"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." Matthew 12:40
Many people have questioned this verse, wanting to understand its meaning. The key to understanding what is being said is that, even today, any part of a day is considered to be "one day". As an example of how we use this today, if someone is leaving on Monday for vacation they could be leaving at 2 in the morning or 9 at night. Either way it is still Monday, but each day in the Bible begins at sunset on the day before, so any part of Friday would also include the dark portion of Friday that began at sunset on Thursday.
Jesus died on Friday at about 3 in the afternoon and was buried before sunset, but it was still Friday and so it also included the night portion that came before. He was in the tomb during both the dark and light portions of the Sabbath. He was resurrected on the first day of the week (Sunday) before it began to get light and because part of the first day was spent in the tomb the whole day was counted.
Some people have even wondered if Jesus could have actually died on Thursday afternoon rather than Friday afternoon, but the fact that the Bible says, "It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath)." Mark 15:42 tells us that it was not Thrusday, but Friday (the day the Jews called "Preparation Day").
Just a few verses later we can know that this Sabbath was not a special Sabbath because Mark 16:1-3 says, "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, 'Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?' " This Sabbath was followed by "the first day of the week". Christian all know that Jesus rose on Sunday and the day before Sunday is Saturday, the day spoken of here as the Sabbath.
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