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 12:40

So, let’s get things in perspective.

Jesus was 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth (meaning that he was buried for 3 days and 3 nights) before He rose from the dead. Friday – Saturday – Sunday… 3 days and 3 nights. Done!

Well… No!

Friday to Saturday is 1 day. Saturday to early Sunday morning is a night. So the Good Friday to Easter duration is 1 day and 2 nights. So either Jesus got his timing mixed up, or the disciples got their timing confused while they wrote their accounts of their times they spent with the Lord. Or, maybe we are missing something. What if the tradition of Good Friday and Easter itself was out of step with the Bible?

Let’s go back to the Bible to see where things match up. We start with the day before the Crucifixion. The day the Passover lamb was killed, the day Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples.

And the first of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Mark 14:12

The time setting was the Feast of Passover. So, to understand how things were done, we go back to see the Law of how the Jews were required to celebrate the Passover.

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Leviticus 23: 5-8

So, the Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the month, and the feast began on the fifteenth day of the month. But the day was not counted from midnight to midnight as we do, it was counted from evening to evening. Evening and morning was a day. So if the Passover was killed in the evening of the fourteenth day, there was that evening and the next morning before the feast of Unleavened bread started. The first day of the feast was a holy convocation, also called a sabbath. And the day before the Sabbath was always a preparation day.

Now, there were two kinds of Sabbath days – one was the regular seventh day of every week; the other sabbath was any day mentioned in the Torah as a holy convocation or as a sabbath. Before every Sabbath, whether it was a regular weekly sabbath or a special sabbath, there was a day of preparation.

We read that the day Jesus was crucified was a preparation day and the day immediately after was a sabbath, but more specifically that sabbath was a high day.

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
John 19:31

So then, the sabbath that immediately followed the crucifixion was not a regular weekly sabbath, it was a special sabbath, a high day. That means…

Jesus was not crucified on Friday!

So if Jesus was not crucified on a Friday, when was He really crucified?

It was late in the evening by the time Joseph of Arimethaea had the body of Jesus taken down and laid in the tomb. Immediately after that was the sabbath when it was not lawful for them to do any kind of work, including preparing spices. But the women prepared spices for embalming the body of Jesus and then rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
Luke 23: 53-56

So then, there was one whole sabbath after the crucifixion day, and following that was another preparation day, which was followed by a second sabbath – a weekly sabbath. The women had prepared the spices for embalming the body on the day between the special sabbath (the first day of the feast of unleavened bread) and the weekly sabbath. The day the women prepared the spices could not have been the day before the special sabbath (the day He was crucified) because it was already very late and the body had to be hurriedly placed in the tomb before the sabbath began in the evening.

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
Luke 24:1-2

By the time the women arrived at the tomb, which was very early in the morning on the first day of the week (the day immediately after the weekly sabbath) while it was still dark, Jesus had already risen from the dead. The women found the tomb empty!

So when did Jesus really rise from the dead? Putting the verses above together we can understand that Jesus rose from the dead any time soon after the sabbath was over, any time from the evening following the end of the weekly sabbath day. In our present day terms, that would be Saturday night!

So let’s count the days between crucifixion and resurrection:

• Jesus was crucified on the day immediately before a special sabbath.
• Then was the special sabbath when Jesus was in the tomb (1 night and 1 day)
• Next followed a day of preparation, when the women prepared the spices (1 night and 1 day)
• After that was a weekly sabbath when the women rested after preparing the embalming spices (1 night and 1 day)
• Jesus was found risen already on the first day of the week!

Counting the days, we come upon this chronological order:

Tuesday evening: Jesus celebrates the last supper  (Passover meal) with His disciples.

Wednesday morning: Jesus was crucified.

Wednesday evening: Jesus laid in the tomb before sundown, before the sabbath began.

Thursday: Special sabbath, the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, Jesus was in the tomb.

Friday: The day the women prepared the spices.

Saturday: Weekly Sabbath.

Saturday evening (after sundown): Jesus rose from the dead.

Sunday early morning: The women come to the tomb and find it empty.

Jesus was not crucified on a Friday; He was crucified on a Wednesday.

From Biblical record, we have deduced that the tradition of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday is a false tradition and Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. The celebration of His resurrection on Sunday, however, does seem to have some Biblical correctness.

Whether Easter is right or wrong for Christians to celebrate is another question.