| Matthew | Mark | Luke | John | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:39 ... there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 12:40 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. | 11:29 ... there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. [Jonah 1:17 ... And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.] |
Was Jesus buried for 72 hours, just as he had predicted? The 36 hour Good Fridayand Easter Sundaytradition actually denies that Jesus was the Messiah. (It also obscures the prophetic significance of the wave-sheaf rituals, the first on the Sunday after Passover, the second on Pentecost.) |
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| 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. | 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. | 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. | Wednesday Nisan 14, daytime. From noon (6th hour) until Jesus died at 3pm (9th hour), the sunlight was darkened. | |
| 27:57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus's disciple: 27:58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. | 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor ..., came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. | 23:50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: 23:52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. | 19:31 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. | This is a preparation day. The next day is a high day, the annual first day of unleavened bread. Bodies had to be buried before sunset, about 6pm, or wait another day and a half. It was past the 11th hour, nearly sunset, before permission to take the body could be obtained. |
| 27:61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. | 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid. | 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. | 19:42 There they laid Jesus therefore because of the Jews's preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. | There was time enough only to take the body to the tomb before having to return home before the High Sabbath started at sunset. |
| 27:62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, | Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset (1st night and day). The first day of unleavened bread is a High Sabbath. No labour or profane activity could take place on this day. | |||
| 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. | Thursday sunset to Friday sunset (2nd night and day). Spices could now be purchased on Friday, after the High Sabbath had ended. | |||
| 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. | Friday sunset to Saturday sunset (3rd night and day). After having prepared the spices on Friday, they rested on the weekly Sabbath. | |||
| 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. | 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. | 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. | 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. | Sunday morning (before 6am sunrise), Jesus had risen by 6pm on Saturday. In some versions (e.g. LITV, CLNT, YLT, Fenton), Matthew is translated as plural After the sabbaths: the High Sabbath and the Weekly Sabbath. |
Referring to Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20 says The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come
.
Apocrypha also refer to a blood-moon on the night of the crucifixion.
A partial lunar eclipse, which causes the moon to appear red, occurred on Wednesday 25 April in the year 31.
31 is the only year within a decade in which Passover began on a Wednesday.