11 Irrefutable Proofs that Jesus’ Resurrection Sunday was Wrong

In this post, discover why Jesus resurrection Sunday is a big lie and the right day when He rose from the dead.

A lot of Christians today believe Jesus resurrection Sunday — meaning, they believe that Jesus Christ (Yahshua the Messiah) was buried on a Friday late afternoon and was resurrected on a Sunday morning. As a result, most Christians today go to church on Sundays to honor the day when Christ rose from the dead.

However, a quick look at the Biblical chronology of Christ’s death and resurrection presents an inescapable dilemma. When you study the Bible, you would soon see that Jesus COULDN’T has possibly risen on a Sunday.

Yes, it may be difficult to believe. After all, how can millions of Christians be wrong? How can they get it wrong when it comes to the right timing of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection?

I know this can be a lot to digest. That’s why I have broken down my explanation of the different reasons why Jesus resurrection Sunday is wrong. To help you better understand, let me share with you 11 irrefutable proofs of why Christ didn’t rise on Sunday.

11 irrefutable proofs Jesus wasn't born on Sunday — 11 irrefutable proofs Jesus wasn’t born on Sunday

Reason no. 1: Jesus said three days and three nights

Yahshua the Messiah or Jesus Christ said this in Matthew 12:40:

⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Question: How can you fit three days and three nights from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning?

Answer: You can’t.

Doing elementary math, you get only a day and a half with the traditional view of Christ’s resurrection:

Friday night – 1 night
Saturday morning – 1 day
Saturday evening – 1 night

If you want to be more lenient, at most you only get 2 nights and 1 day. Sunday isn’t counted as we know it was still dark that the tomb was discovered empty.

Still, Jesus’ resurrection Sunday does NOT in any way meet the Savior’s requirement of three days and three nights.

Reason no. 2: Literal 72 hours

There are 72 hours in three days and three nights. However, if you believe that Christ was entombed just before the sunset of Friday and was resurrected on Sunday before sunrise, then you are mistaken.

Some religious leaders would defend Jesus’ resurrection Sunday by saying that a part of the day would constitute one whole day. So, in essence, they were saying that Friday is already counted as day 1, Saturday as day 2, and Sunday as day 3.

Voila! Problem solved.

Right?

Well, I’m afraid the answer is no.

Let’s read again what Jesus said in Matthew 12:38-40:

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As you can see, the length of time for Christ to be in the tomb would be the same as the length of time when Jonah was in the belly of the big fish.

We read Jonah 1:17:

¹⁷ Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

There’s no reason for us to think that Jonah was only joking when he wrote in his book that he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

Obviously, he was literally in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights!

Reason no. 3: Jesus’ definition of a day

Some may still argue that Jonah didn’t simply mean three days and three nights, which is equivalent to 72 hours.

So, let’s see what our Savior, Himself, said about the length of a day in John 11:9:

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

Christ said that there are 12 hours in a day. So, there are 12 hours in a night. Therefore, 3 days and 3 nights give us 72 hours!

That’s a mathematical equation that even kids in elementary can solve.

Thus, we must stop rationalizing that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday because it doesn’t really add up to 72 hours.

Reason no. 4: Jesus Resurrection Sunday makes Him a liar

Did you know that every time we proclaim Christ was resurrected on a Sunday, we are making our Savior a liar?

Yes, that’s right. Whether we know it or not, we are making Jesus a Liar.

Do you know why?

Because Yahshua or Jesus Christ said that the only sign He gives as a sign of His Messiahship would be the sign of Jonah.

Let’s read Matthew 12:38-40 again:

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it EXCEPT the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As you can see, the only sign Christ gave was His prophecy of being in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights!

Now, if you say, “Oh, actually Christ was only joking. He didn’t really mean 3 days and 3 nights. What He really meant was only about 1 day and a half.”

Is that how the followers of Christ should think?

Because if Christ didn’t fulfill His prophecy, we don’t have a Savior!

If that is the case then Christ wasn’t perfect.

He lied.

He sinned.

Not only that, but the proof that He was the Messiah was actually a BIG, bad hoax!

Now, that is IF He was resurrected on a Sunday.

Thankfully, as we will see later, Christ fulfilled His prophecy to the letter, to the exact second of 72 hours!

Reason no. 5: Misunderstanding of scripture

You might wonder, didn’t the Gospel accounts clearly say that Christ was killed on a Friday and on Sunday morning, the tomb was already empty? Isn’t that proof that Jesus’ resurrection Sunday is correct?

It’s worth checking these verses for a better understanding.

So, people read Luke 23:50, 52-54 and assumed that Christ was killed on a Friday:

⁵⁰ Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man… ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. ⁵⁴ That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

So, even mainstream Christianity would acknowledge that Saturday is the Sabbath day, not Sunday.

Now, let’s go to the belief that Christ was resurrected on Sunday. We read John 20:1:

¹ Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

The first day of the week mentioned in this verse is no doubt Sunday. Compare John 20:1 to Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:2-6, and Luke 24:1-3 to have a better context.

So, with all these verses, many Christians concluded that Christ was buried on Friday afternoon and resurrected on Sunday morning.

On the surface, this chronological understanding could be right. However, as we have already discussed, the traditional Easter story can’t support the three days and three nights timing prophesied by Yahshua (Jesus).

You’ll see my point clearer as you continue reading.

Reason no. 6: There were two Sabbaths

The key to clearing up the confusion is understanding the Sabbaths mentioned in the week Christ was crucified.

In the Bible, there are days that are referred to as “Sabbath.” The most common would be the weekly Sabbath, which happens from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. The other Sabbaths would be the annual festivals of God as listed in Leviticus 23.

The annual festivals may or may not fall on Saturday. In fact, most of the time, they don’t.

So, which Sabbath was Luke pertaining to when he wrote Luke 23:50-54?

John 19:31 gives us the answer:

³¹ Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

That high day was the first day of the Unleavened Bread, one of God’s Holy Days.

How do we know? For one, remember that Jesus Christ just kept the Passover (Matthew 26:26-30). Passover is kept just before the Days of Unleavened Bread.

We read in Leviticus 23:5-6:

⁵ On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Thus, we can see here that Christ was killed on the day of Passover (fulfilling His role as the Passover Lamb), which is the fourteenth day of the month.

Then before the first day of the Unleavened Bread has come, which is a high day and considered as a Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea needs to bury Christ hastily so as not to be overtaken by the coming Sabbath!

Notice as well what Matthew 28:1 mentioned:

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

According to some scholars, the word Sabbath here should be translated as “Sabbaths” — in plural form. Some Bible translations that support this belief include:

Alfred Marshall’s Parallel New Testament in Greek and English
Ferrar Fenton’s Translation
Green’s Literal Translation

You can also read on page 1270 of the 1992 edition of The Complete Word Study Dictionary how it acknowledges that the correct translation is “Sabbaths” and not “Sabbath.”

Is it now getting clearer?

I hope it does.

So, we now have a possible scenario here. Christ wasn’t buried on a Friday afternoon.

If not, then when?

Reason no. 7: The year of Christ’s crucifixion

Here’s a startling and shocking fact that most Christians don’t know.

Christ was NOT killed on Friday, but instead, He was killed on a Wednesday according to how we reckon time.

So, what’s the proof?

First off, you can trace the day and time when Yahshua or Jesus was crucified. We can do that by knowing when was the first day of Unleavened bread in the year crucifixion happened.

According to scholars, Yahshua was crucified in A.D. 31. Now, if we trace back the first day of Unleavened Bread for that year, it falls on April 25, Thursday. Since Passover is just a day before, then we can conclude that Christ was killed at around 3 pm on Wednesday.

Alright, I understand there are some debates about what year Christ was killed. However, generally speaking, most scholars would agree it was A.D. 31 and if it is, then we have stronger proof that Yahshua was killed on a Wednesday and not definitely on a Friday.

Reason no. 8: Daniel’s prophecy

One proof that Christ was killed on a Wednesday is the prophecy of Daniel:

²⁶ “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.
²⁷ 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. (Daniel 9:26-27)

This prophecy talks about the Messiah and it mentions that Yahshua the Messiah will bring an end to sacrifices and offerings because He will serve as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins as we read in Hebrews 10:10:

¹⁰ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

According to Daniel’s prophecy, He made an end to sacrifices in the middle of the week.

What’s the middle of the week?

It’s Wednesday.

Reason no. 9: Wrong punctuation in Mark 16:9

One of the verses Christians use to prove Jesus resurrection Sunday is Mark 16:9.

Let’s read:

⁹ Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

This verse seems to clearly suggest that Yahshua rose early on the first day of the week. But is it correct?

First of all, we have already established that Christ didn’t rise from the dead on a Sunday. If this is what this verse really says, then we have a problem as Mark 16:9 would contradict the rest of the scripture.

So, to harmonize this verse with other clear scriptures, we must dig deeper.

What might be the problem?

The problem is the placement of the comma in this sentence. Remember, there are no punctuations in the original Greek.

So, the proper rendering of this verse is as follows:

⁹ Now when He rose early, on the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

The verse isn’t saying that Christ rose on the first day of the week. Rather, Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene on Sunday morning.

Reason no. 10: Luke 24:21 does not support Jesus resurrection Sunday

Another verse being used by proponents of Easter Sunday is Luke 24:21.

We read:

²¹ 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.

When this conversation happened, it was Sunday. So, since the person talking said that on that day, Sunday, is the third day, then it is surmised that it is true, Jesus rose on Sunday.

However, we must understand this verse properly.

For one, IF this verse supports Easter Sunday, then we make Christ a liar. He himself said that He will be in the tomb for three days and three nights and Easter Sunday can’t possibly accommodate that timeframe.

So, what might be the explanation?

The key to understanding this verse is the phrase, “since these things.” What might be the speaker pertaining to when he said, “these things?”

Notice that after Christ was entombed, there were other things that the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans did.

We read that in Matthew 27:62-66:

⁶² On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, ⁶³ saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

These things happened on Friday. At this time, Christ was already in the tomb for about a day already.

So, in Luke 24:21, the phrase “since these things” refers to what the Romans and Jews did AFTER Christ was buried. Those things were done on Friday, making Sunday as the third day.

Reason no. 11: Empty tomb on Sunday does not mean Christ has just risen

One of the reasons why most Christians believe that Christ was resurrected on Sunday is because it was the day His tomb was found empty.

Here are the verses they use:

John 20:1- ¹ Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Matthew 28:1-2 – ¹ Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
Mark 16:2 – ² Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Luke 24:1 – ¹ Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

As you can read from these verses, there’s no proof that Christ was resurrected on a Sunday. What these verses are saying is that they only knew that the tomb was empty on the first day of the week!

It’s like this, in a criminal investigation, if the police found a dead body on Wednesday, they don’t automatically conclude that that person was killed on Wednesday. They would still have to investigate and determine when the person was exactly killed.

On Jesus resurrection Sunday, it was only the day they knew the tomb was empty. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Christ was resurrected on that day.

Read what the angel has said to the women who discovered the tomb was empty:

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:5-6)

As you can see, by the time the women went to the tomb, many hours had already passed after Yahshua was resurrected. Notice as well, the angel said, “for He is risen, AS HE SAID.”

Yahshua rose from the dead exactly the way He prophesied it — meaning, He rose from the dead after 72 hours.

No more. No less.

The correct chronology of Christ’s death

You just read the reasons why Jesus wasn’t resurrected on Sunday. Instead, He was killed on Wednesday late afternoon and risen Saturday late afternoon, fulfilling the sign of His Messiahship.

The correct chronology of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Here’s a quick summary of the correct Chronology of Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection:

Tuesday

On the night of Tuesday, Jesus Christ ate the evening Passover meal and instituted the New Covenant symbol of the Passover (Matthew 26:26-28).

Later that night, Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Gethsemane garden (Matthew 26:47-56). He was then arrested and brought before the high priest for trial in the dead of the night.

Wednesday

After being tortured, Jesus was then crucified at around 9 am. His agony and suffering were prolonged until He took His last breath at around 3 pm (Matthew 27:46-50).

Because the Day of Unleavened Bread is about to start at sunset, the body of Jesus was placed in a tomb in a hurry (Matthew 27:57-60).

Please note that the Biblical reckoning of the day starts at sunset and ends at sunset.

Thursday

This is the first day of the Unleavened Bread, which lasts for seven days. The first and seventh days of the Unleavened Bread are high days or Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:4-7).

Wednesday night is the first night and Thursday daylight is the first day (24 hours).

Friday

The first day of the Unleavened Bread has now ended. Thus, the women can now buy and prepare spices for the body of Christ. However, they should also then prepare again for the weekly Sabbath, which will start on Friday sunset (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56).

Thursday night is the second night and Friday daylight is the second day (24 hours).

Saturday

Saturday is the true Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). Thus, the followers of Christ rested on this day (Luke 23:56).

Friday night is the third night and Saturday daylight is the third day (24 hours).

Jesus Christ rose from the dead at the same time He was entombed — just before the sunset of Saturday.

Isn’t it a significant thing that Christ didn’t simply rise from the dead on any other day, but on the Sabbath day?

Sunday

The weekly Sabbath has passed. Early morning, the women brought the spices, ready to anoint the body of Christ. They went to the tomb Sunday morning when it was still dark (Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

The women discovered the tomb was empty and that Jesus had already risen (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:2-3; John 20:1).

Final words

The Bible is clear: Jesus Resurrection Sunday never happened.

We need to stop believing and following Bible traditions. In fact, we must stop promoting lies.

We know that the main motivation why the churches prefer a resurrection Sunday is because they want to justify the keeping of Sunday worship instead of keeping the true Sabbath.

The belief that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday was established to promote Sunday worship, which is the day when pagans worship the sun. Not only that but Resurrection Sunday is closely linked to Easter, a holiday rooted in paganism.

There are just so many things to learn. So, I highly recommend you read the following resources:

I sincerely hope you don’t waste the truth you have been given.

A lot of people stumble upon the truth, but they never let the truth take root in their lives. I hope you’re not one of them.

Instead, act on this truth. Learn what the Bible really says about the resurrection of Jesus.

From there, you will have a better understanding of God’s will in your life.