Yeshua gave the sign of Jonah, of being 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the large fish, as the only sign that He would give to those religious leaders who consistently opposed Him and would not listen to Him. He spoke of His death, burial, and resurrection.
In order for this sign to be fulfilled, it would seem that Jesus had to be sacrificially killed on Thursday afternoon, and rise from the dead during the night before the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, i.e., the first day of the week, Sonday.
In Genesis 1:5, God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
Death and burial before 6:00pm (18:00) on Thursday = 1st day 6:00pm Thursday – 6:00am Friday = 1st night 6:00am Friday – 6:00pm Friday = 2nd day (which was also a Passover Sabbath) 6:00pm Friday – 6:00am Shabbat (regular weekly Sabbath) = 2nd night 6:00am Shabbat – 6:00pm Shabbat = 3rd day 6:00pm Shabbat – 6:00am Sonday = 3rd night
Yeshua rose sometime before the dawn before the end of that 3rd night of darkness, firstfruits from the dead. (Lev 23:9-15; 1Cor 15:19-20) He is the true Light, and the bright and morning Star of a new day of an anticipated new creation! Hallelu-Yah!
Yeshua is the Passover Lamb, who was examined for 4 days, from the 10th of the first month (Nisan/Aviv) through the 13th (4 days: Sonday-Wednesday), and then slain on the 14th of the month (Thursday). Messiah was found innocent by Pilate, by Herod; the rulers and religious leaders could only get false witnesses to perjure against Jesus, thus breaking the 9th commandment: He was innocent, the Man and the Lamb without spot or blemish. (Ex 12:2-7)
God is sovereign and brings to pass His Word precisely on time!
(See related articles: https://streamsinthenegev.com/birth-death-and-good-friday-of-messiah-yeshua-the-lord-12-dec-2012/ ; https://streamsinthenegev.com/when-is-firstfruits-the-resurrection-biblically-celebrated/ )
Preparation day has always been Friday. No change through thousands of years – you can trace it through secular history. The inclusive reckoning of time is the Jewish counting of days. So Jesus’ body had to be taken from the cross on Friday, and then early on the 1st day of the week (Sunday) Mary met him outside of the tomb. People don’t count in the right Jewish way. Any part of a day means to be counted as a whole day of 24 hours. Check with your Rabbi.
Thank-you, Brian. I am with you in your understanding, and I am not a fanatic about the day. But, in John 19:31, it is notably written that the preparation day was for a “high/great Sabbath”, meaning that this was a double Sabbath for both the Passover and the weekly seventh day Sabbath. So, Friday (according to my article) would have been the high Sabbath leading into the regular weekly Sabbath. My count does take in parts of days, not requiring 72 hours.
Today I found another article that is helpful (and I am very aware that there are plenty of articles that are not supportive of my reckoning):
https://the-scriptures.co.uk/studies/topical-bible-studies/bible-studies-by-mike-glover/the-sabbath/high-day-sabbaths/
And here is another very recent article that I wrote that relates to this issue:
https://streamsinthenegev.com/when-is-firstfruits-the-resurrection-biblically-celebrated/
Blessings in our risen Lord and Savior!