Some believe the crucifixion of Jesus Christ actually happened on a Wednesday rather than a Friday. They do this mainly because of a verse in Daniel:
However, after carefully investigating this topic, I have compiled the following list of problems with this theory.
1. - ignores the correct meaning of the Greek word "kardia" (translated as "heart" in Matt 12:40) which the Bible never uses in the sense of the middle or center of anything.
2. - ignores the meaning of the Greek word "ge" (translated as "earth" in Matt 12:40) as Jesus used it in His parables recorded in Matthew chapters 12 and 13.
3. - ignores the fact that when the time period "three days and three nights" or equivalent expressions are used, the sequence of events begins with the initial betrayal, not Jesus' death.
4. - says that Passover, Nisan 14, was on Wednesday. Six days before, when Jesus arrived in Bethany (John 12:1), would then be Thursday of the previous week. Jesus cleansed the temple two days later which would then be on the Sabbath when there would be no selling happening in the temple.
5. - assumes the women bought spices on Friday when the original wording allows for them to have been purchased anytime previously as in Luke 14:18-19.
6. - conflicts with the evidence that the Greek word "paraskeue" refers only to the preparation day for a seventh-day Sabbath. Mark 15:42 says "... the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath" translated from a word that includes "the sabbath" which is never used to refer to anything but a seventh-day Sabbath.
7. - takes "destroy this temple" to mean Jesus' death when the original Greek word "luo" does not mean to kill and is never used that way in any of its 43 uses in the Bible.
8. - allows time for corruption - 72 hours in the grave - in conflict with Psa 16:10 and Acts 2:31.
9. - has Jesus' body left past the morning after the crucifixion in violation of the scripture directing that none of the Passover Lamb was to remain. (Exo 12:10)
10. - has the wave sheaf offering happening on the day after the weekly Sabbath when it should be on the day of the weekly Sabbath. "After" is a supplied word.
11. - is largely based on the idea that Jesus should die in "the midst of the week" (Dan 9:27) but how could He confirm the covenant with anyone for the latter half of the week while in the grave?
12. - is nine hours off in its midst-of-the-week calculation. The week starts at sunset Saturday evening (approximately 6pm.) The middle of the seven-day week would be 3 ½ days later at sunrise (approximately 6am) Wednesday morning.
13. - doesn't adequately explain the fact that Mary came to the tomb on Sabbath "when it was yet dark." (John 20:1). It could only be on the Sabbath and "yet dark" if it was before sunrise on Sabbath morning. There is no part of the "morning" portion (from sunrise to sunset) of a 24-hour day when it is dark.
14. - has Jesus in the grave, as determined by inclusive reckoning, for parts of four days.
15 - ignores the correct meaning of "end" in Matt 28:1. The Bible uses the original word "opse" to mean evening, the dark part of a 24-hour day and therefore before sunrise.
16 - says that the women were eager to get to Jesus' body on Sunday morning when they were previously reluctant to open the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus, on that Sunday morning, would have been dead from 3pm Wednesday to let's call it 5am Sunday morning or 86 hours. In fact, Lazarus could have been dead for less time than that if he died, for example, late on a Monday afternoon and was resurrected early on Thursday morning (perhaps 65 hours later). By Jewish reckoning, that would be four days. If embalming was to prevent decomposition and they said "by now he stinketh," referring to Lazarus, why would the women think they could effectively anoint Jesus' body after nearly as long or perhaps even a longer time in the grave?
17. - emphasizes the importance of a literal 72-hour time in the grave as evidence (and the only sign) that Jesus was the Messiah, yet:
- parallel accounts do not even specifically mention the time period.
- since (this theory says) no one saw Him till Sunday morning, there were no witnesses to testify to the time in the grave being 72 hours. (If that was the sign promised to that generation, it was a sign that no one could see!)
- even if the soldiers saw the resurrection and there is no evidence they did, they gave a different testimony
- by contrast, Lazarus had many witnesses of his resurrection and his resurrection is recorded as being on the fourth day after his death. Was he then more qualified as the Messiah?
- there was plenty of other evidence that Jesus was the Messiah - His testimony to the disciples of John the Baptist, the virgin birth, the place of His birth and many other prophecies. How could the three days and three nights in the heart of the earth be the only sign He was the Messiah? It must be a sign of something else.
18. - says Passover is the day of the crucifixion when the Biblical evidence shows that the disciples and Jesus regarded the day before the crucifixion as the day of Passover.
19. - is inconsistent with the Gospel writers reckoning of the days. Since all four refer to the crucifixion day as a day of preparation (Matt 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:42) yet they record differently which day was the Passover, the day after the crucifixion must be a seventh-day Sabbath. In their record of which day was Passover they would necessarily reckon the preparation of the Passover differently.
20. - totally misses the much deeper meaning of the sign Jesus said He was giving them.