ON WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED?

Bob Myhan

             Traditionally, Jesus is believed to have been crucified on Friday and resurrected two days later on the following Sunday. However, many sincere brethren are now skeptical of this view, affirming either a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion. The main problem they seem to have with the traditional position is the time span between these two historical events. But what does the Bible teach?

    First, Jesus said He would "be killed, and be raised again the third day" (Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7; 24:46). Second, Peter said, "Him God raised up the third day" (Acts 10:40). Third, Paul said, "He rose again the third day" (1 Cor. 15:4). Any position that is inconsistent with these statements is error!

    Note: The way we reckon time, "the third day" would be "three days from now, not including today." This can be illustrated, as follows:

TODAY                       FIRST DAY                        SECOND DAY                        THIRD DAY

    But this is not the way time was reckoned in the first century. Jesus said, of Herod, "Go ye, and tell that fox, behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following" (Luke 13:32,33). This can be illustrated, as follows:

TODAY                     TOMORROW                         THIRD DAY

    According to Mark, Jesus said He would "be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31). Matthew, however, tell us Jesus said He would "be killed, and be raised again the third day" (16:21; see also Luke 9:22). Thus, the two phrases, "after three days" and "the third day," were used interchangeably (see also Matthew 27:63,64). This can be illustrated, as follows:

TODAY                AFTER TWO DAYS           AFTER THREE DAYS

FIRST DAY              SECOND DAY                        THIRD DAY   

    Some protest that this could not be "three days," because it is fewer than seventy-two hours. But in Acts 10:30 a period of exactly seventy-two hours was called "four days." This can be illustrated, as follows:

(Vv. 3-8)      (Vv. 9-22)    (v. 23)      (Vv. 24-30)

MEN LEAVE MEN ARRIVE PETER LEAVES PETER ARRIVES

DAY ONE     DAY TWO     DAY THREE      DAY FOUR

4 DAYS AGO 3 DAYS AGO YESTERDAY       "TODAY"

    Jesus further said He would "be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). This phrase cannot mean "three full twenty-four hour days," because this would result in His being raised the fourth day, rather than the third day! In order for Jesus to have been in the grave "three days and three nights," and to be raised "after three days" or on "the third day," the phrase "three days and three nights" must be a figure of speech for a period of time less than seventy-two hours in length.

    The Bible specifically says, "Jesus was risen early the first day of the week" (Mark 16:9). On this day, some of His disciples said, "today is the third day since these things were done" (Luke 24:21). Since "the first day of the week" (Sunday) was "the third day," the seventh day of the week (Saturday) must have been the second day, and the sixth day of the week (Friday) must have been the first day—the day of the crucifixion! This can be illustrated, as follows:

FIRST DAY      SECOND DAY                THIRD DAY

FRIDAY              SATURDAY                     SUNDAY

CRUCIFIED      IN THE TOMB                    RAISED

    If Jesus had been crucified on Wednesday, Sunday would not have been the third day; rather, it would have been the fifth day. If He had been crucified on Thursday, Sunday would have been the fourth day. Therefore, He must have been crucified on Friday, rather than on Wednesday or Thursday!

    Another point of confusion regarding the day of Jesus’ crucifixion was its occurrence with reference to the Passover. Was it the day before, the day after or Passover itself?

    One of the problematic verses is John 19:14, “And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour.” Two verses later Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified. Some say that “the preparation of the passover” refers to the day before Passover, on which preparation would be made for eating the Passover meal. Luke 23:54, however, tells us, “that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.”

    The day before the weekly Sabbath was called “the preparation” because on it the Jews were to prepare for the Sabbath. There is no evidence that the day before the Passover was ever called “the preparation.”  As a matter of fact, the Passover was prepared and eaten on the same day – the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year (Ex. 12:1-6; Num. 9:1-5). This day could fall on any day of the week. The Sabbath, though, always fell on the seventh day and the preparation on the sixth.

    Some may legitimately ask, “Why would John use the phrase, ‘preparation of the passover’?” The answer is that, since the Feast of Unleavened Bread—which lasted seven days—immediately followed the Passover, each was referred to by both names [“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the passover” (Luke 22:1).] But, strictly speaking, the Passover preceded the Feast of Unleavened Bread by one day (see Ex. 12:14-20). Therefore, the “preparation of the Passover” was the day before the weekly Sabbath that fell within the weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread.

    Another problem, stemming from John 19:14, is the time marked by the phrase, “the sixth hour.”  To the Romans this would be six a.m., but to the Jews this would be noon. This difference is because the Roman day was from midnight to midnight, as it is today in most countries, whereas the Jewish day was from sunset to sunset. The Jewish twelve-hour day would begin at 6 a.m. We are told, in Mark 15:25, “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.” Obviously, Jesus was not crucified three hours before He was sentenced. Nevertheless, the NRSV translates “the sixth hour” as “noon” and “the third hour” as “nine o’clock in the morning.” This leaves many readers confused. Was Jesus crucified the day after He was sentenced? Some think He could have been crucified as much as a week later.

    Because of certain terms, which John found it necessary to translate [“Rabbi” (1:38), “Messiah” (1:41), “Cephas” (1:42) and “Rabboni” (20:16), and because of his references to “the Jews’ passover” (2:13; 6:4; 11:55), “a feast of the Jews” (5:1), “the Jews’ feast of tabernacles” (7:2) and “the Jews’ preparation day” (19:42), it is obvious that he was writing, initially, to a non-Jewish readership. Why, then, would he use the Jewish method of timekeeping? Therefore, Jesus was sentenced to death at six a.m., rather than noon, on Friday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We have already established that He was crucified on Friday. Was He sentenced and crucified on the same Friday or crucified a week after He was sentenced?

    All four biographers [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John] seem to relate an unbroken series of events, in depicting the trials and crucifixion of Jesus. Not one of them seems to indicate any break in the action. It is true that they all leave things out, but are we to conclude that they collectively leave out an entire week?

    They collectively imply, therefore, that Jesus was crucified on the same day [Friday] on which He was sentenced. This, in turn, implies that Mark’s “third hour” followed John’s “sixth hour.” Hence, Mark was using the Jewish method of timekeeping—beginning with six a.m. as the first hour of the 12-hour day—while John was using the Roman method—beginning with midnight as the first hour.

            That Jesus and His apostles ate the Passover meal at the appropriate time is clearly revealed (Matthew 26:17-20; Mark 14:12-17; and Luke 22:1,7-15). He was then arrested and tried in the wee hours of the night, sentenced at six a.m. and crucified at nine a.m., on the day following that feast.