Of all the days in the Easter calendar, Resurrection Day is the most famous and most important. It marks the culmination of everything that has come before, the promises and betrayals as Jesus went to the cross and defeated death.
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Which Day of the Easter Season Is Called Resurrection Day?
Resurrection Day is another term for Easter Sunday, the final day of the Easter season. Depending on how your church’s Easter calendar frames it, it may be the last day of Holy Week or what immediately follows Holy Week. Here is what happened during Holy Week:
Palm Sunday—Jesus makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, riding a donkey while people wave palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” Depending on which Gospel account you read, Jesus either clears the temple on this day or the next day. Either way, he finishes the day by going to Bethany, staying with Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha.
Holy Monday—Jesus comes from Bethany into Jerusalem, teaches (and perhaps clears the temple). Before he even enters the city, Jesus does something shocking: he curses a fig tree with no fruit, and it shrivels. His teaching that day includes the parable of the tenants and other illustrations about the kingdom of God and warning to serve God well before Judgment Day. As Jesus teaches, both Pharisees and Sadducees ask him tricky religious questions, which he answers in unexpected ways. They ultimately give up on trying to trap him.
Holy Tuesday—Jesus comes to Jerusalem for more teaching. The Gospels describe Jesus’ teachings given on Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday without clearly marking which days Jesus said what. However, it’s generally agreed that Jesus ended Holy Tuesday by going to the Mount of Olives and prophesying about Jerusalem’s coming destruction. In this famous speech (known as the Olivet Discourse), Jesus talks about “wars and rumors of wars,” apparently combining descriptions of the Romans destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD with the greater destruction of the End Times.
Holy Wednesday—the Gospel accounts don’t make it clear if Jesus did more teaching in Jerusalem on this day or rested in Bethany. It is often commemorated as Spy Wednesday because it’s probably the day that Judas rebuked Mary for anointing Jesus and then decided to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Maundy Thursday—Jesus and his disciples celebrate Passover at night, which Jesus makes into the Last Supper. Judas leaves to “do what he is about to do,” and the rest of the group goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden, Jesus prays and gets arrested when Judas shows up with temple guards. Jesus halts Peter’s attempts to defend him, and the guards take him away.
Good Friday—Jesus goes from being tried by Jewish leaders to being tried by Roman leader Pontius Pilate and shown to King Herod. The religious leaders find Jesus guilty of blasphemy, Pilate and Herod see no criminal behavior that deserves execution. Pilate attempts to dissuade the crowd by offering to free either Jesus or a murderer named Barabbas. This ploy fails, so Jesus is taken to Golgotha and crucified. Joseph of Arimathea donates his tomb to bury Jesus.
Holy Saturday—Jesus’ body lies within the tomb, with a security detail. Following a request by the Jewish leaders, Pilate posts Roman soldiers at the tomb to guard it at least until after the third day, when Jesus prophesied he would rise from the dead.
Resurrection Day—the women come to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body and find it empty. Several gospel accounts mention that the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb were unconscious, and angels were present.
Is Resurrection Day Part of Holy Week?
If you do the math, you’ll notice that Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day is eight days, not seven. While this technically means Holy Week (or Passion Week) is the week leading up to Resurrection Day, most denominations treat Holy Week as an eight-day week of celebrations. So, Holy Week stretches from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day (also often called Easter Sunday).
Some denominations also commemorate the days immediately after Resurrection Day, which make up the 40-day period Jesus was on earth before ascending to heaven. For example, some churches celebrate Easter Monday, the day after Resurrection Day (and possibly when Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room).
What Happened to Jesus' Body in the Tomb?
As the summary of Holy Week above shows, Jesus was killed on Good Friday, placed into the tomb on Friday evening, and his body was in the tomb until Easter Sunday morning. Hence, we say that Jesus' body was in the tomb for three days—not 72 hours exactly, but substantial parts of Friday and Sunday, and all of Saturday. Easter celebrations usually don't say much about Holy Saturday, because we know so little about it.
Christians have debated for centuries whether Jesus’ soul stayed in the tomb all of Holy Saturday. Jesus’ followers may have believed his soul was still in his body before going to the Father: the Talmud and other Jewish teachings claim that “For three days after death the soul hovers over the body” (Leviticus Rabah 18:1). Whether or not Jewish people believed this teaching in Jesus’ time is hard to say. If first-century Jews generally held this view, it would have added to the shock Mary and Martha felt when Jesus raised Lazarus after four days. Resurrecting a body was shocking enough. Resurrecting a body when the soul was supposed to have permanently left the body would be even more incredible.
Christianity doesn’t uphold Talmudic teachings about the soul sticking around for three days. Debates about “soul sleep” aside, Christians generally hold that after death, the soul goes immediately to God the Father. However, since Jesus wasn’t an ordinary human, and his soul was in his body when he rose on Resurrection Day, we don't know if Jesus' soul went to heaven on Friday evening and came back Sunday morning. It may have stayed in Jesus’ body all of Holy Saturday... or gone elsewhere.
The idea that Jesus’ soul was elsewhere on Holy Saturday comes up in discussions about whether Jesus “descended into hell.” Ephesians 4:9 refers to Jesus descending to the “lower, earthly regions” after he died, and 1 Peter 3:18-22 describes Jesus preaching “to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” Some Christians have argued these passages show Jesus entered hell, defeated Satan, claimed the keys to death and hell, then freed people in limbo because Jesus hadn’t died for their sins yet. This teaching is traditionally called “the harrowing of hell” and appears in the Nicene Creed.
Since the Bible gives few details about Jesus descending, it’s hard to provide a definitive answer about Jesus’ state during Holy Saturday. Our best option is to be cautious when discussing it to avoid claiming what we do not know while recognizing what Christians have held as orthodox teaching throughout history.
What Happened to Jesus' Body on Resurrection Day?
On Sunday, the day after the Jewish Sabbath, several women (Mark lists Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome) went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body. Scholars debate why the women came to anoint the body—after all, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had covered Jesus’ body in spices when they wrapped it for burial. One possibility is that Nicodemus and Joseph couldn’t do all the expected anointings; they had to get things done quickly before the Sabbath started on Saturday. Another possibility is that the women did this out of devotion, not because of any custom.
For whatever reason, the women arrived at Jesus’ tomb and found it empty. Matthew describes an earthquake happening and one angel appearing to roll back the tomb door. Mark and Luke describe the tomb as already open and one or more angels greeting the women. John doesn’t mention any angels but describes two disciples coming to the tomb after Mary Magdalene told them that the body was gone. After this, John records Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, the first of several appearances Jesus made to his followers.
While the disciples didn’t fully realize it then, this Sunday marked the start of something incredible. On Resurrection Day, Jesus returned to show his victory over death as God’s son and savior of the world. The Messiah had died for the sins of the world and come back to life.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Boonyachoat
Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations:
What is Lent? and When Does Lent Start?
What is Ash Wednesday? and When is Ash Wednesday?
What is Palm Sunday?
What is Maundy Thursday?
What is Good Friday? and When is Good Friday?
What is Holy Saturday?
What is Easter? and When is Easter Sunday?
Easter Bible Verses
The Resurrection of Jesus
Easter Prayers
