Keeping Time

In 24 Hours That Changed the World, Adam Hamilton points out that we believe Jesus died at the age of 33 after a life of approximately 12,000  days. The Gospel writers devoted most of their work to just 1,100 or so of those days, the last three years of his life. Their primary interest, however, was one particular day—the day Jesus was crucified. The gospel writers believed this 24-hour period changed the world.

It may be helpful to explain how time was counted in Jesus’ story. It’s a little different than how we keep time.

For most of us, a day begins and ends at midnight. This doesn’t hold true on a Jewish calendar, not in the time of Jesus and not today either.

In the beginning, when God created time, the night was created first and then the day. “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day” Genesis 1:5.

Therefore, a Jewish day begins at nightfall and ends the following nightfall. Of course, exactly when nightfall begins is a little ambiguous. We know the sun goes down and a few stars become observable. Generally speaking, then, a day is understood to begin at sunset and end the following sunset. For instance, the Sabbath begins on Friday night and ends with the appearance of the stars on Saturday night. The same holds true for major Jewish holidays such as Passover, when Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. 

This helps us understand the counting of time at the end of Jesus’ life. Beginning Thursday evening after sunset and lasting until sunset on Friday was the last day of Jesus’ life. During that 24 hours, Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples; prayed in the garden of Gethsemane; was betrayed and deserted by his friends; was convicted of blasphemy by the religious authorities; was tried and sentenced for insurrection by Pontius Pilot; was tortured by Roman soldiers; and underwent crucifixion, death, and burial. All that occurred in one 24-hour period, ending before sunset on Friday.

This also shows how we count what’s called the Easter Triduum, or The Great Three Days. For us, when we think of Jesus dying on Friday and rising on Sunday, we often think of two days. But again, with a 24-hour period lasting from sunset to the next sunset, we understand Holy Thursday began at sunset and lasted until sunset on Good Friday. The second day began at sunset on Good Friday and lasted until sunset on Saturday. From sunset Saturday to sunset Sunday was the third day, the day of resurrection, Easter. That’s why many Easter worship services begin on Saturday night.

Therefore, these three 24-hour periods, from sunset Holy Thursday to sunset Easter Day, are a unity—the climax of the Christian year—when we celebrate the saving events of our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. They comprise the Triduum, The Great Three Days. This is the most holy, serious, joyful, and crucial three days of the year for Christians. Missing these days means missing the heart of our entire spiritual journey for the year.

Therefore, it is best to organize our time and commitments in such a way that absolutely everything during these days is set aside so we can center entirely and exclusively on our own participation in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s how we keep time.