Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
482 words, 3 minutes read time

What Day Did Jesus Die?

In the previous lesson we considered the day Jesus rose from the dead, looked at the time Jonah was in the belly of a great fish, and linked that time to the time Jesus would be in the grave. In this lesson we will look at several possibilities for when Jesus died.

Wednesday. Those who support Wednesday do so in order to get three full days and nights. By dying on Wednesday, Jesus would be in the grave part of Wednesday day and Wednesday night, all-day Thursday and Thursday night, all-day Friday and Friday night, and all-day Saturday, to arise Saturday night. In order to do this The events, we covered on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday would be backed up one day. Arguments for the death of Jesus on Wednesday are covered at this Wednesday link and this Wednesday link.

Thursday. Those who support Thursday don’t require three full days or nights. By dying on Thursday, Jesus would be in the grave Thursday day and Thursday night, Friday day and Friday night, and Saturday day and Saturday night. This allows the triumphal into Jerusalem to occur on what we call Palm Sunday. All of the events covered on Saturday through Tuesday are unchanged. Events that our timeline cover on Thursday and Friday get moved back a day. Arguments for the death of Jesus on Thursday are covered at this Thursday link and this Thursday link.

Friday. Those who support Friday do so since it is reported in the gospels that Jesus died the day before the Sabbath or on Friday. They do not allow for the possible of special Sabbath occurring on Friday, thus allowing for a Thursday death. By dying on Friday, Jesus would be in the grave Friday day and Friday night, and Saturday day and Saturday night; just two days and two nights. Arguments for the death of Jesus on Friday are covered at this Friday link.

High Sabbath. John 19:31 speaks of a “High Sabbath”: “Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.” Jesus as the Passover Lamb would be crucified on the day of preparation (Leviticus 23:5), the day before the Sabbath Passover or High Sabbath. For comments on this see High Sabbath link.

Conclusion

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were considered and links to some material in support of each was provided. There are good scholars associated with each position. Based on the fact that Jesus rose before sunrise on Sunday and that he said he would be in the grave for three days and three nights, the best choice appears to be Thursday.