Didn’t Jesus die on Wednesday?

Answer:

Your question is answered in detail in "How could Jesus be in the grave three days and nights if he died on Friday and rose on Sunday?" No passage states that Jesus was in the grave for 72 hours. That is something you assumed because Jesus said he would spend three days and three nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40). I demonstrated that people commonly refer to portions of a day as being a full day. In addition, Peter stated, "And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly" (Acts 10:39-40). Peter said the resurrection happened on the third day, not after the third day. Therefore the last day was a partial day and the time in the grave was less than 72 hours. Another verse to consider is that the walk to Emmaus was on Sunday (Luke 24:13): "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened" (Luke 24:19-21).

Here is the chart I used to show that Jesus was in the grave for three nights and three days, rising on the third day. The days of the week are marked as we count time, which was borrowed from the Romans. The second line shows how the Jews counted time, which was sundown to sundown.

Now, let's use your argument that Jesus died on Wednesday. To get it to appear to work, most people play games switching between Roman and Jewish time systems. In switching, most people lose track of which day they are on. The following chart shows the Jewish time scale:

If you use Jewish time, you have Jesus spending four nights in the grave, and rising on the fourth day. In addition, you have a missing day that leaves one wondering why the women didn't visit the grave on Friday. Next, look at the Roman time scale:

If you use Roman time, even if we skip the partial first day in the grave (from roughly 6 pm to midnight), you have Jesus in the grave for four nights and rising on the fourth day. Thus, neither Jewish nor Roman time works in accounting for the three days and three nights in the grave if the day of death is Wednesday. And I haven't begun to address the problems introduced in squeezing the days prior to the crucifixion into one less day.

In regards to Daniel 9:27, the passage states, "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." Here you played games switching from a symbolic day used in this prophecy that represents each year from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to a literal day. You can't have it both ways.

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:25-26).

Either the Messiah came 69 weeks after the command to rebuild Jerusalem was issued or it was 483 years. Since it was 483 years (see "Daniel's Seventy Weeks" for details), the middle of the seventh week represents three and a half years later. Jesus died three and a half years after he began his ministry.