Jesus is Betrayed

As we read through the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ, I wanted to nail down the timeline, as I have wondered in the past how Jesus could have been said to be in the grave for three days if he was buried on Friday afternoon and raised on Sunday morning. The Jews of that time used a different "clock" than we do. Their days ran from sunset to sunset as opposed to midnight to midnight as ours do. The Passover meal took place on Thursday evening and Jesus was taken to the high priest for questioning in the middle of the night. He was tried before Pilate in the wee hours of Friday morning and put on the cross at 9 AM. He died at 3 PM and was buried before the Sabbath, which would have begun at sunset on Friday. So His death and burial before sunset on Friday meant that 1 day was counted even though he had only been dead a few hours before the next day began. He "rested" in the grave during the Sabbath, day 2, and was raised on Sunday, the third day.

Tomorrow's reading: Mark 14:53-15:1; Matt. 26:57-27:10; Luke 22;54-71; John 18:25-27