ready for the Sabbath, a day when everything pretty much shuts down. Also note that Saturday, Nisan 15 is a high Sabbath because of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was this feast, this Passover meal that the Pharisees were preparing to celebrate (John 18:28). Note that at the Last Supper, the disciples considered the need to buy things for the feast (John 13:29), clearly indicating two separate meals

Lets start with Mark 14:12 which says, “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” This verse is very difficult to understand in a way that does not create the difficulty. First, the phrase, “when the Passover was being sacrificed” indicates this is the day before the Passover meal where the lamb is eaten, rather than the day of the meal. This is because the lamb is killed in the afternoon, which is the end of the day. The meal is eaten in the first few hours of the next day, which begins at sundown. So this question was asked of Jesus on our Thursday right about sundown or the start of the day (Friday) when the Passover lamb is killed.

Now lets consider whether the lamb could be slaughtered after sundown in the first hours of Nisan 14 rather than in the afternoon. We must consider this because the term “evening” is used both for the last hours of their day (late afternoon) and the first hours of their day (after sundown). Exodus 29:38-39 indicates that on a “day” (about 12 hours of darkness followed by about 12 hours of daylight) one lamb shall be offered in the morning (after the 12 hours of darkness had passed) and one lamb shall be offered at twilight (prior to sundown and the start of the next day).

Now lets consider Mark 14:17, which says, “And when it was evening He came with the twelve.” This verse appears to indicate that the meal was prepared before evening (on their Thursday) but such an understanding is not necessary. All it might indicate is that Jesus joined the twelve after sundown, because some of them (perhaps including Peter and John) had gone to the house and prepared the Passover, which did not include lamb. Viewed in this light, the Last Supper could have been prepared “on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover was being sacrificed....” Thus, and consistent with Exodus 12:18, the first meal that occurs on the Lord’s Passover, Nisan 14, is comprised of unleavened bread but not the Passover lamb which is killed in the afternoon of Nisan 14 and eaten on Nisan 15. Hence the Last supper occurred on our Thursday night, in the evening (after sundown), which is the Jew’s Nisan 14, a Friday and a preparation day for the high Sabbath where the roasted Passover Lamb is eaten. It should be noted that about the time the Jews were killing their unblemished lambs, about the ninth hour, our Jesus died on the cross. Behold the Lamb of God.

 

Jonah 1:
16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

17Now 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.

Is this a colloquialism? Was Jonah a full 3 days and nights in thee belly of the great fish.

Here is Jesus words in Mat. 12:
39But he 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 Jonas:

40For 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.

41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Notice verse 40 as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish so would Jesus be in heart of the earth. So is the Jonah passage also a
colloquialism, if so then Jesus used one if not He didn't. So any Hebrew experts out there that look up the Jonah passage.

 

So that no one would say he died on Friday He said three days and three nights, not just three days. However it is like 1 Corinthians 6 where is says "do not be deceived" but even in light of that warning an unbelieving heart cannot be convinced of truth. The unbelieving are still deceived just like any person who holds to a Friday crucifixion. By unbelieving I am not suggesting lost, just unbelieving in this particular area.
The word onah literally means "time period." In the context of the laws of niddah, it usually refers to a day or a night. Each 24-hour day thus consists of two onot. The daytime onah begins at sunrise (henetz hachamah, commonly called netz) and ends at sunset (shekiat hachamah or shekiah). The night-time onah lasts from sunset until sunrise.
So three literal days and three literal nights.

 

The answer to Matthew 12:40 (three days and three nights) is to accept that Jesus was using a colloquialism, three days and three nights only referring to three days or part days rather than 72 literal hours. In 1 Samuel 30, verse 12, the account of a starving servant is recorded as follows: “…For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.” But in verse thirteen, his problem had started three days ago. This passage therefore suggests, and I accept that “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to days or parts of days and not to a literal 72 hours or a literal three daylight periods and three darkness periods because three days ago would only include two darkness periods. If you compare 2 Chronicles 10:5 (return to me in three days) with 2 Chronicles 10:12 (came to Rehoboam on the third day) you will see that three days and on the third day mean the same thing, indicating that both inclusive counting was used and parts of days were counted as days in the pre-scientific culture. Inclusive counting means that you count today as the first day when saying something happened three or any number of days ago or in the future. Therefore, “three days and three nights” is a figurative reference to three days ago, and three days ago is the day before yesterday or literally only two nights ago. The point of Matthew 12:40 was not to create conflict with the many scriptures that say “on the third day” but only to draw a parallel with Jonah by using the terminology of Jonah 1:17.

Hi RevMWC, I demonstrated the phrase is a Jewish colloquialism by showing from 1 Samuel 30:12-13 that three days and three nights ago means three days ago. Then I showed, using 2 Chronicles 10:5 and 10:12 that three days and on the third day mean the same thing. This demonstrates inclusive counting (part of Friday = day 1, Saturday = day 2, and part of Sunday = day three.) So on the third day refers to Friday before sundown, to Sunday just before sun up, and on the third day means the same as three days (Chronicles 10:5; 10:12) and three days means the same as "three days and three nights" (1 Samuel 30:12-13.).

This view eliminates any need for confusion caused by taking three days and three nights as literal. It provides a sound scriptural basis for accepting the phase is a colloquialism.

 

But Christ emphatically used the reference to Jonah so any colloquialism used in other verses would be overriden by the Jonah passage. So was the Jonah passage a colloquialism or was Jonah 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish? That must be answered to see what Jesus was stating. We must compare scripture for scripture when posssible and since I haven't studied the Jonah passage in depth I aske can anyone tell if it was a colloquiallism or was it actually the full time. Jesus was very specific in the Matthew passage and He used the Jaonh example for a reason, so what was so significant about the Jonah story?

 

Making a reference to Jonah does not rule out using a coloquialism! Does the Bible say the reference is Jonah was or was not a colloquialism? No. But the figurative usage from 1 Samuel 30:12-13 was written before Jonah was written. So it could have been used in the same way.

But the point is that if Jonah and Jesus were using the colloquialsim, the illustration of Jonah still stands, and the rest of the verses that say "on the third day" as part of Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday still is consistent with all scripture. Your view is not.

 

Van I have a question. If it was not literal 24 hour days how do you reconcile the statement that He would rise after three days and three nights? After requires three full 24 hour days. At what point in the chronology you hold do you get after three days and three nights using a Thursday crucifixion?

 

Hi Freeatlast, I think you are referring to Mark 8:31 which says after three days, not after three days and three nights. If three days refers to part of Fri, Sat. and part of Sunday, then He arose after the first part of Sunday and therefore after three days, using inclusive counting and part day counting.

 

No I am refering to matt 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

His resurrection took place after three days not during three days.

 

If Jesus was using a colloquialism as you say then he would have said 3 days and 3 nights and dropped it. He specifically referenced Jonah so that must be taken into the context of the prophecy.
Then we need to also deal with the raising of Lazarus, John 11: 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Is this 4 literal days or just a colloquialism, the decay had stated he stinketh, 4 days and decay had started. But it could have just been a cooloquialism and Lazerus had really only been dead 2 days. That is why the Jonah passage is important to determine was Christ using the colloquialism or was it in fact 3 full days and 3 full nights. To effectively make the point shouldn't we look to see how the Hebrew stated it in the Jonah passage?

 

Please do not claim you know how Jesus was using the phrase! All we have is the text.
I showed how He could have been using the phrase. As for four days, do you have a passage that indicates it might not have been four days including inclusive counting and part day counting? The counting method in use, as demonstrated by scripture, tells us four days could be as short as a little over two days, a small part of day one and four along with two full days. On the other hand it could be as long as four full days. Nothing I have presented contradicts this understanding. And I think someone in a tomb for four or nearly four days would "stinkth."

 

"that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,"

not the forth or fifth day


The thing is that during that time, "three days and three nights" could refer to both 72 hours or any part of 3 days(part of 72 hours).

Either way, everyone has to take something literal and something figurative. I take the "3 days and 3 nights" as figurative because it was a common thing of the day. Remember, we have to interpret Scripture as how the writer originally meant it. The other way is to take "on the third day" figurative. It seems more likely to me that the "3 days and 3 nights" would be the figurative one since that was a common thing of the day.