On what day of the week was Jesus crucified?

Traditionally, the Church has set the day of the crucifixion on Friday. This may be because of the scriptures that say He was crucified on “the day before the Sabbath” (Mk 15:42 et al.) However, there is another Sabbath – the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is the day after Passover. (Ex 12:16; Lev 23:7; Num 28:18) So the referenced Sabbath may be the “High Sabbath” of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

A clue is given in Matthew 12:39-40: “But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

The latest Jesus could have been resurrected is the following Sunday because the women came to the tomb and found it empty: “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. … "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying" – Matthew 28:1,6. If the “sign of Jonah” is meant to be taken literally, then the latest that Jesus could have been crucified is Thursday (Day/Night 1: Thursday-Friday, Day/Night 2: Friday/Saturday, Day/Night 3: Saturday/Sunday.)

It is also possible that He rose sometime earlier on Saturday (since there weren’t witnesses on that day) so it could be that He was crucified on Wednesday. However, if this is the case, He would have most likely have had to enter Jerusalem on Saturday, which would be a violation of the Sabbath because of His riding of the donkey.

Conclusion: If the “sign of Jonah” is meant literally, it is most likely that Jesus was crucified on Thursday.

Statement of Beliefs

This is a statement of my personal beliefs. It is a work in progress as I'm certainly still learning and I will undoubtedly change my positions over time. I intend to edit this posting as necessary.

For now I'm just going to write down my basic beliefs -- I will add more details later...


May the Lord God guide me to correctly interpret His Word and may He lead me to His Truth.

Sola Scriptura ("by scripture alone")

This is one of the foundational doctrines of the Protestants reformation. (For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura)

I believe that the Holy Bible in it's original manuscript is the authoritative and inerrant revealed Word of God.

My beliefs may be closer to Solo Scriptura in that, although I give a great weight to the opinions of the great teachers of the Church and the great sages of Judaism, in the end I feel that it is up to the individual to interpret the Bible according to his own conscience with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The infallibility of the Bible is of great importance to my faith in that, without the revealed word of the Holy One, I wouldn't have a basis for the rest of my beliefs. I would be limited in knowing that there is a God, but not knowing who He is.


God is One

There is one God. The Bible clearly states this in Deuteronomy 6:4.


Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) is the Son of God and is fully human and fully divine

This is also clear in John 1:1-15 and John 20:28. I'm not sure how exactly God can be both divine and human at the same time, but that is what the Bible says so I accept it.


Jesus lived a sinless life and willingly suffered and died as the perfect atoning sacrifice and rose again as the firstborn from the dead and rules over the whole universe at the right hand of the Father.

This is the crux of the matter. (No pun intended. :-) Once again I'm not sure how this works, but Yeshua's death somehow paid the punishment due to us. The punishment for sin is death, so what happens with a sinless man is put to death? God's justice somehow demands that His death pays for other's sins. Some Jewish sages have written that the death of a righteous person can atone for many. It makes sense that the death of a infinitely righteous person will atone for an infinite number of people.

In any event, this is a pretty good deal for those who believe in Him...


The purpose of the Law (Torah) is to reveal sins not to allow people to work their way into Gods favor but is not "done away with"

I believe that the purpose of the law was never to bring people to righteousness -- in fact it does the opposite. Its purpose was to reveal sin.

May all who read this be Blessed in the Name of the Yeshua HaMashiach, my Lord and my God,
Amen