When was Jesus Crucified and Resurrected, and does it matter?

The weight of all the evidence presented in the Scriptures about when Christ Jesus died, was buried and resurrected clearly reveals the following:

• Sunday - Jesus' Triumphal Entry (Mark 11:1-11). This happened at Bethphage, near the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples to find a donkey and her colt on Sunday—the first day of the week. Jesus did just as the Father directed Him (John 5:19; 8:28; 12:49). He came to Jerusalem at Passover, and this was always a time of conflict for Him (John 2:13-19; 6:4, 66). He was returning to the area where Judeans wanted to kill Him (John 5:18; 7:1; 8:59; 10:31; 11:8, 53, 57; Matt 12:14 = Mark 3:6 = Luke 6:9; Mark 11:18 = Luke 19:47; Mark 14:1 = Matt 26:4 = Luke 22:2). He came at Passover to be the true Paschal Lamb. Jesus openly demonstrated that He is the True Messiah by entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey colt. He pressed into service the colt as royalty does. Zechariah 9:9 foretold this act of the Prince of Peace. Jesus spends the night in Bethany.

• Monday - The Gospels record just two actions of Jesus on this day: cursing the fig tree and cleansing the Temple. Both acts relate to each other, and both acts demonstrated His authority as the Messiah (Mark 11:12-19)

• Tuesday - The Gospels record a number of events on Tuesday of the Passion Week (Mark 11:20 - 37). Many of them involved the Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, and scribes testing Jesus. Sects that normally did not like each other worked together in attempts to verbally entrap Jesus and turn the crowd against Him. They were unsuccessful, of course. The disciples find the fig tree that Jesus cursed withered. The Lord Jesus goes to the temple and its precincts; confounds and pronounces woes upon His enemies. Leaves the city; Olivet Discourse on way back to Bethany; Judas bargains with Sanhedrin to betray Jesus; Jesus spends the night in Bethany.

• Wednesday - (Mark 14:1-11) Not much recorded in the Gospels, but much activity as Jesus prepares for the Passover and as Judas and Sanhedrin prepare for Jesus' arrest. Jesus remains in Bethany throughout the day, stays the night there.

• Thursday - the Lord Yeshua [Jesus] celebrates the Passover with His disciples (Mark 14:12), washed His disciple's feet and ate Passover with them on Thursday night, and He said to them "This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:18-20). Then He and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane that same night, where He was then betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Sanhedrin.

• Friday - (Mark 15:1) Christ Jesus [Messiah Yeshua] was tried six times, then sentenced to be crucified on Friday morning. At around 9 AM Friday morning, Jesus was crucified, died at around 3:00 PM during the Passover and was given burial late that Friday (before sundown), which was the day before the weekly Sabbath (Saturday); completing the work He came to do, and said "it is finished", echoing back to the creation week when the LORD finished His work on the 6th day and rested on the 7th day (the weekly Sabbath - Saturday). The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath [from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday] according to the commandment. (Luke 23:55-56)

• Saturday - That Saturday, was the weekly Sabbath and also the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The body of Christ Jesus was still lying dead and buried in the tomb. Mark 16:1 says, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body”. This verse seems to indicate that the women apparently bought more spices after sunset on Saturday evening when the Sabbath was over. There were as many as 250,000 Jews in Jerusalem each year for Passover, therefore it is plausible that locals were allowed to facilitate the needs of those people who were visiting there.

• Sunday - After the Lord's body lay dead in the tomb during the Sabbath (Saturday, and the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread), early in the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week and the Feast of First Fruits, Christ Jesus was raised from the dead as the First Fruits of the resurrection. This was the third day according to the Scriptures (Luke 24). His resurrection occurred shortly before the women came to the tomb and found it empty. After Jesus Christ rises from the dead (before dawn), He makes five appearances on the day of His rising.

• Although He did not stay in the tomb exactly seventy-two full hours, Christ Jesus was in it three calendar days counted from and including the one on which He was put to death. Additionally, "on the third day" is used more often in the Gospel accounts than "after three days", "three days later", and "three days and three nights" because Yeshua [Jesus] did not come back to life after 72 hours; rather He died on day one (Passover-Friday) and was resurrected on day three (First Fruits - Sunday), as He and the Scriptures proclaimed and predicted He would be (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

Why does this matter?

In Galatians 1:7, the Apostle Paul mentions that "....there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ...." This statement is very true even today.

Today, there are those that proclaim that "Jesus said there would be just one sign of His Messiahship" and use Matthew 12:39–40 to conclude that "Three days and three nights— this is the sign Jesus gave to establish His Messiahship." This means that those who hold this position are proclaiming that the Lord Yeshua [Jesus] had to stay in the tomb exactly seventy-two full hours (Wednesday to Saturday), that He rose before sunset on Saturday, and that Jesus Christ did not rise at or before sunrise on Sunday.

Obviously, the Holy Scriptures don't support this view, thus making this view impossible and unbiblical.

However, the main reason why clarifying this issue about when the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection occurred matters, is because the Wednesday to Saturday account and any other view distorts the gospel of Christ and is contrary to what the Apostles witnessed and preached.

In Galatians 1:8-9 (NASB), the Apostle Paul wrote:

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"

In love and outgoing concern, I want to encourage you the reader to please reexamine the life, words, and teachings of the Lord Jesus more closely in order to know if you are believing in another Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).

This may sound harsh and offensive, but the fact is that the Wednesday to Saturday view is a distortion of the gospel and those who proclaim such a view may be eternally condemned. I certainly do not want this to be the case for anyone, and neither does the LORD (2 Peter 3:9).

Additionally, if you would like more information about this topic, please check out the following resources:

• Herbert W. Armstrong and His Radio Church of God—Part II: Did Christ Stay in the Grave Exactly 72 Hours? by Robert Odom

• Three Days and Three Nights by Rich Robinson

• A Time Line of Holy Week, Passion Week by Christianity.com editorial staff

• Was Yeshua crucified on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday? by UNLEARN the lies (see video below)