Three days and three nights
Before Jesus died, he told his disciples he would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. He said he would rise again after three days. In other words, he would rise three days later, and he would raise his body again in three days.
Other times, he told his disciples he would be raised to life “on the third day“. That’s a rather ambiguous way to say it. It’s not really clear which day he’s counting from as the first day here. But let’s just assume he meant the same thing as when he said it more precisely.
The day Jesus came back to life, some disciples mentioned that it was the third day since Jesus had been crucified. And then when Jesus appeared to some other disciples, he claimed that the scriptures said the Messiah would rise from the dead on the third day. And Peter and Paul both later stated that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day. So that’s what Jesus and his followers said, but what does the Bible say actually happened?
Two days and two nights
The gospels disagree with each other on most of the details of the resurrection story. But one thing they all agree on is that Jesus was not dead for three days and three nights. The gospels say Jesus died in the afternoon on Preparation Day, the day before the Sabbath. By the time the women went to visit his tomb around sunrise on the first day of the week, after the Sabbath, Jesus had risen.
Preparation day starting in the afternoon + night + the Sabbath day (the seventh day of the week) + one more night before Jesus rises early on the first day of the week = less than two days and two nights.
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