One “contradiction” that Bible critics are quick to point out as far as the resurrection of Jesus goes, is the fact that certain portions of Scripture say that Jesus rose on the 3rd day while others say after 3 days or after 3 days and 3 nights.
In Matthew 20:18-19, for example, Jesus says:
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, says:
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”
On the other hand…
In Mark 8:31, the Bible says:
"And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."
In Matthew 12:40, Jesus says:
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
One thing that’s clear is regardless of which you take on (3rd day or after 3 days), you cannot fit Friday afternoon and Sunday morning to either as that would make it just a day and a half at best.
Now this means that contrary to popular belief, Jesus did not die on Friday afternoon and rise on Sunday morning just in time for Sunday service.
Infact, the Bible does not say that Jesus died on a Friday and I believe the main reason the church today has adopted this tradition is simply because the Bible says He was buried the day before the Sabbath (see Mark 15:42-47) and we therefore conclude it must have been a Friday.
However, we need to understand that the Jews had other Sabbaths in addition to the weekly Sabbath which fell on Saturday.
A keen study reveals that the Sabbath that Scripture is actually referring to was a special Sabbath and not the usual weekly Sabbath (see John 19:31).
The Passover Feast for example was a special Sabbath day.
This is actually the Sabbath day Scripture is referring to thus the reference to the day of preparation that came just before it (see John 19:14, Mark 15:42).
God instructed the children of Israel to prepare the Passover lambs and the lambs were prepared and killed on the day before the Passover Feast (see Leviticus 23:4-7).
So Jesus died on the day of preparation for the Annual (yearly) Passover Sabbath at the exact time they killed the passover lambs.
Coincidence? I think not.
You see the passover lambs were a type of Jesus. It was the Israelites' substitute for their sins (in type and shadow) which pointed to the ultimate substitute, Jesus.
Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He is our substitute.
Now the Passover Feast, which was a Sabbath day as well, fell on any day of the week.
The day of preparation on this particular year fell on a Wednesday.
So Jesus was crucified, died and was buried on a Wednesday.
Infact, He had to be buried quickly.
Since He died at 3 pm, it was a rush against time to burry Him as they only had a few hours before the Passover Sabbath day began (6 pm that evening) which was a day of rest on which no body could remain on a cross and no work was to be done.
Now while a Wednesday crucifixion allows Jesus to have been buried for three full days and nights some argue that would mean He rose on the fourth day.
Well, not if you consider the fact that Israel at the time was under Rome so they basically observed two calendars; the Jewish and the Roman calendar.
According to the Jewish calender, a day is counted from 6 pm to 6 pm while according to the Roman calendar, which is what our calendar is based off, a day is counted from 12 midnight to 12 midnight.
The Jews base their calendar on Genesis chapter one which speaks of, "..So the evening and the morning were the first day."
So the Jews count a day from sunset to sunset, while we count a day from sunrise to sunset.
Now keeping this in mind, the Bible says in Luke 24:1:
"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared."
In John 20:1 the Bible says:
"Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb."
Now please pay attention...
The first day of the week (Sunday) for the Jews began at 6 pm on Saturday. This however would make it 6 pm Saturday evening according to the Roman calendar.
So early Sunday morning for the Jews (6 pm to 12 midnight) is late Saturday evening for the Romans.
Putting everything together, Jesus died at 3 pm Wednesday afternoon, was in the tomb by 6 pm that same day and rose by 12 midnight Saturday evening (according to the Roman calendar), but according to the Jewish calendar, He died 3 pm Wednesday afternoon, was buried by 6 pm, which would be early Thursday morning according to the Jewish calendar, and rose again early Sunday morning.
So Jesus was in the tomb 3 days and 3 nights according to the Jewish calendar but according to the Roman calendar, that would mean He rose on the 3rd day (Saturday late evening and not on Sunday morning in time for first service).
When we take all this into consideration, everything fits perfectly.
Both statements, He rose on the 3rd day and after 3 days and 3 nights, are true.
That said, your faith as a believer doesn't rise or fall on this information.
What is important is that Jesus died for your sins and that He rose again for your justification.
God bless you.
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