3 Days and 3 Nights. The Sign of Jonah

Did you ever wonder how it is that if Jesus died on Friday afternoon and was resurrected on Sunday morning, how does that all add up to 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb?  Friday night and Saturday night is only 2 days and certainly doesn't meet Jesus' own prophecy declaration that He would have the same duration in the grave as Jonah had in the belly of the fish.

Remember as well that just because the church celebrates Good Friday as the date of Jesus death doesn't necessarily make it a fact.  There are many sabbaths given in the Old Testament, NOT just the Saturday sabbath that happens every week.

Here is probably "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say.  If you disagree then it's at least something to ponder if your unbelieving friends ever hit you with the question.

Here’s the problem: If Jesus died on Good Friday and rose on Easter Sunday, that doesn’t add up to 3 days and 3 nights. At most it adds up to 2.5 days and 2 nights.

So… does that mean that Jesus didn’t stay in the grave long enough to fulfill his own prophecy?

Nope. Jesus really was in the grave three days and three nights, which is why the early Christians also taught that he was raised on the third day (Acts 10:40, 1 Corinthians 15:4). Let me explain how it adds up, but be prepared: it’s going to change the way you think about “Good Friday.”

In John 19:31, we read this about the day when Jesus was crucified:

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders 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.

The special Sabbath referred to here was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a holiday which is always observed on the 15th day of Nisan according to the Jewish calendar.

According to Leviticus 24:4-14, there are three special holidays in the month of Nisan: Passover (the 14th of Nisan), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15-22 of Nisan) and the Feast of First Fruits which was held on the Sunday following the Passover.

Jesus actually died on a Thursday. Friday and Saturday were both sabbaths: Friday was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Saturday was the weekly sabbath.

 https://nickcady.org/2017/04/17/was-jesus-in-the-grave-three-days-and-three-nights-heres-how-it-adds-up/