Question from a Reader:

In your books and messages, you refer to Christ being crucified on Friday. But Christ said He would be three days and nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). If we count backwards from Sunday, doesn’t this mean He was crucified earlier in the week?

Answer by Randy Alcorn:

I am well aware of the arguments for and against the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday crucifixion dates. I’m not deeply committed to any one of those interpretations, including Friday. 

The problem is that since Friday has been the widely accepted day of the crucifixion throughout church history, and Good Friday is such a major aspect of church culture (and that's not going to change to Good Wednesday or Good Thursday), it doesn't feel helpful to bring the argument up about which day He died. Our focus needs to be on the atoning work of Jesus regardless of which day it happened. 

So I talk and write about Good Friday with the point not being day of the week, but the “good” thing of Christ's redemptive work for us. I don’t want to distract attention from that through discussions of the different theories about the day of the week. 

As long as we put our emphasis on what happened that day, then when we get to Heaven and find out which day of the week it actually was, we’ll understand that not knowing sooner didn’t prevent us from focusing on God’s goodness to us in Christ on crucifixion day.

Those interested in reading more about the various arguments for which day Christ was crucified might like to check out this Got Questions article.

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