God. Real. Right.

I know there is much confusion about how Jesus could be in the grave for three days and three nights if He died on Friday and rose on Sunday. The phrase three days and three nights is specifically given as the length of time Jesus says He will be in the grave in Matthew 12:39-40. It is certainly possible that Jesus is using a common expression to emphasize that He would not rise until the third day, rather than giving a hard “moment” of resurrection; that is, exactly seventy-two hours, zero minutes, and zero seconds. So Matthew 12 could be taken either way. The question is, which way should it be taken. (Remember, Jewish days begin at 6 pm.) Does Jesus need to die at the last moment on Wednesday afternoon, so there is time for him to be in the tomb all day and night Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then He is resurrected on the fourth day, which would be Sunday? Of course not, since although there are three whole days and nights in the grave, that scenario has too many days, with Him rising on the fourth. Then does He need to die on Thursday afternoon late so that He is in the tomb all day and night Friday, Saturday, and then rises on the third day as He’s supposed to? But that scenario also has problems, since there are only two whole days and nights. Perhaps it is not named days that matter, but simply number of hours. But that answer works no better, since He dies in the late afternoon, but rises sometime before early in the morning–how early is not certain, but is clearly not late the afternoon beforehand! So there is no solution if “three days and three nights” means something other than simply, “I will not rise from the dead until the third day of my death.”
Now the question is just, what does the timeline look like in scripture. Although most people do not like to rely on Mark for chronology, the repeated use of the word for “immediately next” makes it a very easy tool for charting one timeline of the passion week. The key markers are these (with a little explanation after each one):
Mark 11:11-12

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. 12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

Verse 11 (Palm Sunday) is the starting point. But the timeline can be worked from either end (the Sabbath being mentioned at the end). Verse 12 is Monday.

Mark 11:19-20

19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

Verse 19 is the end of Monday. Verse 20 is Tuesday, the long day in which most of the teaching takes place.

Mark 14:1

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

So chapter 14:1 comes the second day from Tuesday. It is Thursday.

Mark 14:12

And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?

The day has not changed, so this verse does not affect the timeline, but it is still Thursday, the day Jesus has passover with the disciples and goes to the garden (although it is technically Friday at least by the time He gets to the garden).

Mark 15:1

And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

So the preparation for crucifixion takes place on Friday morning.

Mark 15:42

And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

So at the end of the crucifixion it is time to prepare for the sabbath. People have argued that this sabbath is not Saturday, but an indicator of a different holy day the week of Passover. However, Mark’s use of the word in the next verse makes his intent as the seventh day clear.

and Mark 16:1

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

The women come to the tomb Sunday morning, after the Sabbath.
So reading Mark straightforwardly leads to the conclusion that Jesus is crucified on Friday and rises from the dead on Sunday, a chronology just as satisfying to Jesus’ prophecy about three days and three nights as the idea that He would be in the grave exactly seventy-two hours.
Of course, as every believer knows, what really matters is that He did rise!