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The Crucifixion Timeline That Destroys 1,700 Years of Church Tradition
Most Christians believe Jesus died Friday and rose Sunday. Here's why that's biblically impossible.
Daniel Macaraeg
May 16, 2025
What if everything you’ve been taught about Jesus’ death and resurrection is off by two whole days?
Sounds crazy. But the math doesn’t lie.
Jesus made a bold claim — His only sign.
“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.”
—Matthew 12:40, NKJV
That’s 72 hours. Not a day and a half.
He even said it more than once: “After three days I will rise again” (Mark 8:31).
Yet the traditional timeline says:
Buried Friday before sunset
In the tomb Saturday
Resurrected early Sunday morning
That’s maybe 36 hours. Not three days. Not three nights.
If Jesus meant what He said — and He always did — this timeline fails His one and only test.
So what’s the truth?
Biblical scholar E.W. Bullinger, an expert in scriptural figures of speech, clears it up:
"There is no figure here… 'Three days and three nights' is as literal as it can be… It is the simple statement of fact."
And that’s exactly what my late father — a die-hard Protestant with a very analytical and logical mind — realized nearly 60 years ago.
It shook him. It changed him.
And it led him to search for, embrace, and teach more of these biblical truths.
The real timeline is this:
Wednesday: Jesus dies just before sunset.
Thursday: Annual Sabbath (First Day of Unleavened Bread).
Friday: Women purchase and prepare spices.
Saturday: Weekly Sabbath. Jesus rises just before sunset — 72 hours later.
Sunday: Tomb already empty.
It fits both prophecy and history.
So why don’t more people talk about it?
Because tradition is easier to follow than truth.
The Friday–Sunday tradition didn’t come from Scripture. It was formalized around AD 325 at the Council of Nicaea — when the Roman Church separated the resurrection from Passover and tied it to Easter Sunday. That’s why we refer to it as 1,700 years of church tradition — because it’s been taught that way for over seventeen centuries.
But truth matters. Especially when it’s the only sign Jesus gave to prove who He was.
So if He rose on the Sabbath… what’s so special about that day?
You’ll find out in tomorrow’s essay — and it may change how you view Pentecost forever.
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