"Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday)"
Justin Martyr
http://silouanthompson.net/2008/05/justin-martyr-describes-christian-worship-c150-ad/
What most Christians are not in the habit of doing, is looking at the things that pointed to him and his work. He told us, "search the scriptures" which at that time was not the NT. He added, "for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me." The sacrifices, the feasts, they have and had a purpose, but they also pointed to work he would do.
Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:20 that, "Christ is risen
and become the firstfruits of them which are asleep." Firstfruits, let's look at firstfruits....
Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and
shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: (11) And
he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you:
on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
The word for "the Sabbath" is הַשַּׁבָּת (haShabbat) which means "the Sabbath." This part is important, "The Sabbath".... I will come back to this...
Yeshua (Jesus) was killed at 3:00PM on Passover (Matthew 27:46). There is great significance throughout this whole ordeal. The day Yeshua came into Jerusalem was the day the lambs began to be brought in for inspection and ultimately their sacrifice. He being the lamb would also be inspected, and found to have no blemish. Now like I said, his death was on Passover.
Matthew 26:2 "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
Passover is on the 14th day of the month the Jews call Nisan (Leviticus 23:5). The 14th ends, as all biblical days end, at sundown. So when the sun goes down on the 14th, that begins Nisan 15 which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is a High Sabbath (Leviticus 23:6-7). This is why he was taken down and prepared for burial so quickly:
John 19:31 Therefore, because
it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (
for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Passover, the 14th is called the Preparation Day because the lambs were offered and the work complete by 3:00PM and then they would be taken back to their dwellings and roasted. It was a day of preparation because of the work involved in sacrificing the lambs, then roasting them and gathering as a family for the High Sabbath when the lamb would be consumed.
If you are still reading... remember, I said there was a reason for "the Sabbath."
A High Sabbath is called, "Shabbaton" ( שַׁבָּתֹון ) not "Shabbat." The WEEKLY Sabbath is Shabbat, a High Sabbath is Shabbaton.
First fruits was harvested on the day after the weekly Sabbath (Shabbat)
not after the High Sabbath. So the day AFTER the first weekly Sabbath after Passover is when firstfruits occurred.
This is why the church has always celebrated Easter (resurrection day) on a Sunday, the day after the weekly Sabbath after Passover. The idea of a "sunrise service" where Christians face East (the direction of Jerusalem from the west) at sunrise on a Sunday morning is because it was at that time the grave was found to be empty.
3 Days and Nights
He was very clear about the sign... he would be dead 3 days and nights. I propose that Passover, Nisan 14, was on a Thursday. And knowing that in the Jewish mind, ANY PART of a day or night can be counted as a day or night. Therefore, he died at 3:00PM on a Thursday afternoon...
Thursday -
day 1 (he died at the 9th hour = 3:00PM)
Thursday
night - night 1 (begin High Sabbath)
Friday -
day 2 (High Sabbath day)
Friday
night - night 2 (end High Sabbath, begin weekly Sabbath)
Saturday -
day 3 (Sabbath day)
Saturday
night - night 3 (end weekly Sabbath)
By sunrise Sunday morning, the grave was "already" empty for if it weren't, that would be day 4 and that would disqualify him based on his own statement about 3 days and nights.
The day in Scripture begins and ends at sundown. If he died on a Friday afternoon at 3:00PM (the 9th hour) then the "one sign" of him being messiah (being dead 3 days and nights) simply cannot be reached with a Sunday morning resurrection. What you do with that is up to you, but the math simply doesn't even come close to working out. A Friday afternoon death will fall no less than "a night" short... and perhaps even a day and a night short. 
