123. Christ Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth?

Christ Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth?

(Matthew 12:40) This Scripture says Christ was, and according to the traditions of our church, our Lord was crucified on a Friday afternoon and then was raised from the dead very early Sunday morning. However, this is not three days and three nights. We notice that the Bible does not say He was crucified on Friday, but it does say He was crucified on "the day before the sabbath" (Mark 15:42). The Jewish sabbath began Friday night at sunset and lasted until Saturday at sunset, so we have naturally thought that Christ was crucified Friday. But, besides the weekly sabbath which fell on Saturday, the Jews had other sabbaths. The first day of their Passover week, regardless of what day it came, was always a sabbath (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:7; Numbers 28:16-18).

Now we need to know whether the sabbath after Christ’s Crucifixion was the weekly sabbath or was it the Passover sabbath? God’s word does not leave us to guess about this important event, for John 19:14 tells us that the day of the trial and crucifixion was "the preparation of the Passover (R.V.). So we see it was not the weekly sabbath (Friday), but it was the day before the Passover sabbath, which fell that year on Thursday. This would prove beyond doubt that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday.

Astronomers have gone into this matter very thoroughly and have figured out in the year of the crucifixion, generally accepted as having been 30 A.D., that the moon was full on April 6, which was Thursday, and the day on which the Passover would have been celebrated. This would prove that our Lord Jesus was crucified on Wednesday.