The FIRST Sabbath after Jesus died
After sunset on a Tuesday (the day of Passover began at sunset and ended at sunset the next day) Jesus ate the Christian Passover with his disciples (Matthew 26:20, Mark 14:17, Luke 22:14-15). Jesus is crucified and finally dies at 3 p.m. the next day (Wednesday). Since work was allowed on the Passover day, people used it to prepare for (which is why the Bible calls it "preparation day") the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (an annual High Sabbath where no work was allowed - Leviticus 23:6-7). In the year Jesus died, 30 A.D., the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began at SUNSET on Wednesday. Since there was only three hours between the time Jesus died and the start of the Feast at sunset (6 p.m.), his body was quickly taken off the cross and placed in a tomb:
"Now evening was coming, and since it was a preparation (that is, the day before a Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, an esteemed member of the council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, came; and he went in to Pilate with boldness and requested the body of Jesus. " (Mark 15:42-43, Holy Bible in Its Original Order)
"Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a HIGH DAY), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away . . . Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus . . . Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby. " (John 19:31, 38, 41-42, NKJV)
"Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man . . . This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was THE PREPARATION, and the Sabbath drew near." (Luke 23:50, 52-54, NKJV)
The SECOND Sabbath after Jesus died
The Bible states that after the annual Sabbath known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread had ended (on sunset Thursday), three women went to buy spices for Jesus' body:
"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. " (Mark 16:1).
After buying what was needed for Jesus' body the women spent the rest of Friday preparing the spices. When the Saturday Sabbath (the fourth of the Ten Commandments) started at sunset Friday the women rested:
"Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. " (Luke 23:56)
Mary Magdalene and another Mary go to observe Jesus' tomb late on the weekly Sabbath:
"Now late on the Sabbath, as the first day of the weeks was drawing near, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to observe the sepulcher." (Matthew 28:1, Holy Bible in Its Original Order)
When was Jesus resurrected from the dead?
Some Scriptures speak of Jesus' resurrection "after three days" (Mark 8:31; Matthew 27:63). Other verses say "in three days" (Matthew 26:61, 27:40; Mark 14:58, 15:29; John 2:19-20). Still others speak of "the third day" (Mark 9:31, 10:34; Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64; Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7, 21, 46; Acts 10:40; 1Corinthians 15:4). Do the phrases contradict each other?
"When we understand Jesus statements, we find that instead of being contradictory, they reveal the exact time that he was raised from the dead. Jesus made it clear that he would be raised AFTER He had been dead for three days. The other statements, "in three days" and "on the third day," do not include the total time that he was dead but only the time that he was buried in the tomb. The Gospel accounts show that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus closed the tomb just before sunset, three hours after Jesus died on the cross. Although he was in the tomb for EXACTLY three days and three nights (seventy-two hours), He was dead for a longer period than that. Thus He rose from the dead "after three days." The difference between this statement and the statements "in three days" and "on the third day" is that these two statement refer to His burial "in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." " (Matthew 12:38-40, Holy Bible in Its Original Order) (Taken from: The Day Jesus the Christ Died, Chapter 6, emphasis added)
Jesus was resurrected from the dead at sunset Saturday, April 8, 30 A.D., which is three full days and nights (seventy-two hours) after he died and was put in the tomb. This fulfilled the sign of Jonah the prophet he gave in Matthew 12:38-40 and PROVED His Messiahship to the Jews!
http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/was-jesus-in-the-grave-for-three-days-and-nights.html