Originally posted here.

 

I did some research of the biblical account. I did not look up all the references but enough to make me ask some questions.

 

First, several days are mentioned:

 

• first day of unleavened bread (arrest during night)
• day after the first day of unleavened bread (trial, condemnation, crufixion, death)
• day of preparation=day before Sabbath=our Friday (burial) [This seems to be same day as trial and crucifixion but this not necessarily the case. Mark 15:42 says burial was the day before the Sabbath.]
• Sabbath=our Saturday "rested the sabbath day according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56)
• first day of the week, which was the "end of the Sabbath"=our Sunday (resurrection)

Which day of the week is the "first day of unleavened bread"? Is the "day of preparation" the same as "the day after the first day of unleavened bread"? In other words, was he buried the same day that he died?

 

Timeline

 

• During the night of First day of unleavened bread: arrest (Matt. 26:17, 57, 75; Mark 14:12, 46, 72; Luke 22:7, 54, 61)
• Next morning, day after the first day of unleavened bread (second day of unleavened bread?): Trial, Execution, and Death (Matt. 27:1-2; Luke 22:26)
• day before the Sabbath: burial (Mark 15:42 Is this the same day as his death?)
• Sabbath
• First day of the week; right after the Sabbath ended: resurrection

Arrest, Crucifixion, and Death:

 

The arrest was during the night of the first day of unleavened bread (Matt. 26:17, 57, 75; Mark 14:12, 46, 72; Luke 22:7, 54, 61). The next morning (the day after the first day of unleavened bread) he was brought before Pilate (Matt. 27:1-2; Luke 22:26). He is condemned, crucified, and dead the same day (Matt. 27:26, 35, 50).

 

All of this would have been the day AFTER the first day of unleavened bread. What day of the week was the "first day of unleavened bread"? The crucifixion was the day after that.

 

Burial

 

Mark 15:42. And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

 

Was this the same day as the crucifixion? If not, we can work in an extra day or two that he was dead, but he was not in "the heart of the earth" that day if he was still on the cross. Well, if the cross along with the body had been thrown out into some pit or valley, it might have been called the "heart of the earth." I don't know where they put these bodies, nor do I know if they threw out the crosses. Did they have enough wood for that? Did they have to take the bodies off the crosses in order to re-use the crosses? I'm not sure that they had all that many forests.

 

Luke 23:53-54; Matt. 27:57 He was buried on day of preparation as "the Sabbath drew on" (Luke). Matthew says he was buried in the evening, but does not say the evening of which day. For the day of the crucifixion, Luke gives the times throughout the day that the various events took place but he does not tell us which day it was.

 

Thus, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke it is possible to fit in an extra day or two of being dead on the cross. I did not look at John.

 

Resurrection

 

The resurrection happened the "first day of the week" (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19).

 

^{Matt. 28:1} In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

 

Thus, the resurrection was the day after the Sabbath. That would be our Sunday .