When did Christ Die

When did Christ Die?

Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?

By Dr. Ken Matto

³⁹ But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: ⁴⁰ 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 12:39-40)

As soon as the weekend of Resurrection Sunday approaches, many post beliefs as to when Christ was crucified. I have heard and read that many believe it was Wednesday. I heard this many years ago from the Southwest Radio Church when they published their belief for a Wednesday Crucifixion. The above verse has given western Christians a twist to the timing of the crucifixion. If we think in western terms, then we can easily arrive at Wednesday or Thursday. However, both of these days do not fit the time frame of Scripture. We will return to Matthew 12:39-40 further in the study to see how it harmonizes with the other accounts found in Scripture.

Third Day Scriptures

There are fourteen verses which use the term “third day” in direct connection to the resurrection of Christ.

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matthew 16:21)

And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. (Matthew 17:23)

And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. (Matthew 20:19)

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. (Matthew 27:64)

For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. (Mark 9:31)

And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. (Mark 10:34)

Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. (Luke 9:22)

And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. (Luke 13:32)

And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. (Luke 18:33)

Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. (Luke 24:7)

But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. (Luke 24:21)

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (Luke 24:46)

Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; (Acts 10:40)

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:4)

When we look at all fourteen verses, they have one word in common “the” is always used before “third day” which means it is a definite article. It is stating “the third day” and no other day can come into view. It is also important to note that the word “third” in all these verses are in the “ordinal” form in the Greek. The ordinal form shows order of progression such as first, second, third, etc. This is in contrast to the cardinal form in the Greek which gives an actual number such as one, two, three, etc. So there is absolutely no mistaking that Christ rose on the third day.

So let us look at Wednesday. If Christ was crucified on Wednesday, then that would make his resurrection on Friday. Friday would connect the resurrection of Christ to the Passover which began on Friday night and then the Sabbath which was a High Sabbath which meant that it was one of the times where all males would appear before the LORD in Jerusalem. We know he didn’t rise on Friday.

Let’s look at Thursday. If Christ was crucified on Thursday, then he would have been resurrected on Saturday which would have been the seventh day Sabbath or High Sabbath. This would mean that he was resurrected under the ceremonial law concerning the sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath day, which is the seventh day Sabbath, is not repeated in the New Testament because it was part of the ceremonial law but the other nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated because they are the moral law. If he was resurrected under the law, then that would give credence to the law as the way of salvation.

Let’s look at Friday. If Christ was crucified on Friday, then he would have been resurrected on Sunday. Remember the ordinal form.

Sunday – Third Day

Saturday – Second Day

Friday – First Day

The only spiritual connection to the ceremonial law was that the day after Passover which would have been Sunday, commenced the Feast of Unleavened Bread which represented the sinless life of Christ because leaven represented sin. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. (Deuteronomy 16:3) Christ was called the man of sorrows and ate the bread of affliction when he died for the sins of the Elect. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21) Christ was also called the Bread of Life in which there was no sin found. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. (Matthew 26:26) Christ used Bread as a symbol for his body. It is also important to note that after Christ and his disciples celebrated the Passover, he dovetailed right into the Lord’s Supper which means the Lord’s Supper had now replaced the Passover which was part of the ceremonial law. Calvary changed everything. Just returning to the first to third days, it must be understood in Jewish thought that a portion of the day was considered a full day which means Friday through Sunday was three days in the minds of the Jews.

Three Days and Three Nights

Now let us look at the verses which has caused many to think that Christ was crucified on either a Wednesday or Thursday.

Notice in verse 40 it speaks about “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Why doesn’t it say “tomb” instead of heart of the earth? Here’s why!

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

Luke was a physician so he is the only one who included this portion of the suffering of Christ. This happened in the Garden of Gethsemane on Thursday night which was right before his arrest. As you can read in the Luke passage that Christ was in agony which resulted in him sweating great drops of blood, not just little dabs, but great drops of blood in which physicians have stated that under great stress you can burst blood vessels and actually bleed through your skin. This is the stress and anxiety that Christ, in his humanity, faced. What does this mean then? It means that Christ was already suffering for the sins of his people in the Garden as he was giving his blood and if you notice, the blood was falling to the ground, not in his tunic or being wiped off. Now what is the ground? It is earth and already on Thursday night his blood was already entering the heart of the earth. Let’s see if it matches the fourteen verses which state third day.

Remember the Jewish days started in the evening, not morning as we in the west start our days.

Thursday Night to Friday – 1 Day and 1 Night

Friday Night to Saturday – 1 Day and 1 Night

Saturday night to Resurrection Day – 1 Day and 1 Night

In that time frame, you have three days and three nights which harmonize with the other fourteen verses. Which means there is no contradiction between Matthew 12:39-40 and the other verses. It must also be realized that Old Testament types of Christ are never 100% but always fall short, even a little bit. So we can be confident that Christ was crucified on Friday because all the other days do not fit the time frame nor the spiritual lessons. We are no longer under law but under grace and that is why Christ was resurrected the day after the Passover.

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