Jesus Christ's death and resurrection hold critical significance, particularly in the timing that validates His identity as the Messiah. By His own testimony in Matthew 12:38-40, He declared that the only sign proving He is the Son of Man would be His time in the grave for three days and three nights, mirroring Jonah's time in the belly of the great fish. This timing of three days and three nights, totaling 72 hours, is essential to confirm His Messiahship, bearing no connection to establishing which day God set apart as holy. The commonly held belief that He died on a Friday afternoon and was resurrected on a Sunday morning fails to align with His prophecy of three days and three nights, as this timeframe cannot be reconciled between those days. Instead, deeper study reveals that He was crucified on the day of Passover, a Wednesday in the year of His crucifixion, and His body was placed in the grave late that afternoon before sunset, marking the start of a high-day Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, rather than the weekly Sabbath. He remained in the grave for three days and three nights, from Wednesday night through Saturday, and was resurrected on the Sabbath afternoon before sunset, fulfilling the exact duration He foretold. His resurrection on the Sabbath does not establish the day of worship, as the Sabbath was already set apart and holy by God. The timing of His resurrection serves solely to prove His identity as the Messiah, not to alter the day designated for worship.

The day after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the day of the Wavesheaf offering, which typifies the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The Bible's accounts indicate that Jesus could not have risen with the sunrise on Sunday morning, as Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away, showing He had already been resurrected. Taking all the clues together, the Bible suggests a Wednesday crucifixion and a late Sabbath Saturday resurrection, fulfilling the sign of His Messiahship by remaining in the tomb a full three days and three nights, or 72 hours. Jesus Himself confirms His death and return to life, stating to the church at Smyrna that He was dead and came to life. His resurrection was unique, not a mere return to physical life, but a raising to everlasting life, as God the Father raised Him up, loosing the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. He now lives by the power of God, and as He declared to the apostle John, He is alive forevermore.

The timing of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection reveals significant discrepancies with commonly observed days. Jesus Himself stated that He would be in the heart of the earth for exactly 72 hours, defining this period as three days and three nights. Various statements from Him, such as "in three days," "the third day," and "after three days," confirm this precise duration, proving He is our Savior by fulfilling this sign. Assuming a Sunday morning resurrection, counting back 72 hours leads to Thursday at daybreak, which conflicts with the biblical account of His burial at sunset by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. A sunset burial requires a sunset resurrection to match the 72-hour period, indicating that by early Sunday morning, when the women and disciples found the tomb empty, He had already been gone for about twelve hours. The Seventy Weeks Prophecy in Daniel 9:27 further clarifies that His crucifixion occurred in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday. Buried late on Wednesday at sunset, He remained in the tomb for exactly 72 hours, rising at sundown as Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath, concluded. This timeline aligns with the biblical record of His death and resurrection.

The timing of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection holds profound significance in the biblical narrative. The Feast of Firstfruits, also known as the wave sheaf offering, occurs on the first day of the week following the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread, marking the beginning of the early grain harvest. This feast, detailed in Leviticus 23, symbolizes the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. He was raised from the dead in the waning moments of the Sabbath, mirroring the cutting of the barley sheaf at the end of the Sabbath, and ascended to the Father on the following morning, akin to the waving of the sheaf before God for acceptance. This sequence, occurring in 31 AD, fulfills the ritual of the wave sheaf offering, as He was resurrected after three days and three nights in the tomb and presented Himself before the Father on the first day of the week. The timing aligns with the scriptural account, emphasizing that His resurrection did not occur at dawn on Sunday but earlier, before the tomb was found empty while it was still dark, as noted in John 20. Through this precise timing, His role as the First of the firstfruits is established, opening the way for others to follow in resurrection to eternal life.

Brethren, as we count the fifty days to Pentecost, our attention often focuses on the lessons God imparts through this period. Yet, within this count, there lies another significant span of time: the forty days of Jesus Christ's ministerial work from His resurrection until His ascension. During these forty days, as recorded in John 20:30-31, Jesus performed many signs in the presence of His disciples, signs not fully detailed in Scripture, but written to foster belief that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and to grant life in His name. This period culminates in His ascension to be seated next to His Father, having completed a vital part of His work as our great and perfectly righteous High Priest. The timing of these events is precise. Jesus Christ's resurrection occurred just before sunset on the Sabbath, marking exactly three days and three nights in the grave, as He foretold. His presentation as the first of the firstfruits to His Father took place early on the first day of the week following the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. In the interim, significant moments unfolded, such as His appearance to Mary, who was instructed not to touch Him as He had not yet presented Himself to the Father, as noted in John 20:3-17. Additionally, eight days after His resurrection, He appeared to Thomas and the other disciples, affirming belief through sight and extending a special blessing to those who believe without seeing, as recorded in John 20:24-29. The gospel accounts also provide specific details surrounding His death and resurrection. At noon on Wednesday, Jesus was on the stake, enduring immense suffering and darkness over the land for three hours. During this time, He cried out in solitude, feeling separation from His Father, and ultimately entrusted His spirit to His Father's safekeeping before breathing His last. Post-resurrection, the positioning of the burial linens and the absence of the hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe in the tomb, as observed by Peter and John in John 20:6-7, suggest a purposeful preparation, possibly indicating a final act of righteousness before His ascension. These elements underscore the meticulous fulfillment of His role as High Priest and the perfect work He accomplished in alignment with His Father's will.

The timing of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection hinges on the precise meaning of three days and three nights as mentioned in Matthew 12:40, which indicates a complete 72-hour period, contrary to the common belief of parts of three days fitting between Friday sunset and Sunday dawn. The assertion in John 20:1, regarding Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb on the first day of the week while it was still dark and finding Jesus already gone, suggests the stone was rolled away earlier, challenging the notion of a Sunday morning resurrection. Additionally, the disciples' statement on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:21, that today is the third day since these things happened, can be understood in context as referring to the entire sequence of events during Crucifixion Week, including the setting of a guard on the tomb possibly on Thursday or early Friday, thus marking three days since the last related event. Alternatively, their comment may imply disappointment that the third day of Jesus' sign of being in the heart of the earth had already passed, suggesting the time for the expected sign was over. The phrase "in the heart of the earth" in Matthew 12:40 clearly refers to being dead and buried, paralleling the Hebrew idiom in Jonah 2:2-3 for the grave, and aligns with Jesus' sign in John 2:19-21 of raising the temple of His body after three days, confirming it as a metaphor for His death, burial, and resurrection, not merely His presence in Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ Himself declared in Matthew 12:38-40 that He would be buried for three days and three nights, mirroring Jonah's time in the great fish's belly. He emphasized that a full day comprises twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night, leading to a total of 72 hours for three days and nights. However, the traditional timing between sundown on Friday and sunrise on Sunday amounts to only about half that duration, creating a chronological inconsistency. If Jesus was in the grave for only 36 hours instead of the prophesied 72, it would imply He was untruthful, rendering His sacrifice ineffective. Yet, through His resurrection, He lived again and ascended to the right hand of the Father, affirming that He was in the grave for exactly three days and three nights as He foretold. Thus, the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition does not align with the timeline Jesus provided. Furthermore, John 20:1 indicates that when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark on Sunday morning, it was already empty, and since Jesus was placed in the tomb near sunset, His resurrection would have occurred at a similar time.

Jesus Christ provided a specific sign to prove He was the Messiah, stating that He would be in the grave for exactly three days and three nights. He emphasized that if God the Father resurrected Him after precisely 72 hours, it would confirm beyond doubt His identity as the Messiah. This sign was reiterated in various accounts, such as in John 2:19-21, where He spoke of raising the temple of His body in three days, and in multiple gospel passages where He predicted His death and resurrection on the third day or after three days. The timing of His burial and resurrection challenges traditional beliefs. Jesus was crucified around noon and died at about 3 PM, as recorded by the gospel writers using the Hebrew method of counting hours from sunrise. He was laid in the tomb at sunset, with all accounts agreeing that sunset was near at the time of burial. Given the precise 72-hour duration He specified, His resurrection must also have occurred at sunset, not at dawn, contradicting the common narrative of a Sunday morning resurrection. Further, the day of His crucifixion was the Preparation Day of the Passover, which was Nisan 14, followed by a high day Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This annual holy day, combined with the weekly Sabbath within the same 72-hour period, supports the sequence of events. The harmonized gospel accounts indicate that Jesus was crucified and buried on a Wednesday, the high day Sabbath fell on Thursday, the women prepared spices on Friday, and He was resurrected at sunset on the Sabbath as the day ended. Additional evidence from the wavesheaf ceremony, conducted on the day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, aligns with His resurrection. As the Sabbath ended, God resurrected Him, symbolizing the first and best of the spiritual harvest. Jesus, as the firstfruits, ascended to the Father for acceptance around the time the priest waved the sheaf in the Temple, fulfilling the ritual to the letter. The Seventy Weeks Prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27 specifies that the Messiah would work for three-and-a-half years before being cut off. This duration, combined with the gospel accounts of four Passovers during His ministry, confirms that His crucifixion and resurrection occurred in AD 31, with Passover falling on a Wednesday according to the Hebrew Calendar, further supporting the timeline established by the scriptural evidence.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ died and was placed in a new tomb, later to be raised from the dead by the Father. We believe that He rose from the grave exactly three days and three nights after being placed in the tomb, fulfilling His prophecy as stated in Matthew 12:40. However, many have altered this timeline into an unscriptural account of a 1½ day burial, compressing the three days and three nights into one day and two nights, claiming it covers parts of three days. This disregard for the precise timing stems from a rejection of the significance of the holy days and the Sabbath, refusing to acknowledge that Jesus rose as the Sabbath concluded, a day meant for rest and focus on God. Instead, they place His resurrection at dawn on the first day of the week, contrary to the timing aligned with the wavesheaf offering, when the resurrected Christ was accepted as the firstfruits from the dead and ascended to heaven to sit at the Father's right hand. We believe that after the Sabbath ended, early the next morning, after the women visited the empty tomb and He revealed Himself to Mary Magdalene, He ascended about the time of the wavesheaf offering in the Temple, becoming the firstfruit from the dead and our High Priest and Mediator.