The Day That Jesus Died

In the grand scheme of the plan of salvation, the actual day in which Jesus died, whether Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, is of little consequence. However, the integrity of the inerrancy of Scripture is of great consequence. This study is not meant to make an issue of one particular day over another, but to cause the reader to consider the majesty and precision of God’s Word.

Whenever you seek to understand some things that are not plainly detailed in Scripture, it is always best to begin with information that is plainly revealed. These are the things we know for sure:

• Jesus rose sometime before sunrise on the first day of the week- a Sunday (John 20:1)
• Jesus died sometime between 3PM and sunset (Mark 15:34-37, John 19:31)
• Jesus was dead for at least 3 days and 3 nights [however understood] (Matthew 12:40, 27:63)

In order to help us understand these things it is best to have a picture of this information:

The Jewish reckoning of days is from sunset to sunset. So even though Sunday is the first day of the week, in reality it began at sunset on Saturday. Depending upon the understanding of "3 days and 3 nights" the times of the crucifixion is then either late in the day on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Arguments For A Wednesday Crucifixion

The most obvious and also the strongest argument for a Wednesday crucifixion is that it is the only day that allows for a full 3 days and 3 nights to occur between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Matthew 27:63 states that Jesus would rise "after" three days and three nights. A Wednesday crucifixion allows for a full night on the 5th, 6th, and 7th days as well as full days.

A second argument is that a Wednesday crucifixion best fits the typology of the Passover. According to Exodus 12:3-6, the Passover Lamb was to be identified on the 10th day of the month (Nissan) and then to be killed on the 14th day. According to Mark's gospel, 4 days transpired between the "Triumphal Entry" and the day of the crucifixion. This then places the triumphal entry on Saturday rather than "Palm Sunday". This may seem like an argument against a Wednesday crucifixion but some believe that Saturday is a more likely day that Sunday for Jesus' presentation. According to Mark, on the day of the presentation, Jesus entered into the Temple and looked around and left. It was on the next day that He returned and cast out the money changers. Had the money changers been present on the day of His presentation, certainly He would have cleansed the Temple then, rather than waiting until the next day. So why weren't they there? A reasonable explanation is that if it was the Sabbath, no business would have been transacted. So a Saturday presentation seems quite possible.

Arguments Against A Wednesday Crucifixion

The strongest argument for a Wednesday crucifixion may not be as strong as it appears. The term after three days... is a translation of "meta treis hemeras". The preposition meta when used with the accusative case (as it is here in Matthew 27:63) is generally translated with the word "after". However, the root meaning of the word is "within" ¹. In that in many other places it was stated that Jesus would rise on the third day or within 3 days (Matt. 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:61, 27:40, 27:64, Mark 9:31, 10:34, 15:29, Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7, 24:21, 24:46, John 2:19-20) it would seem best to understand meta here as meaning within rather than after. If so, a Wednesday crucifixion puts too much time between it and the resurrection.

A Saturday Triumphal Entry also has some significant problems. Another possibility of explaining why the money changers were not present in the Temple when Jesus arrived is that according to Mark, it was near sunset. The need to purchase sacrifices was for all practical purposes non-existent; so the money changers went home for the day. A more significant problem though, was that Jesus riding on a donkey was a violation of Mosaic Sabbath law (Deut. 5:14) as well as the people cutting palm branches (Numbers 15:32-36). In that it was impossible for Jesus to violate the Law (being God) and for Him also to allow the people to do the same without rebuke, it must be then that His Triumphal Entry did not occur on a Saturday.

Arguments For A Thursday Crucifixion

A Thursday crucifixion allows the precise time needed to literally fulfill the 3 days and nights. Since Jesus died before sunset, Thursday would count as a day, Friday would be the second day, and Saturday would be the third. The 3 nights would be the 6th, 7th, and 1st days of the week. A Thursday crucifixion also allows Palm Sunday to be the day of the presentation. While the Church may not have always gotten its dates correct, there is some credibility in that we celebrate Palm Sunday and not Palm some other day of the week.

Arguments For A Friday Crucifixion

One of the biggest objections to a Friday crucifixion is that it does not allow enough time for 3 days and nights until the resurrection. This objection can be countered in understanding that the phrase can be understood idiomatically rather than literally. Day and night then is to be understood as a 24-hour time period constituting a day. Just as with the Thursday crucifixion where day one counted as a full day even though Jesus was only dead for a very short time in it, so with the Friday crucifixion any part of a day can count as a whole day. Jesus then would be dead on the 6th, 7th and 1st days, fulfilling His declaration. Possibly the most significant argument for the Friday crucifixion is found in the statement in Mark's gospel that the crucifixion occurred on the preparation day which was the day before the Sabbath. Those who hold to a Thursday crucifixion argue that was a special Sabbath day due to the Passover. Dwight Pentecost states this is somewhat a forced interpretation and argues that the normal understanding of the Sabbath (Saturday) is the correct understanding ². The one deficiency of the Friday crucifixion is that in order to have Jesus' presentation occur on Palm Sunday an extra day must be inserted into the week. This would violate the Passover typology and seems incongruent with Mark's declaration of all the Passover week events. In order to resolve this problem, it is possible that the presentation occurred on a Monday rather than a Sunday.

In conclusion, it appears that the Wednesday crucifixion has too many problems to make it credible. Thursday certainly seems to be possible, but Friday seems to be more probable. Regardless of the logical (or if you disagree with my conclusion) or illogical nature of my reasoning, Scripture does precisely fit all the puzzle pieces together to form a sharp, clear picture of that day at Calvary when Jesus died bearing our sins that we might have His life.

ENDNOTES
¹ H.E. Dana & J.R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament p.107-108.
² Dwight Pentecost, The Words & Works Of Jesus Christ p.575.