Last month, Josh Winslett posted an article discussing the day of the week on which Jesus was crucified. The traditional view of Christianity is that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. In recent times, this has been questioned because of the prophecy of Christ regarding the sign of the prophet Jonah, that He would be in the earth for three days and three night. Some take that to be a figure of speech or an idiom (of which the Bible is absolutely full) and others take that language to insist a full 72 hours. 

Being Crucifixion week, I have engaged in my yearly custom of reading the events of this week in scripture as they correlate with the day of the week now. So in other words, on Sunday I read the Triumphal Entry, on Monday the purging of the Temple, etc. Regarding the specific days of the week, I noticed Mark’s gospel in particular actually lends support to the traditional idea of a Friday crucifixion.

Triumphal entry – Sunday – Mark 11:1-11

Cursing the Fig tree and purging the temple – Monday (“on the morrow” after Sunday) – Mark 11:12

Seeing the Fig tree cursed, various interactions/sermons – Tuesday (“in the morning” after Monday) – Mark 11:20

There is silence concerning Wednesday

Passover then The Lord’s Supper – Thursday (“after two days” from Tuesday) – Mark 14:1

Jesus is delivered to Pilate – Friday (“in the morning” after Thursday) – Mark 15:1

Jesus is resurrected – Sunday (when the Sabbath was past…early in the morning the first day of the week) – Mark 16:1

Following the narrative of Mark’s gospel while counting the days certainly indicates a Friday crucifixion.

Originally published April 2019