Was Christ in the grave 3 days and 3 nights?

Short answer:

A relatively new teaching says that, like Jonah was in the belly of a big fish three days and three nights, Christ also lay in the grave a full 72 hours. Thus, Christ was supposedly crucified on a Wednesday, interred at sunset, and was in the tomb until sunset of Saturday, after which He rose on the first day of the week, Sunday.

But, NO, Christ’s death late afternoon on Friday was truly the first day, sunset Friday to sunset on Saturday was the second day, and sunset Saturday to dawn Sunday was the third day. Among the Jews, a part of a day was counted as one whole day.

Moreover, only two (2) verses in the KJV can be found saying “after three days.” And there are indications Christ could not have said them. On the other hand, we find written eleven (11) times in the KJV that Christ would rise or rose again from the dead “the third day.” Besides, if Christ was really crucified on a Wednesday, then His resurrection on Sunday would have been the fourth day.

So, what does the prophecy about Christ being like Jonah really mean? The answer: It foretells Christ’s prominence in the world throughout the Christian era. “Three days and three nights” mean “three thousand years,” for in the sight of God a day is a thousand years, and vice-versa. “Heart” means “mind,” because there is no word for “mind” in Hebrew and the Jews often used the word “heart” (lebh) for mind. “Earth” means the “world” or “the people of the world.”

In summary, the prophecy foretells Christ will be topmost in the mind of mankind for some 3,000 years – that is, 2,000 years from His birth in 5 B.C. to the end of the Church Age around 2000 A.D., plus the 1,000 years of the Millennial Kingdom, wherein He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords until the Last Judgment.

After Satan shall have been defeated following his last uprising at the end of the Millennium, preeminence will return to the Almighty Father (1 Corinthians 15:25-28).

Detailed explanation:

     There is a relatively new teaching going around that, because of a prophecy about Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, Christ was not crucified on a Friday, but on a Wednesday. How true is this?

     The “sign of Jonah”. We read in Matthew 12:38-40 – “Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.’ He answered, ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” (NIV).

Three days and three nights in the grave? In view of this, some say Christ actually lay three days and three nights – a full 72 hours -- in the grave. Hence, Christ was supposedly crucified on a Wednesday, interred at sunset, and was in the tomb until sunset of Saturday, after which He rose on the first day of the week, Sunday.

“After three days”? If Christ was in the grave fully three days and three nights, then he resurrected after three days. Only two (2) verses in the King James Version (KJV) can be found saying “after three days.” And there are indications Christ could not have said them. Let us see.

Matthew 27:62-63 – “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.” However, it was the chief priests and Pharisees who said this. Since they hated Christ, they could have carelessly misquoted Him.

Mark 8:31 – “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”  But these might not be the exact words of Christ.

In the Greek original, “after three days” was metá treís heeméras, which can mean several things. In the KJV, meta is translated “after (-ward), X that he again, against, among, X and, + follow, hence, hereafter, in, of, (up-) on, + our, X and setting, since, (un-) to, + together, when, with (+-out” (New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary). Thus, metá treís heeméras can also be translated as “in three days.”

 Three Days and Three Nights?

		1st Day		2nd Day		3rd Day
Wednesday		Thursday		Friday		Saturday		Sunday
Preparation Day		Feast-day Sabbath?				Weekly Sabbath		First day of the week
Crucifixion		In the grave						Resurrection
Night	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day
Began at sunset Tuesday	Ended at sunset Wednes-day	Began at sunset Wednes-day	Ended at sunset Thursday	Began at sunset Thursday	Ended at sunset Friday	Began at sunset Friday	Ended at sunset Saturday	Began at sunset Saturday	Ended at sunset Sunday
	Burial at sunset	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Resurrect-ion after sunset

If Thursday, the next day after a supposed Wednesday crucifixion, was a feast-day sabbath, preventing the women from anointing the body of Christ, why did they not do it on Friday? Luke says they had finished preparing the spices and ointments by late afternoon Thursday before the sabbath. So if the crucifixion was really on a Wednesday and the feast-day sabbath was the next day, Thursday, they could have done it on Friday. Why would they wait until Sunday? 

“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…  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” (Luke 23:54-56; 24:1).

Besides, if Christ was really crucified on a Wednesday, then His resurrection on Sunday would have been the fourth day. Not to mention the fact that a dead body would have been in a state of advanced decomposition by the fourth day. For instance, “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days” (John 11:39).

“The third day”. On the other hand, we find it written eleven (11) times in the KJV that Christ would rise or rose again from the dead “the third day”: “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day”  (Matthew 16:21, cf. Matthew 17:23, 20:19; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7,46; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4).  

Among Jews, a part of a day was counted as one whole day. “It will be seen in the account of the resurrection of Christ that he was in the grave but two nights and a part of three days… This computation is… strictly in accordance with the Jewish mode of reckoning. If it had ‘not’ been, the Jews would have understood it, and would have charged our Saviour as being a false prophet… Such a charge, however, was never made; and it is plain, therefore, that what was ‘meant’ by the prediction was accomplished… 2 Chron 10:5, 12; Gen 42:17-18…  Est 4:16 with Est 5:1” (Matt 12:40, Barnes' Notes). Thus, Christ’s burial late afternoon on Friday was the first day, sunset Friday to sunset on Saturday was the second day, and sunset Saturday to dawn Sunday was the third day.

Three Days in the Grave

First Day		Second Day		Third Day
Friday		Saturday		Sunday
Preparation Day		Weekly Sabbath		First day of the week
Crucifixion		In the Grave		Resurrection
Night	Day	Night	Day	Night	Day
Began at sunset Thursday	Ended at sunset Friday	Began at sunset Friday	Ended at sunset Saturday	Began at sunset Saturday	Ended at sunset Sunday
	Burial before sunset	Lifeless in the tomb	Lifeless in the tomb	Resurrection before sunrise

      According to some Bible researchers Christ was crucified on the 14^th day of Abib (today Nisan in the Jewish calendar) – that is, April 7, 30 A.D., in the modern Gregorian calendar. 

     So, what is meant by the “sign of the prophet Jonah”?

     Prophecy of prominence. The “sign of Jonah” in Matthew 12:40 was not a prophecy of Christ’s burial and resurrection. It is a prophecy of His prominence in the world throughout the Christian era. Let us examine the reasons for this.

“Three days and three nights” mean 3,000 years. The “three days and three nights” signify three thousand years, for in the sight of God a day is a thousand years, and vice-versa. “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4); and “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).

“Heart” means “mind”. There is no word for “mind” in Hebrew, so the Jews often used the word “heart” (lebh) for mind (Deuteronomy 30:1; Psalm 31:12; Isaiah 46:8; Jeremiah 19:5, etc.). “The thinking processes of man are said to be carried out by the heart. This intellectual activity corresponds to what would be called mind in English. Thus, the heart may think (Est 6:6), understand (Job 38:36), imagine (Jer 9:14), remember (Deut 4:9), be wise (Prov 2:10), and speak to itself (Deut 7:17). Decision-making is also carried out by the heart. Purpose (Acts 11:23), intention (Heb 4:12), and will (Eph 6:6) are all activities of the heart” (Heart, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary).

“Earth” means “people of the world”. The word “earth” stands for the “world” or “the people of the world” (Earth, The New Unger's Bible Dictionary). We see this in instances such as: “The earth (the people) also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11); “And the whole earth (all the people) was of one language, and of one speech” (Genesis 11:1).

Summary: In short, the prophecy foretells Christ will be topmost in the mind of mankind for 3,000 years – that is, 2,000 years from His birth in 5 B.C. to the end of the Church Age around 2000 A.D., plus the 1,000 years of the Millennial Kingdom, wherein He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords until the Last Judgment.

After Satan shall have been defeated following his last uprising at the end of the Millennium, preeminence will return to the Almighty Father.

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:25-28).

Excerpted from the booklet MORE Bible Secrets by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.