How the Third Day Counted: From Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday

The Prediction: Jesus's Own Words About 'Three Days and Three Nights'

Matthew 12:40 (ESV): '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.' Context: Matthew 12:38-42; also Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22

The Timeline: How the Gospels Record the Burial and Resurrection

Mark 15:42-47 (ESV): 'And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath... And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last... Joseph of Arimathea... laid him in a tomb...' AND Mark 16:1-8 (ESV): 'When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices... And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.' Context: Matthew 28:1-10, Luke 23:50-24:12, John 19:38-20:9

The Precedent: The Third Day in Old Testament Redemption

Hosea 6:2 (ESV): 'After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.' Context: Hosea 6:1-3; also Jonah 1:17 (ESV): 'And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.' Context: Jonah 1:17-2:10, Matthew 12:40

The Reckoning: First-Century Jewish Day-Counting and Apostolic Tradition

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV): 'For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.' Context: 1 Corinthians 15:1-58; also Leviticus 23:5-8 (ESV on Passover feast) and Luke 24:21 and 24:46 (disciples invoking 'the third day' as fulfilling Scripture)