Is Good Friday the day Jesus died?

As Easter rolls around, with its chocolate bunnies and pastel-drenched egg hunts, you might catch yourself wondering about the precise timing of Jesus’ crucifixion amidst all the festive frills. This day, somber and draped in centuries-old traditions, marks a critical chapter in the Christian history.

There are some who argue that Jesus actaully died on Wednesday based on their interpretation of the duration of Jesus’s body in the tomb before his resurrection. Jesus has been in the tomb for three full days and three full nights, as they interpret from the scriptures.

These individuals often point to Matthew 12:40, where Jesus is quoted as comparing his time in the tomb to Jonah’s time inside the fish – “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“

So, the Wednesday crew suggests that Jesus was crucified on afternoon, placed in the tomb just before sunset (the beginning of the Jewish Thursday), and remained there through Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday, before his resurrection on Sunday morning. This timeline, they argue, would fulfill the prophecy of three full days and nights.

While the Wednesday crucifixion theory raises interesting questions about the interpretation of biblical passages, it remains a minority view among Christian scholars and believers.

Clearing the confusion

So yes, according to what many scholars agree, Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, which we now refer to as Good Friday. Why, then, do we call it “Good” Friday? Seems a bit counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Calling the day someone died “good” doesn’t exactly fit with how we usually think about death, especially one as brutal as crucifixion. Well, some say it’s derived from “God’s Friday,” while others claim it’s from the Old English “good” meaning holy.

But here’s an interesting look: the “good” in Good Friday isn’t about the act itself. It’s about what Christians believe Jesus’ death represents. They see it as the day when Jesus sacrificed himself for the sins of humanity. It’s like the ultimate act of love and selflessness. So, the “good” is about the outcome, the redemption, and the hope that comes from that sacrifice, not the suffering and the death part.

Tadition holds fast to Good Friday, and in many ways, the exact historical day is secondary to the profound impact of the event it commemorates. Whether it was a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the narrative remains the same: sacrifice, suffering, and the ultimate display of love.