Some religious sects who worship on Saturday (the old Sabbath) try to claim that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday. This is an attempt to nullify one of the reason that Christians worship on first day of the week [Sunday, “The Lord’s Day”]. One of the reasons we worship on the first day of the week because Jesus was resurrected on the first day (Sunday) of the week/  Furthermore,  after his resurrection, the early church worshipped on the first day of the week. Here is scriptural evidence that Jesus was crucified on Friday.

Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. [seventh day Saturday sabbath]

Luke 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week [Sunday], very early in the mornin.g, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

The women viewed the sepulchre and the body of Jesus on the preparation day (Friday evening before sunset) and then rested according to the 4th Commandment, on the Saturday Sabbath. When the Saturday Sabbath had past, the women returned to the tomb at sunrise, and that day was the first day of the week (Sunday). Clearly then, Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon, the preparation day for the Saturday Sabbath.

This Friday preparation day (paraskeue:G3904) is mentioned in Mat 27:62, Mk 15:42, Lk 23:54, Jn 19:14, 19:31 and 19:42. It is important to note that in the Bible, only the 6th day of the week is defined as the preparation day (Exo. 16:5), for the 7th day Sabbath, but not the day preceding a yearly festival sabbath. The term always means what we call Friday, in both scriptural and non-scriptural usage:

Now here is the logic some people will give for a Wednesday crucifixion -

One cannot get three days and three nights (Matt 12:40) from "Good Friday" to "Easter Sunday." Friday and Saturday nights are two nights, and Saturday is one day. This is only one day and two nights, what about the other two days and one night? Friday can't possibly be the day Jesus died.

This is the result of trying to use literal western thinking and applying it to the text, implying that there should be a full 72 hours between the crucifixion and the resurrection. But that is not the intent of the passage. For proof lets look at what the Gospels and other books have to say about the matter -

Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to show 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*.

Mat 17:23 And they shall kill him, and *the third day* he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and *the third day* he shall rise again.

Mark 9:31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise *the third* day.

Mark 10:34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and *the third day* he shall rise again.

Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised *the third day*.

Luke 18:33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and *the third day* he shall rise again.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in *three days* I will raise it up.

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Acts 10:40 Him God raised up *the third day*, and showed him openly;

1 Cor 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

1 Cor 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again *the third day* according to the scriptures:

So now, just WHICH day was the third day? Notice the following verses from the 24th chapter of Luke:

Luke 24:1 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 24:7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and *the third day* rise again.

Luke 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, *to day is the third day* since these things were done.

Luke 24:46 And (Jesus) said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead *the third day*:

This passage makes plain that on Sunday the *first day of the week* (v. 1), the two angels at the tomb said He would rise *the third day* (v. 7), and on the same day on the road to Emmaus the two disciples stated it was *the third day* (v. 21), and Jesus says he would rise *the third day* (v. 46). So clearly Sunday was the third day the angels and Jesus were speaking of, the day on which Jesus rose from the grave. With that in mind, note this verse:

Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

Those who advocate a Wednesday crucifixion must adhere to a Saturday afternoon resurrection, but the above verses, in conjunction with Mark 16:9, refute that very nicely.

Yet, some will still point to Matthew 28:1 to show that the women first came to the tomb late on the sabbath (Saturday) near sunset:

Mat 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.

This point is quickly clarified by looking at Mark's account:

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Mark 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Clearly the women came to the tomb at sunrise, finding the tomb empty. So what about the strange wording of Matthew 28:1? The explanation can be found in the division of the text into verses. The original Greek texts contain no punctuation, or chapter or verse markings. These were later added as a convenience to the reader. By merely reorganizing Matthew 27:66 and 28:1 as follows, the apparent ambiguity completely disappears:

Mat 27:62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,

Mat 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

Mat 27:64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

Mat 27:65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.

Note that in verse 62, the request for a guard on the tomb was made on a Sabbath (the day after the preparation) and that the request was for a guard until the third day. Now, here is how the following verses should be printed:

Mat 27:66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch in the end of the sabbath.

Mat 28:1 As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Note that the wording is not changed, merely the dividing point of the verses is changed by moving the period ending verse sixty-six. It was the watch guarding the tomb that began at the end of the sabbath! This shows that Matthew and Mark agree completely as to when the women came to the tomb: just before the rising of the sun at dawn, the first day of the week, Sunday.

Since Jesus was to rise the third day, the Roman guards were put in place immediately at the end of the Sabbath, because they anticipated the body being stolen by the Jews sometime on Sunday, the third (and next) day. Had they anticipated the theft on Saturday, then the guard would have been in place by Friday evening, (the preparation day).

Sunday, as we have seen, actually began at sunset on Saturday evening, and by Jewish reckoning any part of a day is counted as a day. So working backwards:

Sunday, was the third day, the day of the resurrection.

Saturday (Sabbath) was the second day that Christ rested in the tomb.

Friday (Preparation day) was the first day, the day of the crucifixion.

Note that in Luke 24:18 - 21, the events of the three days begin with the arrest and trial of Jesus, not with His burial!

Jesus was crucified on Friday and died at 3 p.m. He rose from the dead somewhere between Saturday after sunset and sunrise on Sunday morning. There is absolutely no way to push the crucifixion back to Wednesday and fit scripture. A Wednesday crucifixion is clearly impossible.

Those who advocate a Thursday crucifixion propose that there were back-to-back Sabbaths the year of the crucifixion. This is based on an interpretation of the word "Sabbath" in the crucifixion narratives in its plural sense, which it is proposed, indicates that there were two separate and consecutive Sabbath days observed, rather than a single "high" Sabbath day. This proposed chronology has several problems:

Firstfruits does not occur on 16 Nisan.

The day following the crucifixion is not a seventh-day Sabbath. The seventh-day Saturday Sabbath was the day after the crucifixion, and we know this because the women rested that day according to the fourth commandment of God. Therefore, the crucifixion had to have occurred on a Friday.

Scripture makes no direct mention of two consecutive Sabbath days in any of the Gospel narratives.

By Jewish reckoning (any part of a day is counted as a full day), the Thursday crucifixion theory places the resurrection on the fourth day, not on the third day.

The Jewish priesthood would deliberately delay (dehioth) the declaration of the new moon (Kiddush Hachodesh) by one day in order to prevent the inconvenience of back-to-back sabbaths. They still do this to this day.

Proponents of a Wednesday crucifixion are really forced into a Saturday resurrection by their maintaining strict adherence to the the 72 hour - 3 day 3 night scenario. Saturday then, if it is the resurrection day, should also be the day of Firstfruits. But this violates what is set forth in Lev. 23:11 which states that Firstfruits occurs the day after the sabbath, meaning the day after the 15 Nisan sabbath (1st day of Unleavened Bread, v.7). So, Firstfruits could not have been on Saturday, since as indicated in the above chart, it would clearly not be after a sabbath. So Saturday is clearly disqualified from being Firstfruits.

Sunday Firstfruits?

Neither by the Wednesday theory, could Firstfruits occur on Sunday, though that would place it after a sabbath, because that again places the resurrection on Sunday, which extends past the 72 hour rule they wish to adhere so rigorously to (A Sunday resurrection would make it the fourth day after the crucifixion). Proposing a Wednesday crucifixion and Sunday Firstfruits means adding two days to the scenario and again denying that 16 Nisan is the resurrection day and day of Firstfruits, thus breaking the type-antitype pattern. Since Sunday cannot possibly be called "the third day" since Jesus' crucifixion and burial under the Wednesday crucifixion theory, and can't be 16 Nisan either, it must also be disqualified as the day of Firstfruits.

It would seem to be clear that under the Wednesday crucifixion theory, Firstfruits (16 Nisan) can't be fitted in anywhere and remain harmonious with scripture. Therefore, this completely excludes the possibility of a Wednesday crucifixion and 72 hour theory that some would promote. God bless!