A simple defense of the Friday crucifixion

As Easter approaches there's not better time to hammer this out. I realize there are many Wednesday and Thursday brethren out there. Here's a simple case for why a Friday crucifixion is explicit is Scripture and why a pre-Friday crucifixion is totally unnecessary. And, no, I'm not going to appeal to idiomatic language.

The case is simple.

1) Scripture clearly states Sunday is the third day since the handing over of Jesus to the earthly rulers.

2) Jesus reference to 3 days and 3 nights in the "heart of the earth" is not a reference to his time in the grave, but rather to his time under the judgement of earthly authorities, which began Thursday night (the beginning of Friday).

I'll explain:

1) Cleapas testifies very clearly in Luke 24 that Sunday is the third day since the handing over of Jesus.

Jesus was taken captive Thursday night (the beginning of Friday in the Jewish understanding of days), and then handed over the Pilot Friday morning.


Notice that last phrase. Cleopas said it was the third day since all of this took place, not just the crucifixion. The burial of Christ isn't actually mentioned here. Cleapos specifically included the incarceration of Jesus as the beginning of the timeline.

We know, also, he was speaking to Jesus on Sunday (the first day of the week) based on what he said next.


If Sunday afternoon is said to be the third day since Jesus was handed over, then Saturday has to be the second day, and the handing over of Jesus has to be Friday morning. There's no way around it.

2) The phrase "3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth" in Matt. 12:40 does not mean 3 days and 3 nights in the grave.

The phrase rather speaks of Jesus being taken into custody by hostile earthly authorities. Why this phrase is so widely held to mean the grave is a bit of a mystery. It can appear at first glance to refer to burial, but there was a better more well-known phrase for that. The correct phrase would have been "under the earth" (Phil. 2:10, Rev. 5:3, Rev. 5:13). This was a simple idiom which conveyed the meaning underground, and was used to refer to individuals were had died and were burred.

Earth, in the Bible, literally means land (Genesis 1:5). Heart of the earth and under the earth, therefore would have had very different meanings to the Biblical mind. In the ancient mind they would have been heard as, under the land versus heart of the land. In our modern vernacular they would have been rendered underground and heartland respectively—two words with two very different meanings.

To the ancient mind, heart of the earth would have been literally understood as the middle of a particularly land, much like our modern world heartland. Metaphorically, therefore, it would not have been understood as the grave, but rather something to do with the land or land-dwellers which is often the case with term heart in Scripture.

The heart of the earth is, therefore, better understood as a metaphor for earthly authorities or earthly rulers, the very rulers Christ submitted to on Thursday night in Gethsemane. He did not become free of their judgement until Sunday morning, and Thursday night to Sunday morning is exactly 3 days and 3 nights.

Case closed (IMHO). Looking forward to your arguments.

HeartenedHeart said:

Just a clarifying question concerning the talk with the two on the road to Emmaus, and the following events in Luk. 24:13-49.

I agree with the Bible, and yourself, that that "to day is the third day since these things were done", is upon "the first day of the week", as Luk. 24:1 specifically states.

And so as they walked to their home, and Jesus was long talking with them, it became late in the day, and heading into the evening, and so they desired to eat the meal, supper, at the end of the day, right?

Jesus then makes himself known to them, and they run back to Jerusalem (roughly 7 miles) at evening. How long do you think it took them to get back to Jerusalem at such an hour?

So when Jesus appears in the room with the disciples as the two from Emmaus get there, what day was it according to Bible time?

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No idea. The Bible really doesn't expand on that.

1213 said:

Sorry, I think there is not enough support for the idea of under the authors, especially because being dead is not being under the authors. People have no authority in the realm of dead.

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I have no idea what you just said here. What "authors" are you speaking of?

1213 said:

In OP it was said:
“The heart of the earth is, therefore, better understood as a metaphor for earthly authorities or earthly rulers, the very rulers Christ submitted to on Thursday night in Gethsemane”.

I meant that with the “authors”. Sorry, I probably should have used word “authorities” or earthly rulers.

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Then what do you think "heart of the earth" means, and what is your evidence to support it?

1213 said:

I think it means grave or place beneath earths surface. And reason is, there is really not good reason to assume it means something else. But I understand your point, Bible has many scriptures that have multiple ways to be interpret. I think best way to recognize the correct is to find support for the idea from other parts of the Bible. Like for example in this case:

…and began to teach them, that it behoveth the Son of Man to suffer many things, and to be rejected by the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and after three days to rise again;..
Mark 8:31

That is clearer, it says, after killed… …so, Jesus would be killed 3 days and then rise again....

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So three separate points here.

1) You say you have to assume it means grave for lack of evidence. I don't think that's ever a good way to determine meaning. Somehow you have to at support the idea that this should be the default meaning.

Many assume heart of the earth refers to the core of planet earth, but earth in scripture simply means land. "And God called the dry land, earth," (Gen. 1:5). The heart or middle of the land has a very different meaning. That usually implies a surface geographical area, like the middle of Israel or the middle of Egypt. A metaphor drawn from that, therefore, is unlikely to point to something under the surface.

There is a metaphor in the OT that involves the middle of the land of Egypt that we can look to as an example.


This is referring to the rulers and authorities of Egypt.

We can also look to the analogy of "belly of the whale" which is a direct analogy to "heart of the earth." This also doesn't not mean grave, as Jonah never died, but instead was captive.

2) Regarding Mark 8:31, this passage mentions days only, not nights. The principle of inclusive reckoning comes into play in this passage as there actually are 3 day portions after the death of Jesus—the remainder of Friday, all day Saturday, and the twilight of the morning on Sunday. Notice also that even this verse doesn't mention burial or the grave.

3) Your last point of multiple witnesses also comes into play, in that there are multiple passages referring to Sunday as the third day, in addition to Cleapas in Luke 24.

• “suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,“ crucified, resurrected third day (Matt. 16:21)
• “delivered into the hands of men,” crucified, resurrected third day (Matt. 17:22)
• “delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law,” crucified, resurrected third day (Matt. 20:18-19, Mark 10:33-34)
• “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,” crucified, resurrected third day (Luke 9:21-22)
• “delivered over to the Gentiles,” crucified, resurrected third day (Luke 18:32-33)
• “delivered over to the hands of sinners,” crucified, resurrected third day (Luke 24:7).