Good Friday or Good Wednesday.

Was Jesus really three days and three nights in the grave?
(Matt. 12:38-42 en Matt. 16: 1-4)

Matthew 12:38-42.
38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 16:1-4
1The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.

If Jesus was shorter or longer than three days and three nights in the grave it showed He was a cheater and not the Messiah.
The proof Jesus is really the Messiah is in the time He died and He rose again.
Jesus was crucified at the preparation for Pascha.
A Jewish day in that time started at sunrise 6.am and finished at sunset 6.pm.
What day followed on the crucifiction of Jesus? Sabbath but a very special namely Pascha.
In John 19:31 and Matthew 26:2
31Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.
Matthew 26:2
2 "As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

Here the last days of Jesus before they crucified Him

Friday: John 12:13
13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna! "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the King of Israel!"

Saturday: John 12:12
12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

Sunday: Mark 11:12-19
11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:
" 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers."
18The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19When evening came, they went out of the city.


Monday: Mark 11:20-27
20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" 22"Have[f] faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."[g]
The Authority of Jesus Questioned 27They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him.

Tuesday: Mark 12:14-17
12On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 13So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
16The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.

Wednesday: Mark 15:1,
1Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
Mark 15:25
It was the third hour when they crucified him. (The third hour is 9.00 am).
Mark 15:33
33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. (The sixth hour until the ninth our was from 12.00 pm - 3.00 pm)
Mark 15:34
34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus died at Wednesday afternoon at the ninth hour. That is 3.00 pm.
Luke 23:50-54
50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
Joseph needed to prepare a quick funeral because at 6.00 pm the special Pascha Sabbath started.

Thursday:Matthew 27:62-66
62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Friday: Mark 16:1
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.


Saturday: Luke 23:56b
But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Between the 9th (3.00 pm and the 12th (12.00 pm Jesus has rosen. Remember the 72 hours.

Sunday: Luke 24:6
6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

The misunderstandings about the death and rise from Jesus are caused by the fact there have been two Sabbaths.
The first was the special Pascha Sabbath, the second was the regular Sabbath.

This Bible study about if Jesus was really in the grave for three days and three nights was given in our church just before Easter.
I always wondered what was the day Jesus really died and rose again.
My hope is this will give an answer on that question.