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To this question many will immediately reply that Sunday was the day on which Christ rose from the dead and that his resurrection is the very reason for observing Easter.
But is it?
Was Christ resurrected on a Sunday? Are you sure? Have you ever proved it from the Bible? And what has the Easter rabbit to do with Christ’s resurrection?
When Was Christ Resurrected?
Shocking though it may be, either the Good Friday-Easter tradition is a fable – or you have no Savior! Jesus gave only one sign to prove that he was the Messiah. That sign was the length of time he would be dead and buried.
Notice Jesus’ own words concerning this ONLY SIGN that would prove his Messiahship: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 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” (Matt 12:39-40).
Did Christ mean what he said? Did he really expect to be buried in the earth for three days and three nights – a full 72 hours?
Notice Mark 8:31: “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and AFTER three days rise again.”
Did you grasp that? Jesus did not say “after a day and a half.” He said, “after THREE DAYS.”
Now consider! If Jesus were crucified and buried late on Good Friday, then one day after would be Saturday evening, and two days after would be Sunday evening, and three days after would be Monday evening.
But Jesus rose long before Monday evening! Either he was not crucified on Good Friday, or he did not fulfill his sign and he is therefore an imposter and not the Messiah!
Did Jesus fulfill his sign? In Matthew 28:6 we read this testimony of the angel at the tomb: “He [Jesus] is not here: for he is risen, AS HE SAID”! Jesus did fulfill his sign! He IS the SAVIOR! Then he could not have been crucified on Good Friday!
What Day Was the Crucifixion?
Jesus was buried shortly before sunset on the day of the crucifixion (Luke 23:53-54). Since Jesus said that he would “rise the third day” after his crucifixion, it is obvious that the resurrection must have occurred precisely at the completion of the third day following his burial and the closing of the tomb. That moment would be near sunset three days later.
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