What got me thinking about this is one of those nit picky details that I ran into several years ago. The nit picky detail? Jesus prophecy of his own death to the Pharisees. Matthew 12:38-40:
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (NASB - emphasis mine)
It's the 'three nights' thing that nails you. Because, if you have Jesus crucified on Friday and coming back to life on Sunday, you only get two nights no matter how you try to dance around it. The truth is the only way this prophecy could be wholly accurate is if for Jesus is laid to rest on Thursday.
Yes, I know Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus were trying hard to get Jesus buried before the sabbath, but it never says this was a normal sabbath. There actually is some good Biblical evidence that this was a special sabbath. It is called the 'day of preparation', etc. One of those, Passover falls on Friday (thus making Friday a Sabbath too) and then Saturday as the normal Sabbath, things. This would make a two day long - Sabbath. Passover falls on whatever day it falls on. Could be Tuesday or Friday. The issue is then it creates a two day rest period off that would be known as "Sabbath". This actually happens a lot with the Passover and it is quite possible that is what happened here.
So the next question is: "Is there a year that fits this pattern during the life of Christ?" The answer is 'yes' but it isn't the year 33 AD. Its the year 29 AD. This is actually something that has been long debated by scholars for this very reason. It changes Jesus' birth year to 4BC, but that also fits history with Augustus Caesar and Herod the Great and all that history stuff. If so, then Jesus dies and is raised from the dead in 29AD. He is killed on a Thursday and then rises from the dead on Sunday. Three days. Three nights. Prophecy fullfilled.
What difference does all this make? Not much as I suspect we will still be celebrating 'Good Friday' forever. It is tradition and tradition is a tough thing to change, especially religious ones. I also don't think it is a bad tradition as traditions go. It means at least all of us Christians are celebrating something of significance in Jesus' cross and death at the same time. That isn't all bad.
The real issue is an apologetic one, because I am pretty sure the opponents of the faith have not let this 'discrepency' go unnoticed. But, if we strive to reconcile it with some real history and evidence, the history still works. 'Good Thursday' just doesn't sing off the tongue.
