Good Friday is observed as a semi-holy day by many, commemorating the day Jesus died nearly two thousand years ago. However, this observance raises questions when considering Jesus' own statements about His burial lasting exactly 72 hours—three days and three nights—as the sign of His Messiahship. The timing of a Friday crucifixion does not align with this precise duration when paired with a Sunday morning resurrection. Instead, biblical accounts and prophecies, such as the Seventy Weeks Prophecy in Daniel, indicate the crucifixion occurred in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday. This timing allows for Jesus to be buried at sunset on Wednesday and to rise exactly 72 hours later at sunset on Saturday, fulfilling His words. Thus, the significance attributed to Good Friday as the day of crucifixion does not match the scriptural evidence of the events surrounding His death and resurrection.

In the context of cherished holiday traditions, the observance of Good Friday reveals a significant inconsistency within the Easter narrative. Jesus 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 defined a full day as comprising twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night, leading to a clear prophecy of 72 hours in the grave as the sole sign of His Messiahship. However, the traditional timeline from Good Friday sundown to Easter Sunday sunrise accounts for only about half of the prophesied 72 hours. This discrepancy suggests a chronological impossibility within the Good Friday-Easter Sunday framework. If Jesus was in the grave for only 36 hours instead of the full 72, it would imply He was untruthful, rendering His sacrifice ineffective. Yet, His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father affirm that He did not lie, indicating He was indeed in the grave for the full three days and three nights before the Father restored Him to life in glory. Thus, the Good Friday tradition stands as a stark contradiction to the timeline Jesus provided.

The common belief among many theologians is that Jesus died on a Friday afternoon and was resurrected on a Sunday morning. However, this timing does not align with Jesus' own prophecy in Matthew 12:38-40, where He stated that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. It is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a Friday afternoon and a Sunday morning, thus challenging the validity of the sign Jesus gave to prove His identity as the Messiah. Through deeper study, it becomes clear that Jesus was crucified on the preparation day for an annual Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, rather than the weekly Sabbath. In the year of His crucifixion, Passover fell on a Wednesday, and His body was placed in the grave late that afternoon before the high-day Sabbath began. He remained in the grave for three days and three nights, from Wednesday night through Saturday, totaling 72 hours, and He arose on Sabbath afternoon before sunset.

The traditional Good Friday to Easter Sunday scenario cannot accommodate the 72 hours that Jesus Christ declared He would be in the tomb. It is impossible to fit three full 24-hour days between Friday evening and Sunday morning, especially with the notion of a dawn resurrection on Sunday. The scriptural evidence clearly indicates that Jesus was buried at sunset, and since He remained in the tomb for exactly 72 hours, His resurrection must also have occurred at sunset, not at dawn. This discrepancy challenges the widely accepted timeline and calls for a reexamination of the events surrounding His crucifixion and resurrection based on the plain evidence provided in the Holy Scriptures.

Yesterday marked the observance of Good Friday, a day noted in the context of the upcoming Easter, which falls tomorrow. While tomorrow holds significance for many as Easter, for us it remains simply the middle day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Good Friday, as the precursor to Easter, sets the stage for a period where the focus often shifts away from its religious roots, overshadowed by commercial and cultural activities that dominate the Easter season.

Many professing Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during a Good Friday evening service, believing it to be the day of His crucifixion. They place Good Friday within a holy week that spans from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, holding to the tradition of a Friday crucifixion. This belief is widespread among millions who sincerely adhere to these observances, yet it stands in contrast to the biblical chronology that suggests a different timing for these pivotal events. The commonly accepted Good Friday to Easter Sunday timeline does not align with the scriptural account of a full three days and three nights in the tomb, as prophesied by Jesus Christ Himself. Instead, the crucifixion is understood to have occurred in the middle of a literal week on a Wednesday, with His body placed in the tomb just before sunset by Joseph of Arimathea, prior to the onset of the annual Sabbath of the first Day of Unleavened Bread. This timing challenges the traditional Good Friday narrative, highlighting a discrepancy between widely held beliefs and the detailed sequence of events as recorded in Scripture.

Good Friday, as observed by many, is linked to the commemoration of the crucifixion, but it stands in contrast to the true observance of Passover as practiced by the early Church. This day, often kept on the Friday before Easter Sunday, emerged from the practices of Gentile Christians who identified the first day of the week with the resurrection, thus marking the preceding Friday for the crucifixion, regardless of the actual calendar date. This shift diverged from the original tradition of observing Passover on the 14th day of the first month of the sacred calendar, a practice upheld by Jesus and the apostles. Over time, the Western churches adopted this fixed day, embedding it within the broader adoption of pagan-influenced customs, moving away from the scriptural timing and meaning of the memorial of Christ's death.