What is Good Friday?
Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day Christians commemorate the Passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Many Christians spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance, and meditation on the agony and suffering of Christ on the Cross. The biblical account of Jesus' death on the cross, or crucifixion, his burial and his resurrection, or raising from the dead, can be found in the following passages of Scripture:
Matthew 27:27-28:8
Mark 15:16-16:19
Luke 23:26-24:35
John 19:16-20:30
Problems With Good Friday
For years I have been observing Good Friday with my family and always had a hard time trying to figure out how He could have been in the grave for three days and nights and arose on a Sunday, but I never questioned it thinking that they might have been referring to three weekdays. However, after I began serving God and learning the Scriptures, I started doing some research and have come to one conclusion, Jesus could not have died on a Friday, but on a Thursday. It is not possible that Jesus died on the cross on a Friday and arose on a Sunday when Jesus Himself said that He would be buried for three days and three nights. "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
Why Is This A Problem?
Some people will argue that it does not make a difference what day we observe Christ's death, but this can not be further from the truth. Yes, it is wonderful and awesome to come to the realization that Jesus dies for our sins and it is great that we observe it.
However, the problem is this, the only sign in the world that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God is the fact that He spent three days and three nights buried in a tomb before being resurrected. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
You see, the Lord Jesus Christ who is the sinless Son of God, was born in order to die for our sins and save us from living eternally in hell. He shed His blood to cleanse us all, died, was buried for three days and three nights, then arose, proving that beyond measure He is the Son of God.
The resurrection of Christ is the very heart of Christianity. It is the one sign that tells us with perfect certainty that the sacrifice of Jesus was acceptable to God and that a way had been made for our sins to be forgiven.
An Explanation of How Scripture Proves This Fact is Below:
The Bible nowhere says or implies that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday. It is said that Jesus was crucified on the day before the Sabbath and that is why scholars have assumed Jesus was crucified on Friday, but there is much evidence to prove that The Sabbath referred here was a Friday and not a normal Saturday.
In order to understand this fact one would need to know what a day in Bible times is referred to:
The Meaning of Day in the Bible
1. The word "day" in the Bible primarily means the time between dawn and dusk. "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." - Genesis 1:5a
2. Jesus Himself gives the meaning of a "day", "Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world." - John 11:9. Jesus said there were 12 hours in a day, the time while it was daylight. Therefore, He made a day and night consist of 24 hours. Can there be any higher authorities than the Lord God and Jesus Christ? Do not such authorities settle the matter for all true believers?
3. A "day" is not considered 12am to 12am, but dusk to dusk, making a day, 6pm to 6pm the next day. "It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." - Leviticus 23:32. This means that a new day began about 6pm in the evening and lasted until the same time the next evening - a period of 24 hours--a 12-hour night followed by a 12-hour day.
So What Day Did He Die? Let's Look At What Scripture Says
1. Jesus died in the afternoon, about 3pm. This is proven because the earth went dark in the ninth hour of the day. Now that we know night begins at 6pm then the ninth hour would be 3 hour earlier, or 3pm. "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst." - Luke 23:44-45.
2. Jesus arose on a Sunday, which was the first day of the week. "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus." - Luke 24:1-3.
3. Jesus' body was removed from the cross the same day He was crucified, this was because they were preparing for the Sabbath. "And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus." - Mark 15:42-43.
4. Nicodemus, took the body of Jesus and it was buried by nightfall. "And 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." - John 19:39-40. This is the first night Jesus spent in the grave.
5. Matthew makes it plain that two Sabbaths had passed since Jesus was crucified. "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. As we learned from illustration three, they were preparing for a Sabbath, which could not have been on Saturday because this is the actual Saturday Sabbath. This would confirm that they were preparing for a Sabbath on Thursday as well.
To prove this further, the first day of the Passover week, no matter on what day of the week it came, was always an annual Sabbath. "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein." - Leviticus 23:6-7
Since Jesus arose early morning on a Sunday, that means Saturday was the third night, therefore the first night would have been on Thursday, therefore He would have died Wednesday afternoon. Jesus Said: "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
Now, Let's do the Math:
We start with Wednesday afternoon, and count forward.
Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, Jesus dies and gives up His life for our sins, they did not want His body to be up on the cross for a Sabbath (Thursday) so they gave the body to Nicodemus and he buried it in the sepulchre (tomb) around 6pm, which would have made it Thursday.
1. Day One. Since this transpires on Wednesday afternoon before sundown, for the Jews, a portion of the day counts as one day period.
2. Night One. He is in the tomb Thursday night until dawn, this counts and 1 day and 1 night in the tomb.
3. Day Two. He is in the tomb Thursday to sundown, which turns into Friday, this is day two.
4. Night Two. He is in the tomb Friday night until dawn, this counts as 2 days and 2 nights in the tomb.
5. Day Three. He is in the tomb from Friday to sundown, which turns into Saturday, this is day three.
6. Night Three. He is in the tomb Saturday until dawn, this counts as 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb.
7. Jesus Rises. He rises just before dawn on Saturday as it was becoming Sunday, proving that He spent 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth just as He specified, also rising on the third day.
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