Every year most Christians celebrate Holy Week by commemorating a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday empty tomb.  Is this correct?  Since childhood I was irked by the idea that a Friday crucifixion wouldn’t fulfill the “sign of Jonah” given in Matthew 12:40, “For just 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.”  The internet didn’t exist in those days though, and I didn’t even know what a commentary was, so I eventually just tucked it away in my unsolved mysteries file.

A few years ago I finally rolled up my sleeves and did some study.  What I found convinced me that Jesus was crucified on a Thursday.  Since it’s Holy Week this week, and in keeping with my current theme of reviewing and revising my beliefs according to the witness of the Bible, I decided to share what I found in today’s episode!

Disclaimer: there are those who think a Wednesday crucifixion works better than Thursday to account for all the gospels’ details.  They also could be right, and frankly technically the Friday crucifixion is also a possibility by some accounting.  Stick around till the end for reasons why the exact date of the week is less important than the implications of this study!