How could Jesus have remained in the tomb for three days and three nights if he was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday?Jesus prophesied in Matthew 12:40 that “just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of God be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection as given in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John indicated that Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday, before sunset, which is the beginning of the next day for the Jews, and resurrected on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, before sunrise.
This puts Jesus in the tomb for part of Friday evening and night, the whole of Saturday and part of Sunday morning. In other words, two full nights (Friday and Saturday), one full day (Saturday) and part of two days (before sunset on Friday and Sunday morning). So this is clearly not three full twenty-four hour days, does the Bible give us wrong information?
In Mark 8:31 and Matthew 16:21, Jesus said, “The Son of God will rose again after three days” and “He will rise again on the third day.”. These two expressions can be used interchangeably. After three days and on the third day have the same meaning. This we must understand in order to move on.
In Matthew 27:63, we see Pilate sending guards to guard the tomb until the third day when the Pharisees told him that “Jesus prophesied that He will rise again after three days”. You see, Pilate sent guards to guard the tomb only until the third day, and then they are to leave. The guards were not there until the third day ends or until the fourth day. So this gives proof that “after three days” is used interchangeably with “on the third day”.
The expression “one day and one night” was used by the Jews for indicating a day even when only a part of the day was indicated. This is shown also in the Old Testament. Genesis 42:17 shows this usage. Joseph imprisoned his brothers for three days, and in verse 18, we read that Joseph spoke to them and released them all on the third day. If the Jewish expressions were not used here, the account should go like this, “Joseph imprisoned his brothers for three days and on the fourth day he released them.” However this was not the case because the phrase “on the third day” is the same as “after three days”. This is the common mode of Jewish expression which can be used interchangeably and we even use it in our daily conversation today.
Therefore Jesus being crucified for three days is accepted as valid information even though he was only in the tomb for approximately 40 hours rather than the supposed 72 hours (3 times 24).
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