Neither Luke nor Mark provide a complete chronology of the events. It is only when you look at all the witness accounts that the chronology can be pieced together. Luke makes it clear that Mary and her band of cohorts waited until the sabbath was over with before they could buy embalming spices.
Both the KJV and 1982 NKJV I quoted use the past tense, consistent with the author's perspective when he wrote the account. That the KJV isn't using contemporary language is the only reason it isn't as clear. But, they both say the same thing.
The only doctrinal import that can be gleaned from the account was as a sign to the Jewish nation that witnessed the account firsthand. This was according to what Jesus told them, recorded by Matthew 12:
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
Those women were busy beavers on Friday.
Using the chronology tradition posits with a Friday crucifixion leaves you without the three nights Jesus specified. Here's the events as they happened:
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. - Mark 16:1
Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. - Luke 23:56
Summary:
- Wednesday afternoon/evening - Jesus crucified, and buried by Joseph.
- Thursday - High Sabbath, 1st day of unleavened bread.
- Friday - Mary & company go out and procure embalming spices, and prepare them.
- Saturday - Sabbath according to the 7th day of the week.
- Sunday before dawn - Mary & company go to embalm Jesus, by which time He has risen!
That's three days as we account them: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
It is also three nights as we account them: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, and Jesus didn't remain in the tomb Saturday night. Sometime during the night He resurrected from the dead. When Mary arrived on the scene, she initially mistook Jesus for a gardener (John 20:15) - He had been up for an undocumented amount of time before her arrival.
Genez started this with his observation, that we agree on:
I don't see where this becomes a essential issue, and it doesn't follow the topic of the thread anyway. However, it became another avenue for Elder111 to commit theological suicide with the comments he makes in variance with the Biblical record - just as he has done with consistent contradictions with the Law.