Question:  If Christ was taken from the cross on the afternoon of “Good” Friday and was out of the tomb by early “Easter” Sunday morning, how can you get 72 hours?

Answer:  The short answer is, “You can’t!” Let me explain. The Lord Jesus had to spend 72 hours in the grave to fulfill Scripture.

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40, cf.  Jonah 1:17).

The Lord, himself determines how many hours there are in a day.

“…are there not twelve hours in a day?” (John 11:9).

If there are twelve hours in a day, there are twelve hours in a night. Thus, three days and three nights equal 72 hours.

Christ had already been resurrected,  between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M., on Saturday. (The following is the text from a book entitled, Three Important Questions by the author.)

Three Important Things to Remember:

1. The Jewish day was divided at 6:00 P.M.; the old day ended and the new day began. For example, look at “Diagram A” and you will see that Wednesday actually ended at 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday. Thursday actually began at 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday. Friday began at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday and etc. The Romans began their new day at Midnight.
2. The Sabbath Day is always on Saturday, not Sunday. Sunday is the first day of the week. Paul gave instructions to the Christians to “…lay by him in store, as God had prospered him, on the first day of the week." ( Sunday, 1 Corinthians 16:2). The disciples always came together to break bread and fellowship on the first day of the week (Sunday, Acts 20:7).
3. The Jewish day ran from “even” (evening) until “even” (evening).(Lev. 23:32). The time being set at approximately 6:00 P.M.

The Resurrection Day:

1.  Matthew 12:40. The Lord Jesus had to spend 72 hours in the grave to fulfill scripture.

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (See Jonah 1:17).

• John 11:9. The Lord, Himself, determines how many hours in a day, ".. .are there not twelve hours in a day...? If there are twelve hours in a day, there are twelve hours in a night. Thus, three days and three nights equal 72 hours.
• Matthew 28:1. "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to DAWN toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."
• The "end of the Sabbath" is the last few hours before the Sabbath ends and the first day of the week, Sunday, begins. Dawn is the Greek word "epiphosko" and means to "draw on." It was “drawing on” or approaching the first day of the week. This first day of the week is Sunday, which actually began on Saturday at 6:00 P.M. (Luke 23:54) .
• Remember, the first arrivals were there before 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, the Sabbath, and the tomb was already empty. "He is not here, for He is risen as He said." (Matthew 28:6 ).

Refer to DIAGRAM A:

Notice letter "b." This is when the Lord has arisen. As we have seen, these are the last hours before the Sabbath ends at 6:00 P.M. When the first arrivals reached the tomb, Christ had already been resurrected, between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. on Saturday.

Looking backward, from "d" to "c" is 24 hours, from "c" to "b" is 24 hours, and from "b" to "a" is 24 hours. The time of His burial is "a," which would have been in the last hours of Wednesday, between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. This is the only way scripture could be fulfilled, as Christ had to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, thus seventy-two hours. A far cry from "Good Friday" and "Easter Sunday", which are strangers to the Word of God!

So…looking at the Diagram below and counting backwards.

3 P.M. Saturday to 3:P.M. Friday = 24 hours.
3 P.M. Friday to 3 P.M. Thursday = 24 hours.
3 P.M. Thursday to 3 P.M. Wednesday = 24 hours.
Three times twenty-four hours = 72 hours.