Which Was the Day of the Resurrection?

If Christ’s Resurrection was not on Sunday, then when was it? The world commonly believes that it was Sunday morning. Does the Bible say this, or have millions made an assumption?

John 20:1 says, “The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulchre.” Compare this verse with Mark 16:2 and Luke 24:1.

It is now very early Sunday morning (it is still dark) and the tomb is open. Do these verses supply the supposed proof for the Sunday resurrection tradition? Do they support “Easter sunrise services”? A problem already presents itself. Christ is gone from the tomb before sunrise!

Now notice Luke 24:6. Mary Magdalene, and the others with her, are described as finding two angels standing before them. These angels stated plainly to these women, “He is not here, but is risen.” Also see Mark 16:6 and Matthew 28:5-6.

Christ was GONE—He was already risen! Notice the past tense of the two angels’ statement. We can now establish the day of Christ’s resurrection. We have already established the time of day of His death and the burial soon thereafter and, therefore, also the time of His resurrection. It was late afternoon, between 3 and 6 p.m. Obviously, Christ was already risen, by this time, in the darkness of Sunday morning—because He had been gone from the grave since late afternoon on SATURDAY! Let us state this plainly. Christ died on the late afternoon of a Wednesday Passover and was resurrected three days later on the late afternoon of the very next Saturday.

Thus, the resurrection did not even occur on Sunday—period!

Christ’s Sign Fulfilled

Who will you believe? Will it be theologians, scholars, higher critics and other traditionalists, who love to profess Jesus, but reject the sign that He gave? Or will you believe the words of your Bible—that Jesus Christ rose from the dead exactly as He said He would?

It is now time to read a different Gospel account of the two angels’ statement to the women at the tomb. This time notice Matthew 28:6. It states, “He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.” This would be impossible if Christ had been in the grave one second more or one second less than 72 hours. The One who said, “Are there not twelve hours in a day?” was well aware of exactly how long His sign required that He remain in the “belly of the earth”—the grave.

Not only did Christ state that He would fulfil His sign but it was also established by the mouth of two witnesses (Deut. 17:6; 19:15), who happened to be mighty angels of God.

Paul adds a final, great, corroborating proof that Christ did spend three entire days and three entire nights—from late Wednesday afternoon until late Saturday afternoon—in the tomb. In I Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul validates the words of Christ and the two angels who witnessed His fulfilment. Notice: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again THE THIRD DAY according to the scriptures.”

Further, the prophet Daniel gave a prophecy he described as “seventy weeks” (Dan. 9:24-27). In this prophecy, the Messiah was foretold to be cut off “in the midst of the week.” Wednesday is literally the fourth, or middle day, of a seven-day week. So then, it was in the “midst of the week” that Christ was “cut off.” (It should be noted that this prophecy in Daniel was a foretelling of Christ also being “cut off” in the midst of His ministry—after 3 1/2 years [Fall A.D. 27 to Spring A.D. 31]—if the biblical application of “a day for a year” is properly applied to the seventieth week of that prophecy.)

Are There Other Questions for Examination?

Some will say, “But what about this scripture or what about that scripture or this point or some other point?” Are there other questions that should be examined?

Some ask about Mark 16:9. Certain people suppose that this verse proves the Sunday resurrection theory. Does it? Simply reading the verse makes plain that it does not say Christ “was rising” but rather He “was risen” from the grave. Take time to read the verse. It uses past tense because, as we have seen, Christ had been gone from the grave for about twelve hours (since late Saturday afternoon) by this time on Sunday morning.

But what about Luke 24:21? It states, “…and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.” The phrase “these things” is a reference to all the events related to the crucifixion. Lk 24:18-20 describe the particulars of “these things” to be Christ’s delivery to Pilate, His trial, His crucifixion, His beating, His death, up to the setting of the seal and the watch over His tomb, which occurred the following day—Thursday. This discussion occurred on Sunday, and Sunday was the third day since all of “these things”

were completed (on Thursday) with the setting of the watch on Christ’s tomb. Therefore, this is not a verse which can be used to set aside everything that all of the other scriptures on this subject have proven.

Next Part A Final Proof

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